All language subtitles for May It Last A Portrait Of The Avett Brothers-2017

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Um, this is for MSG's
Digital Content Department.

So could say your name and...

- That's okay.
- I'm Scott Avett.

I'm with
the Avett Brothers.

I sing and play the banjo

and the piano and the guitar.

- I'm Seth Avett.

I play and sing
with the Avett Brothers.

- Awesome.

And can you talk
a little bit about, uh,

playing at MSG
and coming here today?

- Yeah, we can't talk
a whole lot about playing yet

because we
never have before but--

- Well, the feeling
to just be in the arena?

- No, I got you.
No, this is our first time

playing at MSG,
and we're super excited

because it's a place
of such legend and history.

Okay, I just got lost.

- Yeah.
Sure do.

- Awesome-sauce!
- Yeah.

- "Awesome-sauce."

- Hey, guys, this is Lauren
from "Huffington Post."

- Hi, guys.
- Hello.

- Hi. So nice to see you.
I've met you guys once before.

- Nice to meet you.
Thank you so much.

- Yes. Thank you.
- Yeah.

- "True Sadness,"
let's talk about that.

- I love the new album.

- I love the record,
first of all.

I'm wondering if you
kind of take me back

to, like,
the very first sessions

when you guys
realized that you were

gonna start putting
another record together?

[The Avett Brothers
"Laundry Room" plays]

♪ ♪

- ♪ Don't push me out ♪

♪ Just a little longer ♪

♪ Stall your mother ♪

♪ Disregard
your father's words ♪

♪ Close the laundry door ♪

♪ Tiptoe across the floor ♪

♪ Keep your clothes on ♪

♪ I've got all
that I can take ♪

♪ Teach me how to use ♪

♪ The love that people
say you made ♪

♪ Teach me how to use ♪

♪ The love that
people say you made ♪

♪ ♪

- Last night I dreamt
the whole night long.

♪ And I woke with
a head full of songs ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ I spent the whole day ♪

♪ I wrote them down ♪

♪ But it's a shame ♪

♪ Tonight I'll burn
the lyrics ♪

♪ 'Cause every chorus
was your name ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ I am a breathing
time machine ♪

- ♪ I am a breathing
time machine ♪

- ♪ I am a breathing
time machine ♪

- ♪ And I'll take
you all for a ride ♪

- ♪ Break this tired
old routine ♪

- ♪ Man, I am a breathing
time machine ♪

- ♪ And this time
don't let me leave ♪

Yeah!

♪ ♪

Come on!

Go!

Go!

- Ohhh!

♪ ♪

- All right, all right,
all right, thank you!

♪ ♪

- ♪ And if you take my heart ♪

♪ Don't leave
the smallest part ♪

♪ I've no need to live ♪

♪ If you're to come up gone ♪

♪ And as my life
turns to a song ♪

♪ And if and when
I treat you wrong ♪

♪ No I never want to hurt
our family ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ There ain't no man
can save me ♪

♪ There ain't no man
can enslave me ♪

♪ There ain't no man or men ♪

♪ That can change
the shape my soul is in ♪

♪ There ain't nobody here... ♪

- If you look at the history
of, um, bands with siblings,

whether it be the Bee Gees,
The Kinks, The Everly Brothers,

any--any ones
that we can think of

they tend
to hate each other.

I think the Avetts are

the rare example
of a family-based band

where there is love
and understanding and, uh,

appreciation for what
the other brings.

- I remember when dad--my mom--
our mom was making fun

of our dad--uh, a tie that he
wore to church one morning

and we were on our
way to church--

- We were all
making fun of it.

- And we just kept
on and on about it.

He said, "You guys don't
like my tie."

He took it off
and blew his nose on it

and threw it out the window.

- In the first
30 seconds of meeting them,

I knew they were people
that I wanted to work with.

And it seemed like
being around them

would, um,
make life better.

- ♪ If you're looking
for truth ♪

♪ I'm proof you'll
find it there ♪

And then you do like
you're little sweet...

- Uh, it should be like, uh...

♪ If you're looking for truth ♪

♪ I'm proof you'll find ♪

- Yeah.

- ♪ It there ♪

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- When you have a--
a minister as a grandfather,

which I only--
I was baptized by

but never--never spoke to
because he died

the same year I was born.

A lot of his sermons
are out there.

When you read these
and when you realize,

I came from the son
of this man,

he knew or believed that how
he felt about things mattered,

and that people
wanted to hear

how he felt and how
he viewed those things.

And we kind of just carried
that on early thinking,

um, yes, I feel something,

and people
wanna hear about it.

You know, you're
completely wrong sometimes,

but we just kind
of grew up thinking,

everybody
wants to hear about it.

They--they must.

Don't they
wanna know how I feel?

♪ You walk
the streets each day ♪

♪ The people stop and move ♪

♪ Stop and move ♪

♪ And then
they ask for money ♪

♪ You never give them change ♪

♪ It's just your style ♪

- We established our trust
really, really early

because there are all these
bonds and all these dynamics

that become established
when you're children.

He's my older brother.
He's bigger, he's stronger.

He knows how to do
all these things

I don't know how to do.

So I have much less
trouble deferring to him

than I would to someone who--
who is--is not my brother.

- ♪ You'll have to meet me
in another time and place ♪

♪ The roof over my past
has fallen in ♪

♪ ♪

♪ You get the-- ♪

- No, it's the--it's, uh--

♪ Falling in ♪

It's only, like,
three notes away.

It's not, like, way up there.

- ♪ In-in ♪

- Yeah.
- Again.

- ♪ In another
time and place ♪

♪ The roof over my past ♪

♪ Has fallen in ♪

♪ You get the--♪

- I'm gonna so kill this
once I learn it.

- No doubt, but that
was it though. Well done.

- Seth's the sweetest
person I've ever met.

And let's not
say Scott's not sweet.

But then Scott is like
a carnival coming at you

with all the rides.

It just works.
Luckily, it works.

- I think because
they're so different,

they fit together perfectly.

- Oh!

- Good game.

We do disagree.

You know, there are
certain things we just--

we just flat-out do not
have the same feeling towards.

I just lean towards
a certain thing,

and he leans toward--
toward another,

and then it's--it's kind
of a fun, like, kind of game

to figure out how it's
gonna end up where we're

both happy, because it will,
you know, eventually.

Even if it just ends up
me completely going,

"Uh, let's just do what
you wanna do."

Eventually, we're
probably not even gonna

remember the fight so...

- Thanks, dude.
- Hey, good job today.

- I'll talk to you this week.
- All right.

- Good night.
I love you.

- Good night.
I love you.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- You gonna split
some wood for me?

- Might--might replace
that with a "with."

- I've only ever really
wanted to be two things:

an astronaut, at about five,

and then around six or seven
it changed

to wanting to be a musician.

Dad ran a welding business,

and Mom eventually
was a teacher,

but she was a stay-at-home mom
when we were--

when we were real little.

I remembered, uh,
dad always playing songs

for us, always had
a guitar in the living room.

Around that time, I saw
the benefit of--of building

this ability to play guitar,
that if I can do that,

I will be able to be
a complement to--to Scott

because he's a singer,
you know.

Like, I thought of Scott
as a--as a lead singer.

12, 13 years old,
he's just the--

the kid that will get up
in front of anybody

and dance around and sing,
you know, off the cuff.

- So what you got here
are some pretty wet wood.

It's still pretty damp.
We want it to dry.

It's a little late
in the season.

So I'm trying to stack
it kind of spacey, generously,

allow air to go through it.

You know,
when I was eight years old,

I did a lip-syncing,
uh, performance

of a Hall & Oates song,

and I remember thinking
before I did it that there's--

there'll be some talent scout
that'll happen to be around,

probably pass the window
and see this,

and they're gonna--they're
gonna just see stardom--

like they know.

