SeedSing is filled with music lovers. We can not agree on who is the best band from the States. The Greatest American Band Debate will be a regular feature where we discuss and compare bands who started in the good old USA. If you have any suggestions of bands we should debate Contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

For the greatest American band debate today I'm going to nominate one of my personal favorite folk rock groups. The band I'm going to talk about today is the Avett Brothers.

The Avett Brothers are a four piece with the "Brothers" part being banjo player and co lead vocalist, Scott Avett and lead guitar and co lead vocalist, Seth Avett. The rest of the band is bass player, both upright and electric, Bob Crawford and they have a cello player named Joe Kwon. They have other musicians sit in on drums and piano from time to time, but those are the four main guys.

I was introduced to this band about 7 or 8 years ago via an article in "Rolling Stone" I read. They had just started to work with Rick Rubin and I pretty much like anyone that brings Rick Rubin on to work with them. This was kind of a departure for Rubin, but he had been doing mainly rap for awhile when he found the Avett Brothers. He worked with Johnny Cash and he was doing some other stuff with rock bands as well as working with Jay Z and many other rappers, but he had never really produced any folk music, at least not to my knowledge (ed note: He did also work with The Dixie Chicks, I guess they are folk-like). All I needed to see was that this band personally asked Rubin to come in and produce their record. I was going to listen no matter what.

That Rubin produced album was "I And Love And You". This is an absolutely phenomenal album. It was a great way for me to be introduced to their sound. This record is perfection. The way they mix folk and rock is just incredible. They also do beautiful slow songs and when they rock, they really bring it. The opening track, "I And Love And You" is one of the most bittersweet songs ever. They talk about falling out of love with their partner and saying that those three words are very hard to say. The piano they use, as it builds and builds, is downright beautiful. The louder the piano gets, the more pain they sing with and it's awesome. It is a great song. But, when you have had all the sadness you think you can endure, they hit you with a great love song, "January Wedding". This is a great, great first dance song, especially if you have a wedding in the month of January. "January Wedding" features some excellent solo banjo playing from Scott Avett and beautiful vocals from Seth Avett. Another great song. Then, they hit you with a rock song. The song "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise" is a great rock song. It starts out slower, like a folk song, but when they hit the bridge and then the third verse, it turns into a straight up rock song, with loud drums, banjo and guitar. They also up their vocals and knock it out of the park. The rest of "I And Love And You" is a great example of how to mix rock with folk and Rubin is at the top of his game producing this album. I could write a whole piece just on this record, but they have a lot of other music that is equally great.

After listening to "I And Love And You" on repeat for about 6 months, I decide it was time to dig into their older stuff, the stuff that is mainly folk music. I went out and bought "Four Thieves Gone: The Robbinsvile Sessions", "Emotionalism", "Country Was", "Mignonette" and "A Carolina Jubilee" and listened to them all almost immediately, one right after the other. "Country Was" and "A Carolina Jubilee" are very similar, in the fact that they are straight up folk records. Sure, they rock out on some songs, but it's all acoustic and it's all great. There are some classic Avett Brothers songs on these records like "Love Like the Movies", saying that movie love is fake, and I agree, "Pretty Girl From Raleigh", which finds them opining an old love and "I Killed Sally's Lover" which is a dark song, but the tone is upbeat. All great, early songs from the Avett Brothers.

Then I listened to "Four Thieves Gone: The Robinsville Sessions". This record, in my opinion, is a masterpiece. This album showed the band stretching what I thought was folk music, and had them exploring rock, and on one song, Scott Avett is almost rapping. It's a really good album. Go listen to songs like "Colrshow" to hear them rock out and yell sing lyrics awesomely or "Matrimony" which is about the plight of marriage, but there precision on vocals and instruments is on full display. Some other great songs are "Four Thieves Gone", which has them back to their roots with a ballady, slower folk song or "Pretend Love", which is a great mixture of rock and folk. My favorite track is the opening song, "Talk On Indolence". This song perfectly captures the bands love for folk and rock and both brothers vocals are just excellent.

"Four Thieves Gone" is so great. I didn't think that they could get better on the other albums I had, but, I was floored by what I heard on "Mignonette" and "Emotionalism". Both of these albums show real growth and exploration from this awesome band. On "Mignonette", we get some classic Avett Brothers tunes like "Swept Away", just an absolutely beautiful love song, "The New Love Song", which shows that this band is really unsure that they have ever truly been in love, you can really hear the hurt in this song, "Letter to a Pretty Girl", which has them, once again, opining for a lost love and "Salvation song", that is so good, it should be gospel. "Mignonette" is a really good album. But, "Emotionalism" is better. On "Emotionalism", we get great songs like "Paranoia in B-Flat Major", which is one Avett Brothers song that every fan knows and they play it at most live shows. There's also the beautifully heart breaking song "The Ballad of Love and Hate", which has hate being a jerk, but love loving everything about hate, no matter what. A great folk/rock song on this album is "Pretty Girl From Chile" which has a lady read an old love letter right in the middle of the song, then they proceed to rock for the rest of the song. "Hand Me Down Tune" is a great, slower folk song that is about the love of old music. It's awesome.

I was now hooked on Avett Brothers music. I was ready for their next record to come out because I needed new Avett Brothers music. They released "The Carpenter" in 2012 and I adore this album. It is one great song after another. "Once and Future Carpenter" is a typical folk song made great by this band. "Live and Die", which some of you may know from a GAP ad a couple of years ago, is a really sad song about death, but made upbeat by the vocals and instruments. "Pretty Girl From Michigan" is a great throwback Avett Brothers song that has them rocking and being very folksy at the same time. "Down With the Shine" is a perfect folk song. The instruments are great and when Scott Avett and Seth Avett trade off on vocals, I love every second of it. "Geraldine" is a very short, but very awesome rock song. Great electric guitars and great, very fast vocals. "Paul Newman vs. The Demons" starts off as a rock song and continues to rock harder through all 4 minutes and 43 seconds. It's the first straight forward rock song from the Avett Brothers and they crush it.

Then, one year later they released "Magpie and the Dandelion". This album is great, but it's not as great as their other stuff. I like that they take a ton of chances on this album and play a lot of electric instruments, and it is still very good, it's just not up to par with the other stuff I've mentioned today. Still good and worth a listen for fans though.

Other than what I've mentioned above, the Avett Brothers have a lot of EPs and they have put out three live albums and one live DVD. It's all great. The EPs are very early so they are mainly folk with some country splashed in. The live stuff is great. I've seen them live three times and every time they are awesome. They have a great energy that they bring to their live shows and when they slow it down, their ballads are beautifully done. Go see them if you want to experience a great, high energy live show.

I'm very excited to see what the Avett Brothers have in store for the near future. They are a great band that has put out a ton of music, but they are still fairly young and they have a lot of music ahead of them. I adore the Avett Brothers and they belong in this conversation. I know they lean more folk, but they are one of America's greatest bands.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He liked to strum the banjo on his front porch, but had to stop because the neighbors that it was creepy. Make sure you follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.