patchdrury/dot/net — The Avett Brothers

The Avett Brothers - A Confession

I have a problem. A daily struggle with passive-aggressiveness? Well, yes. But that’s not the one I wanted to talk about.

I have this problem that when a band I’m into gets famous, I kind of stop liking them. I honestly hate it about myself and am really trying to fight it. It’s prideful and stupid.

Take the Avett Brothers for instance. A few years ago I picked up one of their live albums at CD Central based solely on a poster in the store. I’d never heard them before but they had beards and a banjo, so why not, right?

A few months later Sara and I saw them in Louisville with about 100 other people.

As great as their album was, their live show was full of energy, fun, and completely joyous. We started seeing them everywhere we could.

At the Southgate House in Newport we staked out seats right above the stage:

A whole bunch of us got to see them at the old Dame before it got torn down. That was probably my favorite:

They also played the Kentucky Theater a couple of times. At one of these shows Sara and I got to meet Scott and Seth and told them we were using one of their songs in our wedding. They seemed genuinely flattered:

Two weeks ago, like a lot of folks, I watched the Avett Brothers perform on the Grammys with Mumford and Son and Bob Dylan. It was awesome. I loved it for The Avett Brothers because obviously performing on the Grammys is a big deal. Part of me was upset, though, because I realized the days of seeing these guys play in a tiny club with a handful of people were gone for good.

I think it’s fine to mourn the loss of an experience like that - but to actually quit liking a band because they become popular? That’s wrong for several reasons:

1. Somebody has always been a fan longer than you. I was at a CD release party for a local band recently and heard a kid in front of me say, “We liked this band before they were cool - remember when we first saw them a year ago?” I laughed inside because this guy obviously had no idea that this particular band had been around since 2003. Likewise, however much I might imagine that I was into the Avett Brothers “first,” there are hundreds of people who got there before I did. I didn’t discover them.

2. If I really love the band as much as I say I do, why wouldn’t I want them to have success? They brought me a lot of joy, so why shouldn’t I want to see them rewarded for that? Am I really that selfish?

3. It means I was into them more for what it said about me than for their actual music. If I stop liking their songs because I’m no longer a special little snow flake that listens to a band you’ve never heard of, then I’m a total douche and not really a music lover. My guess is that a lot of music snobs aren’t really music lovers as much as they’re just insecure and looking for some kind of badge to wear that verifies their specialness.

So, I post all of this as a confession and as, hopefully, a preventative measure. Anybody who reads this now has permission to question thoroughly if they ever hear me say, “Yeah, I’m just not into the Avett Brothers anymore.” If I can articulate the reason for my change in taste intelligently, then you have to leave me alone. But if I stammer around and don’t really say anything, then please wag your finger disapprovingly at me.

I also post the pictures above to remind myself of the good times I’ve had seeing the band - that alone should make me a fan for life.