I mean, I know it's
just a matter of time

before they know
and I'm scooped up

and swept away into the--

wherever the--
the movie town is.

If that's Hollywood,
that's what I heard.

Or is it New York
or is it somewhere else?

The funny thing is,

is here's a director
from New York

in the woods where I used
to run around and dream

that there would be a--
a director

from New York filming me.

I need to get this even,

then I'll feel like I'll
be good for the winter.

- I bet--I bet you're
pretty good feeling already.

- I need to get this even

and then double this
right here.

- You know, it depends
on how much the winter is.

When it starts and how long
it lasts and how--

how bad it is when it's here.

- Well, that's--
that's all well and true,

but Scott also
has central heating.

- So I think that
we'll probably--

- You don't know
what will happen.

- Scott--Scott,
you know it all depends

on how long the winter lasts

and also if the central heating
repairman can make his--

make his way out to the house.

- Hey, dad,
are we laughing at that?

- Younger than 13,

Scott and I were--
were not friends really.

- One, two, three, four.

- Four years is not
that big of a difference now.

Four years is--
is nothing when you're 60,

but at 5 and 9,
it's pretty--

that's a pretty major
difference.

At--at 8 and 12,
it's a pretty major difference.

- Seth, he just never--
he was, uh--

he was just smiling
all the time.

A real sweet kid,
real sweet.

And, uh, I always joke
with him and say, you need--

he had this crew cut

when he was 11 years old
and I'm like,

"You need a crew cut
so I can remember you like

that little 11-year old kid,"

that I could--
that I could mess with him.

And he'd say, "Scott."

- Scott took advantage
a lot of Seth.

Not in a malicious way
but in a conniving way.

- Just like big brothers do.

- In a conniving way.
- Yeah.

- I always wanted
to hang out with him,

and he was always keep--

you know,
keeping me in a distance.

That's--that was kind of
the--the dynamic.

- From a very early age,
Scott took on the role of, um,

of protector in a way for me.

- I was really afraid
of how it'd feel

to see Seth get hurt.

I would also worry a lot
when we couldn't find him,

like we'd lose him
in a department store.

I would just worry to no end.

- If I announced that
I was going to the store

and Seth was going with me,
he would find a way to go too

because he thought I couldn't
watch Seth up to his standards.

- He always had his--

his kidnapping radar on
or whatever.

He was always worried
I was gonna get kidnapped.

I'm not sure if he saw
a television show or something,

but he was damn near obsessed
with--with the idea of--of--

of me being kidnapped, which
is kind of ridiculous because,

uh, he was simultaneously the
older brother that, you know,

would grab me in a headlock,
you know, or whatever.

So it's kind of like,
you know,

are you protecting me
or are you attacking me?

Like which--which one
we got going on here?

- I'd do just like,
you know, kind of mean things.

I used to put
pillows in his shirt.

I said, "Put pillows all
in your shirt, all around it.

"I'm gonna show you
what to do if a bully comes.

And I'm gonna be the bully.
Okay, let me show you."

And then I would just,
you know, wail on him

and knock him down and say,
"Now, what do you do?"

You know, but he was
really tolerant of that.

- Probably around 14, 15
is when we became friends.

When I was 14 or so.
He's 18.

We--we sort
of joined forces in a way.

- Gotta be purposeful.
17-12.

- It's still spinning.
- Ohh!

- That was a big
pivotal point right there.

- Big point.

- I both consider Scott
the greatest songwriter

ever from North Carolina,

and I consider Seth
the greatest songwriter

ever from North Carolina.

I'm--I'm just glad
they play in the same band.

- ♪ Don't I look ♪

- ♪ Winter's on its way
here without you ♪

- I don't think so.

I've heard--
I've heard several.

- I think you've heard
this but it was, uh...

- I'm not sure about name.
- It really didn't have a name.

It's one of my all-time
favorite songs ever.

You gotta hear it.

- Two, three, four.

["Rejects in the Attic"
begins]

♪ ♪

♪ I've been hanging out ♪

♪ With the rejects
in the attic ♪

♪ Can't get out of my head ♪

♪ The way you left ♪

♪ I got a sense of belonging ♪

♪ But what does it matter ♪

♪ And winter's on its way
here to collect ♪

- ♪ I was born on
the outskirts of a dream ♪

♪ ♪

♪ My daddy was a miner
of almost anything ♪

♪ And I've been
busting stones ♪

♪ Too proud to go back home ♪

♪ Admit that all
my digging was in vain ♪

- ♪ But don't we talk
different than we did ♪

♪ Am I more quiet ♪

- ♪ Than I've been ♪

- ♪ And don't you
look brighter ♪

- ♪ Than the moon ♪

- ♪ Don't I look different ♪

- ♪ Without you ♪

- ♪ Well, don't I look
different ♪

- ♪ Without you ♪

♪ ♪

- That ability to really share

their innermost,
deepest, private thoughts

is what makes a great
songwriter a great songwriter,

but typically it's done
more a solo mission.

So the fact that they
are able to do it together

and then help each other
through that process

or add
to each other's process,

allows their
songwriting to grow

in a different way
than--than most.

- ♪ And don't
we talk different ♪

- ♪ Than we did ♪

- ♪ Am I more quiet well ♪

- ♪ Than I've been ♪

- ♪ And don't you
look brighter ♪

- ♪ Than the moon ♪

- ♪ Don't I look different ♪

- ♪ Without you ♪

- ♪ Don't I look different ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ Winter's on its way
here to collect ♪

- ♪ Well don't I look,
well don't I look ♪

- ♪ Winter's on its way
here to collect ♪

- ♪ Well don't I look,
well don't I look different ♪

- ♪ Winter's on its way
here to collect ♪

- ♪ Well don't I look,
well don't I look ♪

- ♪ Winter's on its
way here without you ♪

♪ Winter's on its
way here without you ♪

- I'd like these guys
even if they weren't my sons,

you know that?

- So I built this
chicken house, that's right.

- Can I pet that chicken
for a second?

I want it.

- There's a weird thing
that happens, um--

or happened
for me and Scott anyway,

growing up around cows and--
and tractors,

and all these country things,
country music,

our Dad being very country,

lots of pearl button shirts,
you know.

There was something that--

something in us that
at some point was like,

you just wanna reject it,
you know.

We don't wanna be identified
with the area we grew up in,

you know,
which is dominated by,

uh, blue-collar work,
the country, and NASCAR really.

- We were like, "Oh, you know,
this country music's dumb, Dad.

You know, we want Hall & Oates,
Prince, Duran Duran.

- The way that I saw
a way to kind of

culturally broaden my horizon
was Kurt Cobain basically,

you know, like a lot of us did.

- ♪ I love you but I can't
remember why ♪

- When I was 16,
I wouldn't have thought--

I would never
have touched a banjo.

And we made fun of anybody

that wore cowboy boots,
you know.

We--we played soccer,
we listened to Nirvana,

we wore thermal underwear
with cargo shorts, Dr. Martens

and that was that.

♪ ♪

- Let's go through
this gate right here.

- Okay.

I came back to the music
of North Carolina and--

and a rural-based
country type music

with a vengeance because I--
I had the opportunity to go

and meet Doc Watson
when I was 14 years old

and go to his house and--
and hang out with him.

- ♪ Well, I finally
listened to my mama ♪

♪ Good people ♪

♪ Then I would
not have been here today ♪

- Um, you know, he--
he is the one to open the door.

You know Doc is a--
he is a legend, you know.

I went with him
that evening and, uh--

and sold merch for him.

But when I watched him play,

everything I thought about

what it took to have
a powerful music performance

just went out the window.

Because I think at that time,

I--I--I thought volume and--
and power were synonymous.

I--I--I felt
that in order to have a--

a powerful performance
musically, you had to be loud,

and I realized that night
and every other time

I ever saw Doc,
which was many times,

that power comes
from character.

- I don't ever fail
to look back across there

and appreciate what we got.

- You and be both, Pops.

A lot changed that night
and I--

I realized
what could come of a--

somebody just playing
an acoustic guitar and singing.

Just threw the--
the curtains open

and just let all the sunlight
in on what--what it--

what it could look like.

You know, with music like this,
whatever this music is,

you--you can't
hide behind the volume.

♪ ♪

♪ I wish I was a tune ♪

♪ You sang in your kitchen ♪

♪ Putting your groceries away ♪

♪ And washing your dishes ♪

Gonna put on--

♪ Putting your
groceries away ♪

♪ Washing the dishes ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Then when we were done... ♪

- Just turn me on.
- Yeah.

Whatever.
"Turn me down."

And then, like,
I was thinking,

♪ If I get in-- ♪

♪ But if I get too close ♪

That's all I got.

A simple love song
but, sort of, like,

some hesitation in it,
you know, or, like,

it's really that's the theme,
hesitation is a--

I wish I could be involved
with you but not--

but not hinder you.

Wish I could be
in your life or in--

somehow integrated
into your life.

♪ ♪

- ♪ I wish I was a sweater ♪

♪ Wrapped around your hips ♪

♪ And when the cold wind
blow--blew ♪

♪ Into me you would slip ♪

♪ ♪

♪ And when the sun came back ♪

♪ You would hang me up ♪

♪ And I'd watch you undress ♪

♪ From the closet ♪

♪ Deeply something in love ♪

- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah.

I like the idea of it.

I was thinking about
that--you'd say,

"I watch it from the bed--"

Like, wherever she puts it,
but if she hangs it up,

and he watches
from the closet, like--

because it has to be put away
again happily.

So I think that's a good
structure and--so that's three.

- Okay.

I think, uh,
we maybe need another verse

that's maybe not
an analogy verse.

- Yeah, just one
that's not metaphorical.

♪ ♪

- Another approach
could be going through

and saying,
"I don't wish I was a candle.

"I don't wish I was a sweater.
I don't wish I was a song.

"I am this and this is
where I need to be

and there's
nothing stopping him."

- ♪ I'm not a song ♪

♪ I'm not a sweater ♪

♪ Hmm I'm not a tune ♪

- I'm not--

- I'm something better.
- ♪ I'm something better ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ I'm in love ♪
- Yeah.

- It's the most amazing
thing I've ever seen.

♪ I'm gonna let it roll ♪
- Yeah, write that.

- And you're gonna
see all the bad things and...

- Write it, write that.
- Yeah.

- What about I'm your
sweetheart writing a letter

or just maybe the song
is the letter?

I'm thinking
the whole song becomes a--

'cause the whole song
is to her, to a person.

- Like...

♪ Just take it,
would you read it ♪

♪ Is there something,
believe it ♪

♪ I love you, I'm sorry ♪

Like apologizing for--
I'm sorry I love you,

because I'm so drawn
in it and it ends like that,

kind of almost ends--
- It's great.

- Yeah.

♪ ♪

♪ I'm not a song ♪

♪ I'm not a sweater ♪

♪ I'm not a fire ♪

♪ I'm something better ♪

♪ I'm a man in love ♪

♪ Writing you a letter ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ Will you take it ♪

♪ Will you keep it ♪

♪ Will you read it ♪

♪ Believe it ♪

♪ I love you ♪

♪ I'm sorry ♪

- Thank you very much.
That's a new one, y'all.

Thanks for letting us
share it with you.

I appreciate it.

What?

- Yeah.

Where are you?
- In the band room.

- I can't get
this thing open, man.

No matter how hard I try.
How strong is your grip?

- Pretty good.
Want me to give it a try?

- Yeah. Gonna give it
a little help,

so I can say
that because I helped you.

I mean, it's on there
like nobody's business.

- It's probably
gonna explode.

- When he was in college
and I was in high school,

I would record songs
or ideas on a cassette tape

and then mail them
to him in a--in an envelope.

He would, maybe,
try to write the next part

or write the next part.

- ♪ There is a key ♪

♪ There is the light ♪

♪ There's some
times that I catch it ♪

♪ Maybe last
through the night ♪

There were a couple songs
that we wrote back and forth.

We'd leave messages on each
other's answering machines

and then it slowly
became the band Nemo.

- I think what we were
attempting at that time

was something closer
to like At the Drive In.

- ♪ Yeah ♪

- We were just still hung up
on two electric guitars,

electric bass, drums,
lead singer, loud, aggressive.

- Those ultra-dynamics,
singing, screaming,

all kinds of stuff but--
but definitely heavy rock.

♪ ♪

- I know it was painful.
It was physically painful.

It was draining
and it was, uh--

it was becoming maybe
insincere to continue that.

- ♪ A lot of moving,
a lot of rolling ♪

♪ A lot of driving... ♪

- As we did that,
Seth and John Twomey and I,

would play some old time songs
or some old country songs.

But Seth and I were--were
beginning to commit to that.

- And it--it felt--
it felt natural.

I don't know if it came
natural, but it felt natural.

And it, it felt--it felt
like--like we were starting

to do the thing that really
made sense for us to do.

- Every week,
we were more interested

and more interested and when
the band, uh, stopped, we--

we all of a sudden
felt this huge relief.

- I've always loved
this acoustic music.

We're making some okay
sounds when we sing together,

with just an acoustic guitar
and a banjo, whatever,

so let's just simplify
the hell out of this.

So we just went--just down
to just me and Scott

and slowly became,
uh, the Avett Brothers.

And starting like that with
someone who I already trusted

more than anybody
in the world is--

it's like
the most solid beginning

you could have for a band.

If there's anyone that I wanna
start a band with it was Scott.

And whatever's
gonna happen afterward,

we'll figure that out later.

- It was just
the two of us and it felt

very, very good
and very strong

and it was a great foundation.

From there, it moved
into the--that's where--

when we met Bob and
it moved into the next step.

- Good morning.
- Good morning.

- He quit the band.

- Well, yeah, but...

- Oh, he's rejoined.
- There he is.

- Hi.

- Bob quit the band
and now he's--

- I did, but, uh, I couldn't
get a job anywhere else,

so I guess I'll come back.

- At some point, we decided we
really need some low end here.

We need a standup bass player.
We need, you know--

We need the sound,
but we really need the look.

- It was so old-timey
and so rich

and full of soul,
and we knew if we wanted

to continue on with that...

just for a good platform, we
needed a standup bass player.

- Started asking
musicians we know,

"Do you know anybody who plays
standup bass?"

- I was going to school

at Winthrop University
in Rock Hill, South Carolina,

and I was in a jazz
guitar program,

but I had just started
playing upright bass.

- We met at
the Media Play parking lot,

which is kind of like Best Buy.

It's closed down now,
but it was over by--

by the school that I went to,
UNC Charlotte.

- I got my bass out

and I'm waiting for somebody
to show up,

and Scott and Seth pull up

in a gold Ford Taurus
station wagon and get out,

and they're wearing,
like, flannel shirts

and, like,
cut-off shorts,

and they've got long hair
and weird facial hair and...

- We just played in this
parking lot because I--

you know,
as far as I was concerned,

someone might
come and see us.

And an opportunity to, uh,
play for some people.

Maybe make some change
or meet somebody,

and so let's just do--
we're used to--

we do this
all the time anyway.

- And we just started
playing tunes like,

"Going Down The Road
Feeling Bad,"

uh, "Worried Man,"
like traditional folk songs,

Woody Guthrie, um,

Ramblin' Jack Elliot
type songs.

♪ ♪

- Oh, yeah.

- And they were like,

"Okay. Well, let's go over
an original song."

And they showed me
actually the song, um,

"Kind of in Love,"
and it was--

immediately stood out

because it had
a lot of chords in it.

- ♪ Why do you amaze me ♪

♪ Why do you amaze me ♪

♪ Why do you
fool me into thinking ♪

♪ That I'm kind of
in love with you ♪

- And then that was it.

"Okay.
We'll talk to you later."

- We played
several songs and--

and so we left and Seth
and I talked on the way home.

He was like, "You know,
seems good to me."

And later we found out that
he had probably played bass,

like standup bass,
a couple of times.

Maybe played around on it.

- I mean, the guy had barely
touched the instrument.

I mean, I didn't find
this out for,

like, probably for a good
four, five, six years

that it was a brand-new
instrument to him.

Of course, we had no
experience whatsoever

playing with
a standup bass player.

So just the fact that he was
standing there

with a standup bass was--
was, you know,

convincing enough for us.

We're like, "All right."

- I guess Seth and I just
didn't really know what a--

what a seasoned
bass player

or a con bass player
sounded like,

but it was great because he
was on the same level as us.

We were all in the same page.

- Oh, God.

- This is listed on Wikipedia
as one of our records.

So people can find this
and listen to it.

- Well, John sounds
pretty good right there.

- John does.

♪ ♪

♪

♪ Why do you amaze me ♪

- ♪ Why do you fool me
into thinking ♪

♪ That I'm kind of
in love with you? ♪

- Oh, good God.

- You want to sing it or--

- Yeah, I can sing first.
- Okay.

- Now that I'm coming off
of that I'm ready for it.

- You're all dialed in,
you're all tuned up.

- Oh, God, I'm dialed in.

- At first, when it was
just me and Scott,

we were mainly just playing
without anyone asking.

We didn't really have so much
in the way of proper bookings.

But when Bob came on,
he started booking.

He booked the first tour,
you know, basically by himself.

- This band actually
wouldn't even

have gone on tour
if Bob hadn't said,

"We got to get out
of North Carolina."

Because we're
just hillbillies.

We just--we were
self-centered hillbillies

who thought the world was
gonna either come to us or not.

And either way,
they were missing out.

And Bob was like, "Are
we gonna go play for anybody?

"Other than, uh, you know,
Cabarrus County

"or Mecklenburg County,
North Carolina.

"What is--
what's going on here?

Do you guys
wanna go anywhere?"

And he took us.

♪ ♪

- ♪ Well, I've been
locking myself up ♪

♪ In my house
for some time now ♪

♪ Reading and writing
and reading and thinking ♪

♪ And searching
for reasons ♪

♪ And missing
the seasons, the autumn ♪

♪ The spring, the summer,
the snow ♪

♪ The record will stop
and the record will go ♪

♪ Latches latched
the windows down ♪

♪ The dog coming in
and the dog going out ♪

♪ Up with caffeine
and down with a shot ♪

♪ Constantly worried
about what I've got ♪

♪ Distracting my work
but I can't make a stop ♪

♪ And my confidence
on and my confidence off ♪

♪ And I sink to the bottom
and rise to the top ♪

♪ And I think to myself
that I do this a lot ♪

♪ World outside just goes,
it goes ♪

♪ It goes, it goes,
it goes, it goes ♪

♪ And witness it all
from the blinds of my window ♪

♪ I'm a little nervous ♪

♪ 'Bout what you'll think
when you... ♪

- Maybe like Friday night
we'd be, you know, somewhere,

and we would have--

we'd be playing like 10:00
and we would go to, like,

a Ruby Tuesdays
or some kind of like...

- Chili's or something.

- Chili's or something and
there'd be all these, like,

guys there with their
girlfriends or their wives,

and they're having their--
they were, like,

out to dinner
on Friday night.

And we'd be, like, cold,

and we're not gonna go
on until 10:00 P.M.

I remember, like, sitting,
and Scott would be like,

"Man, wouldn't it be
great to be home.

- They're all just living
their lives, man.

- ♪ Now I can't recall ♪

♪ A time when we made
the city ♪

It felt like I was
saying without a radio hit

there's just no telling
where it's gonna go.

We've never had a record that
was massive marketing-wise

and we're--
we've continued to grow.

We've never shrunk.
We've always grown.

So I believe that
could probably keep going.

The Grateful Dead did it.

- I did--I did expect us to
have a hit though, I really d--

I really did.
A few--

There's been quite a few
times where I've been like,

"Man, this is gonna be it."

- ♪ Oh Brooklyn,
Brooklyn take me in ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Are you aware
the shape I'm in ♪

♪ ♪

♪ My hands they shake,
my head it spins ♪

- Lord, it spins.

- ♪ Oh Brooklyn,
Brooklyn take me in ♪

♪ ♪

- Gary, I'll see you on, uh...

Fri--Saturday.
- Saturday.

Okay, my friend.
Have a good one.

- All right.

- Holler if you need me.

- Hmm.

- Da-da.

Da-da.

- All right.

It's a perfect little family.
- You smell like the bus.

I smell like the bus?

- And you just--and your
mouth smells like gum.

- Hi.

- It's hard to make sure
you kiss, like, everybody

at the same time 'cause
if you kiss anybody first--

- Somebody gets upset.

- You never know,
Mom might get upset.

Eleanor might get upset.
Max might get upset.

You smell like tractor.

I smell like tractor?

- Yeah.
- Mm-hmm.

- If I'm here, I'll
just basically do breakfast

and dinner as much as I can.

Once we get apart,
like when I go,

I'm getting to dislike it
more and more,

but once I'm here
I don't wanna go anywhere,

but I say that I've
always been that way,

and I probably told you
that before, I don't--

I start thinking
that I don't--

I don't wanna ever travel
anywhere, that's not true.

Anytime I'm leading up
to like a trip,

like to Malibu
or like a big tour.

I'm just like, "Oh, oh,
I guess I just don't

ever wanna leave home,"
and then I, uh, you know,

then I get in Oslo and
I'm, like, "Oh, okay."

You know, I'm
just taking in so much

and I'm--I'm, uh,
I'm living, you know?

And I'm bringing that back to,

uh, to people that,
uh, that it matters to.

There's Eleanor coming in.

Try that.

- The six year old here.
- Six years old.

- It's official.
It's official.

- Six years old.

I think Sarah and I are--

it's--it's kind of unspoken,

but we, uh--we both
depend on each other

to do what we do
for the family.

- You know,
he wouldn't be who he is

if he wasn't doing
what he loved to do.

So therefore we just,
you know, make it up as we go.

So...
- Yeah, that's true.

- Six years old.

Our first and only little girl.

- Mm-hmm.

- I'm an only child,
so it's pretty new for me,

because at my house
growing up it was very,

you know, very quiet,
everything was very calm.

You know, we sit down for
a family meal and it was just,

you know, still
and, you know, calm.

And when I first met Scott
and going to his house

and the whole family comes
and then everybody's kids come

and it's--it's--
it's chaos and it's great.

- There's Uncle Seth!

♪ ♪

- So sick
of the stereotypes

about North Carolina barbecue.

It's all we ever eat, right?

Barbecue.

♪ ♪

Ahhh!

Max, what do you think we'll
name the new baby brother?

- ♪ I don't even
need to see your face ♪

- It is interesting that you
spend so much time together,

but time together with
the entire band and crew

every day and night
is not the same as--as this.

We don't enjoy the same
kind of, uh, communication

we get at home that we,
you know, wanna wrap in.

- No matter what
we think, you know,

the core of this
is us spending

natural time together.

Ahh!

- Oh, yeah, cupcakes.
Max, cupcake.

all: ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday... ♪

- If we're not connecting,

if we're not aware what's
going on in each other's lives

and not keeping our joking
and everything going,

then the--then
the music side suffers.

It's a weird thing.

It's not something that
I would've predicted really.

- Daddy, I wanna
go back outside.

- Okay go, go.

- I'm going back out!

And here I come!

- A little Avett.

- Good morning.
- Good morning.

- First day.

How you feeling?

- Great.

- Sweet.

- Good, good.
That's good to hear.

- This is the place
is living, huh?

- Yeah, pretty much.
How's it going?

- Good, man.

- Yeah, Monday.

- Scott and Seth
and I were working together

cleaning carpet
for Bird's Carpet

and Floor Services
in Concord, North Carolina.

They were on their first tour
in 2002, and that was, like,

uh, a month-long tour,
and I wasn't on that one,

but when they got back from
it, we were working together,

and so I, you know,
I'd heard all about it.

I just graduated
from college and Scott said,

you know, as I was talking
to him I was like,

"I don't really know
what I'm gonna do."

He was like, "Well,
just come work with us."

And I was, like,
"All right, what do I do?"

So I was just kind of
the fourth guy

on the road, selling
merchandise, setting up.

It was just baby steps
all the way, you know.

It's just, um,
each show would be

kind of like
a victory, you know.

After the show,
we'd be so excited about--

and it's kind of
stepping stones from there.

- ♪ Late at night ♪

- The world that we
lived in was completely:

go play, sell CDs.

If we can mail some out,
we might mail some out

to some people,
and they might send us a check,

but cool, but we're making
all the money in this realm,

and that's where it lives and
that's all we've invested in.

- Must be you guys--
- Yeah, it is.

It might be worth
something one day.

I guess a proper release came

when Dolph, our manager,
came along.

- And there was
an article written

in our local paper
about, uh, Scott and Seth.

They had gone across country,

on, like, a little
musical journey of sorts.

Went to go see them
play one night

at a place
called the Wine Vault.

♪ ♪

- I remember going
home and telling my wife,

like, I can't really
describe what I just saw.

It felt handmade, like it
was a one-of-a-kind act.

- Thank you.
Good night.

We are the Avett Brothers.
Thanks for listening, y'all.

- The whole thing was
in shambles, strings breaking.

They were unpolished
at that time, uh,

but that was
the cool vibe about it.

- Then that--
that grew from there

because he was loosely
considering starting a label.

He wanted to do
something with music.

He just wanted to be
involved in it somehow.

All right, we're gonna
sing the whole thing out here?

Just in this?
- Yeah.

- Cool.
- Try it.

- I guess so.

- Cool.

- I mean, I didn't have
anything to fall back on,

but I knew I would rather
invest in them

than anything else
I could find.

I mean, I just believe them.

- So on that part
we'd be like, uh...

♪ You say you look funny ♪

♪ I say you're a star ♪

♪ I say whatever
you think you are ♪

♪ Watch the naysayers
fall right in line ♪

♪ If believe that
they'll say ♪

♪ She's so pretty,
he is so fine ♪

♪ There ain't no man
can save me ♪

♪ There ain't no man
can enslave me ♪

♪ Ain't no man or men ♪

♪ That can change the shape
my soul is in ♪

♪ There ain't nobody here
who can cause me pain ♪

♪ Or raise my fear 'cause
I got only love to share ♪

♪ If you're looking for truth ♪

♪ I'm proof
you'll find it there ♪

♪ ♪

- Yeah.

You want another shot
at that last little bit?

- Sure.

- ♪ For truth I'm proof ♪

- ♪ You'll find it ♪

- Hell yeah.
- That's it.

- That's it.
- Great.

- They've been doing this
for so long, like--

I mean, it's amazing.

Like, they're brothers,
you know?

God, I've never seen
two brothers

get along that well ever.

- It's like it's almost
like a Disney movie.

It's really--
it's really weird.

It's a real thing,

and maybe sounds cheesy,

but it's really beautiful,
and I think it rubs off.

It rubs off on--
on everybody.

- ♪ Beauty ♪

♪ ♪

- It's a great group
of people.

Like the brothers are awesome,

but also the team
that they've built.

Having a band
that gets along,

that everyone respects
each other.

it's not something that
I've seen possibly ever.

And I know--like, all
of my friends are musicians.

This kind of a dynamic
I've never even heard of.

♪ ♪

- I look back now
and know that I had, like,

disproportionate responses

to all kinds of things
in my life,

because this one huge thing
wasn't right.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- So, yeah, it was a--

It was a crazy thing,
very lonely, and I just--

I--one of the weird--
weird experiences

of the whole thing was--
was feeling like--

like there was this piece
of information

that only I knew...
- Yes.

- In the whole world.
- Yes.

- And no one else could
possibly really know it.

Talk to anyone,
I've talked with my parents,

talked with my closest people,
talked to Scott, you know,

and it's like--
it's all, like, support,

like, do what you got to do,
but, like, I was the only one

that could really
know for sure,

this is the direction,
you know?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- But I appreciate you.

You know, you and I spoke
a couple times, you know,

leading up to it,
and I--I appreciated that.

- Well, you seem happy
and good, like, lighter.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- It's there.
It's a real thing.

I think it's there for her--
for her as well.

- Great.

- But some heavy lifting.
- Yeah.

- It's impossible
to know what the--

the album looks like
right now,

but for my contribution,
there's no doubt it--it--

it's, uh, it rings heavily
of a moment of my life.

I mean, there's--there's
some specificity in--in the--

in some of these songs

that it just,
I mean, you couldn't confuse

what the meaning is
or what the--

what it's speaking to.

I mean, when you
when you name a song

the "Divorce Separation Blues,"

there's really only one thing
it could be about.

♪ I got to the tough... ♪

- Record that.
- Seth, B major.

- Oh, yeah, I got it.

- It's such a weird thing
that divorce is--

is so common and, uh,
so rare in songs.

Isn't that a weird thing?

Breakup is--
is rampant in songwriting,

but divorce, uh, in
particular is barely mentioned.

[playing "Divorce
Separation Blues"]

♪ ♪

- ♪ I'm gonna keep
on living ♪

♪ Even though I sometimes do ♪

♪ Fantasize
about disappearing ♪

♪ Down in the ocean blue ♪

♪ Just to get some peace
and quiet ♪

♪ From the warfare
inside my heart ♪

♪ Well I've been
under ear-splitting fire ♪

♪ Ever since
we've been apart ♪

♪ Well I'm gonna
wash the dishes ♪

♪ Pay the bills
and watch the news ♪

♪ I got the tough education ♪

♪ No celebration ♪

♪ Divorce separation blues ♪

♪ ♪

My divorce was
about a two-year--

two-year-long process, less--

little less than two years,

and it started in late 2012.

But what--
I mean, what a time.

What a--what a--
what a time of just--

just horrifying feelings
and--and--and--

and loneliness that you
just can't even put into words.

- You know, I'd heard,
"Oh, it's awful."

So I'm like
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

You know, it's a breakup.

I've broken up
with girls before.

Man, forget about it.

It's, uh--it's a complete
upheaval of--of everything.

It's like a death, you know.

I underestimated
what that process could do.

- ♪ Well, I'll sign on ♪

♪ The line beneath my name ♪

♪ The road is gone ♪

♪ Can't go back
the way we came ♪

♪ ♪

It was kind of something
that I needed to do.

You know, couldn't get by
without doing it.

Had--had to do it.

Had--had to write
a song about it,

about--about divorce.

It's a, uh--it's
a portrait of a time, you know.

Couldn't write it before,
couldn't write it now.

♪ Well now I'm bound
to break a promise ♪

♪ One I made to God and you ♪

♪ I got the tough education ♪

♪ No celebration ♪

♪ Divorce separation blues ♪

♪ I got the tough education ♪

♪ No celebration ♪

♪ Bad communication ♪

♪ Worse interpretation ♪

♪ Love deprivation ♪

♪ Pain allocation ♪

♪ Soul devastation ♪

♪ Cold desolation ♪

♪ Life complication ♪

♪ Resuscitation ♪

♪ Divorce separation ♪

♪ Blues ♪

♪ ♪

- No, thank you.

- I'm gonna do that
before I work out today.

- You're not gonna want--
- Peanut butter.

- Let's eat some eggs.

- I always get up
and I'm like,

"Ugh, I got to go
over there and help Joe."

And I'm like,
"I can't get up.

- "I can't do it."
- "Can't help Joe."

- This is part of, uh...
- This is part of--

- Joe's job description
that...

- Part of paying the dues.

- Right.

Which will
never be paid in full.

- Never be--
I keep messing up.

- Yeah. That's right.
- I keep messing up.

- You're messing up
right now, man.

You put peppers in these eggs.

It's gonna sabotage
every vocal track I'm using.

- It's not spicy.
They're--

It's not too spicy.

I was playing
with another band.

The Avetts, they were
recording "Emotionalism,"

and it just happened that they
needed a cellist for a song.

Went in there,
recorded on one song,

and ended up recording on,
like, six songs.

- It--it just clicked.
You know, it just worked.

We just got along great,
and before we knew it, Joe--

Joe was--was on board and--
and much like me and Scott

and Bob, was, you know,
came on doing multiple jobs.

You know, playing cello was
just--was just one of them.

♪ ♪

- Part of to justify
adding another guy

who just plays cello,
he had to help out

with our merchandise and
setting up and tearing down.

- I'm the IT guy
for The Avett Brothers.

I'm the social media manager
for the The Avett Brothers.

And I still do our--
our flights.

I--I try to do
as many things as I can

to make it so that
I can't be let go.

"Yes, I'll do that, uh-huh.
Yeah, I'll do that too."

- Once we found
out he could cook...

- Yeah.
- It was over.

- Yeah.

- And that was the start
of my official career

with The Avett Brothers.

[band playing "Satan Pulls
the Strings"]

♪ ♪

- ♪ Baby's in the cradle ♪

♪ Mama's in the bed ♪

♪ Sparrow's on the windowsill ♪

♪ And the devil's in my head ♪

- ♪ The devil's in my head ♪

♪ Mama, the devil's
in my head ♪

♪ Baby's in the cradle ♪

♪ And the devil's in my head ♪

♪ ♪

- It was neat coming in
at that point because it was

right before they were
starting to grow quickly.

So, we went from playing for,
like, couple hundred people

in Phoenix, Arizona,
to the next time we went back,

it was like 600 people.

And then it was
like 2,000 people,

and that you could just see,
like, this gradual growth,

more and more and more
people are coming out all over.

♪ ♪

- We started getting
some attention from--

from some major labels

that were represented
in and around Nashville.

- This lady at RCA,

she caught wind
of the brothers.

We were driving back
to Concord, and she called us

to come back and play
on the RCA, like a boardroom.

- Like a full-on
corporate boardroom.

Big, gigantic wooden table.

Probably like
a dry-erase board.

You know, like a sterile,
you know, carpeted boardroom.

- She sat at the end
of the conference table,

and we just set up,
full-on performed.

- And at this point,
we're pretty well-oiled,

like, we can--
we can rattle our songs off.

We can do them well,
our harmonies are there,

the power is there,
the vocals are there.

And then she said,
"How many of your songs--

"how many--how many songs,
when you put a record out,

do you--do you plan
to be originals?"

We were like,
"Well, all of them.

All of the songs."

- And then she said,
"Well, I don't really know

"what and where we would put
anything like this on radio.

"And without that,
I would have to ask,

"would you be willing to play
other people's songs

that other people wrote?"

And we just flat-out
said, "No, not really."

- And it was just like,

"Man, we drove all the way
back to Nashville,

"and they--
this person's talking

"about other people
writing songs for us.

We got to get home.
We got to get home."

- And that pretty much
sealed the fate of that deal,

but that was a blessing
it didn't happen.

- That experience really
turned me off to the idea of--

of--of a label or whatever.

That's why it took
eight or nine years

to really consider it.

♪ ♪

- When Rick came to the--
to the table,

he was, like,
inviting us into his home,

and he wanted
talk about records,

he wanted to talk
about our record

and how he
thought it was great,

and didn't lead with,
"I wanna do a deal with you."

He--he approached it like,
"We might not work together.

"You know, that'd
be kind of your call really,

and that's fine."

- And at the end of the--the--

the meeting there,
he just said,

"Well, if we can
work together, I'd love to,

if you guys want to."

- He was the main reason
we agreed to sign

into a major label deal.

- I remember them
talking about it and I--

and I was like,
"Rick Rubin, really?"

You know, like I--

and they didn't even know,
like, who he was, so...

- I can't imagine them ever
making any choices creatively

with the idea of gaining
more of an audience.

It's never been about that.

It's always been about pure
expression of who they are,

and the label's job
is just to allow people

to find out about them.

- I was losing an act
on a record label,

but I was proud
to lose the act to Rick,

to go to his label
because I knew

he would help them
with their art.

He could help further them
down the road artistically,

help them create
the albums they wanna create.

♪ ♪

- The plan has always been
we come in here

with a seven-piece band

and plow through the songs

in a very colorful,
natural way.

We get in here, we have--
we're forced to--

especially with Rick,
we're forced to rethink that.

- ♪ Baby's in the cradle ♪

♪ Mama's in the bed ♪

♪ Sparrow's on
the windowsill ♪

♪ And the devil's
in my head ♪

- The bus is the--
the small studio

where they're doing a lot
of the electronic sounds

based on the compositions
that we're performing in here.

We'll do one pass
where we're just practicing,

and then we'll do a real deal.

We are kind of
at a crossroads

where we're
in a fork in the road

where we could take
one or the other.

Do we--do we just continue
to document and that's fine,

that's great, if--
if this band is--is that,

then it is or do we--

do we turn and--
and explore and discover.

Hey, I saw a horse up
the road with a broke leg.

Don't you all shoot a horse
with a broke leg around here?

No, we shoot him
with a shotgun.

♪ ♪

Say, you're not--

there's not much between
you and a fool, is there?

- No.
Just that fiddle.

- Ah.

- All right, sweetheart.

Okay, bye.

- The song--
the group of songs,

they cover a lot of things,

big things as well as
intimate enough things

that are important here
and now for our band

and for us as people.

- ♪ I was embarrassed ♪

♪ About how I got beat down ♪

♪ I was ashamed ♪

♪ But now I'm just
plain proud ♪

♪ What's this connection
we both feel ♪

♪ We have with each other ♪

Yeah.

♪ Back and forth ♪

♪ We can't afford ♪

♪ Another change of plans ♪

♪ Bent and sold ♪

♪ Spent and torn like money,
changing hands ♪

- Oh, straight in maybe.
- Happening once.

- I think so.
On that one, I think it does.

One more time.
- So...

- There is, yeah.
There is.

♪ ♪

I'm gonna be a dad.

Today, Jennifer's 15 weeks.

Yeah. Second trimester.

My--my Baby Phone app says
it's the size of a pear now.

♪ We move together ♪

♪ Like a Coltrane song ♪

♪ If you embrace me ♪

♪ Well I'll try to hold on ♪

♪ What's this connection
we both feel ♪

♪ We have with each other ♪

Yeah.

♪ What's this
connection we both feel ♪

♪ We have with each other ♪

I was leaving
for Portland that day.

- Mm-hmm.

- And we had a show
the next day, I guess,

September 5th or whatever.
So that was interesting.

Had this--this big moment
and this big news,

and this excitement
and it's like,

"Can you run me
to the airport, babe?

"We really--I gotta
get over there.

Like, yeah, security's gonna be
bad at this time of day."

- Every second
is an adjustment.

I mean, it's exactly
what I want,

but, like, it's just so odd,
you know.

I don't know.
I haven't--

I have no idea
what's happening.

What's gonna--
what's coming our way.

♪ ♪

Did he tell you
You just gathered, yeah.

It'll be a--it will be
an interesting spring.

Big time.

- I thought it would be,
like, the regret of my--

my lifetime
if I didn't do it,

and I've--I've never really
wanted to like I do, so...

- Same.

- Really personal stuff
to record.

It's okay.

- That's--that's how
you get the quality, right?

- Forget sharing songs.

We're talking about
why we're gonna be parents.

- "Your songs
are so personal and--"

Yeah.

♪ ♪

Yeah, man.
All that's feeling really cool.

- Cool.

Yeah, I need
to write it out differently.

You guys excited?
I'm so excited.

- This is incredible.

It's like the show got away
from me by being too good.

Like, I book some friends and
then people call up and go,

"Hey, I'm around."

And then suddenly, like,
the show is so much better

than me that it's weird.

The--The Avett Brothers
are here.

I mean, it's...

it's--it's crazy.

We're--we're working on a--
a documentary about them

and then I said,
"Hey, you wanna come down?"

And they oddly said yes.

- Hey, we need about six
or seven more people in here.

You know...

- Yeah, oh, there's some
people back there.

Let's bring them in.

- Yeah, 10 or 11 more.

♪ ♪

- Initially,
when you're 16 years old

and you wanna
start playing music,

you do it because it just
makes you feel good, right?

But then you get into doing
it and it's--it's your job,

but whatever normalcy
I had developed, or, you know,

taking it for granted
before Hallie got sick,

and I took that time off,
well, that's gone now.

You know, now I don't
take it for granted at all.

Now I know that I--I--
I know of all of us,

I know what it's like
when it's gone.

And I know how fragile it is.

Sam, remember when
we made the snowmen?

Which one is
your favorite one?

- Construction ones.
- Yeah.

Construction worker snowman.
He's my favorite too.

- And that
construction worker,

and that other construction
worker right there.

- For whatever reason,
Bob kind of grew up swinging.

Like he's--he's that true
Jersey attitude and spirit.

- Down to the ground,
blue-collar spirit,

and he's--he's just got it.

- This is the play room,

but it's also--
it's a therapy room.

So we had a therapist
come over and kind of consult.

This is a gait trainer,
treadmill for Hallie

to try to help her
learn how to walk.

Sam also enjoys it.

- I remember when Bob's
daughter first got sick,

it was--it was tough, man.

- It's hard to even remember
what it was like before that.

Everything changed forever.

♪ ♪

- I just remember his--

his face when he found out.

It was--

it was tough.

You just saw the life
fall out of him, man.

- The whole world just
kind of stopped spinning.

It just--that's what
it felt like, and--

and then there's
like a three-week period

that's just a blur
for all of us

where we just kind of took
shifts being in the hospital.

- I remember going there

and getting to
the hospital the next day

and sleeping on the floor
with him in the waiting room,

and it--and--and to this day,
he's like that--

that meant
so much to me,

and I was like,
you would've done that for me.

You know, we all
would have been there

for each other, so...

- There were doctors
in the room.

They were a matter of fact
that she's--

she's not gonna make it.

From that moment on...

well, we were all forced to--
to decide if--

if we believed in God or not.

You had to because that was
the--the choice of hope or not.

- Do you want maybe look
at some other horses

or something?
- Yeah.

- Okay. Hey, buddy, let's get
your shoes and your--

your socks and your jacket on.

- She's usually really
cute when we pull up.

- She gets all excited.

♪ ♪

Hi, Hallie.

- Ahhh!
- Hi.

How'd it go today?

- She had a great day.
- Good.

- She found a lot of eggs.

- Yeah.
They put some on the shelf.

We had another class help us
hide them in the classroom.

She found them on the shelf.
- Great, awesome.

- I have to be careful about
my wording here, but there--

there has been
a lot of joy since then

that has been
born out of the event.

- Have a great Easter.
See you in a couple weeks.

- There's so much
that has changed

and so much that
has happened because of--

of that, because of--
of Hallie having a brain tumor.

There are so many
friendships that have--

that have developed and--
and relationships that have--

have--have occurred
and seeds planted

for so many good things
to happen

that it's impossible for me
at this moment

to look back and think
that it was all bad.

- Hi.

- It pushed all of us to--

to rise to the occasion
as well as we could.

- There was not a day
through the first 2 1/2 weeks

when Scott, Seth,
Joe, Dolph, Dane,

there wasn't somebody there
at all times

from the band
and our organization.

- ♪ I'm on my way ♪

♪ To you ♪

♪ I'm on my way ♪

♪ To you ♪

- We were just
forced to say,

"Are we gonna crumble or
are we gonna have faith?"

Seth and I had to struggle
because we had to keep going.

Do we get our buddy,
Paul Defiglia,

to come and play bass for us
and keep playing shows?

Like, are we betraying Bob?

Like--like, a lot of weird
sort of questions came up

and, like, me, and Scott,
and Bob had to have some

really hard conversations to
figure out how to move forward.

- I initially got
called to sub for Bob

when his son Sam
was born because he wasn't--

I don't think he was there
when Hallie was born.

And--and then I went
home and I got married

and, like, a week
after I got married,

I got a call back from them
asking if I could come to,

I think it was Atlanta,

and play, and they told me
the situation with Hallie.

I ended up subbing
on bass for,

like, a year,
a year and a half,

and Bob would come in
and play whenever he could,

but it was real touch-and-go
with her situation obviously.

- And as Bob moved back in,

and we're able
to pull back

and see kind of
what happened,

the struggle,
this work and this pain

that Bob and Melanie
had to go through firsthand

and that we all went
through with them secondhand

made us all different men.

- It just--it just
made us stronger.

The whole thing
just made us stronger.

- ♪ To you ♪

- Life is short
and it's temporary.

And no matter how long--

I mean, we can play until
we're 90 years old, if--

and I hope we do.

But there will be a day,
we could be 95 years old,

and that--that day
will come when we put down

our instruments
for the last time.

Like, this could be
the last time we do it.

Tonight, this could be it.
You don't know.

- This one's called
"Morning Song."

♪ ♪

- ♪ Hurt so bad ♪

♪ You don't come around
here anymore ♪

♪ Worse than that ♪

♪ Nothing's really helping ♪

♪ I've been thinking
'bout drinking again ♪

- ♪ It's all right ♪

♪ If you
finally stop caring ♪

- ♪ It's all right ♪

- ♪ Just don't go and tell
someone that does ♪

♪ Because even though
I know there's hope ♪

♪ In every morning song ♪

♪ I have to find
that melody alone ♪

- ♪ Now we can go ahead ♪

♪ If no one notices ♪

♪ What's the point of it ♪

♪ I have to ask ♪

♪ About how
you learn to see ♪

♪ To hope eternally ♪

♪ When you're sure to be ♪

♪ Oh leave at last ♪

♪ Hurts so bad ♪

♪ More than I expected
that it would ♪

♪ And worse than that ♪

♪ It seems to be lasting ♪

♪ Just a little longer
than it should ♪

- ♪ It's all right ♪

♪ If you finally stop caring ♪

♪ Just don't go
and tell someone that does ♪

- ♪ Because even though
I know there's hope ♪

♪ In every morning song ♪

♪ I have to find
that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to find
that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to find
that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to find
that melody alone.

- ♪ I have to find
that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to find
that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to find
that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to find
that melody alone ♪

- ♪ I have to sing ♪

- ♪ The melody alone ♪

- Thank you.

Thank you very much.
We're the Avett Brothers.

- Thank you, Judd.
Thanks for listening.

♪ ♪

- Shouldn't there be a little
bit more movement in that?

- That's what I'm saying.
I want you to move.

- Okay.
- And I'll just do the chord.

And then
"No Hard Feelings" is...

C-sharp minor.
G-sharp minor.

Oh, my bad.
G-sharp major.

- See, that's--
- That's the best one.

- Regardless of what
we have become

in the last 13 years,
one thing that we've become

professionals at
is reading our diary on stage.

Singing about being
alienated from myself

and worries and
just desolation and pain

and all that stuff
and just singing

that on stage seems
completely reasonable to me.

- Let's try it.

- Ready.
- Let's do it.

- One, two, three, four.

♪ ♪

- ♪ When my body won't
hold me anymore ♪

♪ And it finally
lets me free ♪

♪ Will I be ready ♪

♪ When my feet
won't walk another mile ♪

♪ And my lips give their last
kiss good-bye ♪

♪ Will my hands be steady ♪

♪ When I lay down my fears ♪

♪ My hopes and my doubts ♪

♪ The rings on my fingers ♪

♪ And the keys to my house ♪

- ♪ With no hard feelings ♪

- ♪ When the sun hangs
low in the west ♪

♪ And the line in my chest ♪

♪ Won't be kept ♪

♪ Held at bay any longer ♪

♪ When the jealousy
fades away ♪

♪ And it's ash and dust ♪

♪ For cash and lust ♪

♪ And it's just hallelujah ♪

- ♪ And love in thoughts ♪

♪ Love in the words ♪

♪ Love in the songs
they sing in church ♪

♪ And no hard feelings ♪

♪ Lord knows
they haven't done ♪

♪ Much good for anyone ♪

♪ Kept me afraid and cold ♪

♪ With so much
to have and hold ♪

♪ ♪

♪ When my body
won't hold me anymore ♪

♪ And it finally
lets me free ♪

♪ Where will I go ♪

♪ Will the trade winds
take me south ♪

♪ Through Georgia grain ♪

♪ Or tropical rain ♪

♪ Or snow from the heavens ♪

♪ Will I join
with the ocean blue ♪

♪ Or run into
the savior true ♪

♪ And shake hands laughing ♪

- ♪ And walk
through the night ♪

♪ Straight to the light ♪

♪ Holding the love
I've known in my life ♪

♪ And no hard feelings ♪

♪ Lord knows
they haven't done ♪

♪ Much good for anyone ♪

♪ Kept me afraid and cold ♪

♪ With so much
to have and hold ♪

♪ Under the curving sky ♪

♪ I'm finally learning why ♪

♪ It matters for me and you ♪

♪ To say it and mean it too ♪

♪ For life and its
loveliness ♪

♪ And all of its ugliness ♪

♪ Good as it's been to me ♪

♪ I have no enemies ♪

♪ I have no enemies ♪

♪ I have no enemies ♪

♪ I have no enemies ♪

- Excellent work, everybody.

Excellent.
- Cool.

- Really good.

- Cool.
- Really good.

It's a big one.
- Yeah.

- You choose to let me.
- Yeah.

Well, I'm burned out.
A little burned out.

- Okay, take a little--
take a few minutes.

- Yeah.

Well done, Mike.
- Well done.

♪ ♪

- Yeah!

That's weird
to congratulate a--

You know?

To be congratulated
on mining of the soul.

- Yeah, it's weird.

- Mm-hmm.

- Well...

I feel like we need
some space, you know?

- Yeah, maybe five.
- All right.

- Five, as we lead into
the next one.

- All right.
- It's shifting gears.

- I'm good.
- Little fresh air--

- Okay.
- I'll step outside then.

- Still a little bit
of daylight left.

- Just--just a few minutes.
We don't need...

- That one's a home run, boys.

That's a beautiful song
you guys wrote.

It's just beautiful.

- A home run.
- Fucking home run, man.

- Oh, man.

It's pretty out there.

- Yeah, but we maybe
we ought to get away

from Scizzy before
we talk about it.

- Geez.
- Maybe you--

I thought maybe you had your
fill of hearing about that one.

- No, no, no, no.

It's not about hearing
about the song.

No, I'm--there's
an elephant in the room, man.

The elephant in the room
is that the song sells

and that I can't get away
from that feeling for myself.

I can't get away--

It's not just that song;
it's every single song.

And that it's congratulated
upon achieving and it--

I'm deeply
conflicted about it.

- From a mental state,

I think I compartmentalize
the congratulatory vibe.

I relegate it
to just the technical.

Like, all right,
good job, you know?

We hit all the chords
kind of thing, you know?

Like that's--
that's I think what I--

just as my go-to
so I don't have to think

about what it means
to be congratulated

on tapping into whatever
the subject is, you know.

- And you're
ignoring that then.

- Yeah.

- Because it's there.

- Yeah.
I don't know if it's--

I don't know if that's
a successful way of doing it,

but it seems to--
it's okay for me.

- There's--yeah, right.

- I get--I get what you're
saying, 100%.

I mean, I--I get
exactly what you mean.

- I mean to say, like,
you can say, "Man,

that's the best song you
brought to this whole thing."

It's like, Jesus Christ, why?

Why is it the best?

Because--

Not because of the technical
ability of it, that's for sure.

- No.

- That's not--
that's not what it is.

It's about--it's--it's--
it's the best song

that's the most demanding
because it's--

it's taken the most sacrifice
to make probably.

It's taken the most living
to make.

- Yeah.

- And so that--
it just makes me equate it

to congratulations,
you've sacrificed

the shit out of yourself.

Excuse me, you've
sacrificed deeply,

and the evidence
of that struggle

came out
in something beautiful.

That's a good way
of looking at it, I guess.

- All right, we--
burning daylight.

["Fisher Road to Hollywood"
begins]

♪ ♪

- ♪ Regret for every
step I took ♪

♪ From Fisher Road
to Hollywood ♪

♪ Feeling bad
and acting good ♪

♪ Never was content ♪

♪ It was hostile ♪

- I never ask the guys
what the songs are about,

'cause I can put
the songs in my own context.

I like so many and sometimes

I like to listen to 'em
with my kids.

Sometimes there's certain
songs I just wanna listen to

in the dark with nobody.

- ♪ And do we even
speak the same ♪

♪ Language anymore ♪

- For me, looking at songs
from an outside point of view,

it's--it's like a growth,
it's their age, you know?

It's just like a timeline.
Each song is a timeline.

- ♪ I've done
all I know to do ♪

♪ ♪

♪ They say
stand up straight ♪

- We've been accused
of being fatalist as a band,

but we've seen enough
tragedy in our lives

and we know that tragedy comes
from--from out of nowhere.

Come--just comes from
out of nowhere.

- ♪ Still I have to go ♪

♪ ♪

- They have a job; this job
happens to be making music,

and they happen to be
fairly popular with it.

That--that ain't
the end of the world.

It's nice to be
successful at your job.

But I mean,
if you were an accountant

or you were a plumber
or whatever, it--

it's nice to be
successful at it,

but you can't let that
go to your head.

- All right.

- ♪ She's fighting
with the sky ♪

- Wow.

- ♪ She thinks she can ♪

♪ Living within a lie ♪

♪ She thinks she can ♪

- ♪ But nobody knows
what lies beyond the days ♪

♪ Before the day we die ♪

♪ Die, die, die,
die, die, die, die ♪

♪ Die, die, die,
die, die, die, die ♪

♪ Die, die, die ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ She puts
her hands against ♪

♪ The life she had ♪

♪ Living with ignorance ♪

♪ Blissful and sad ♪

- ♪ But nobody knows
what lies beyond the days ♪

♪ Before the day we die ♪

♪ Die, die, die,
die, die, die, die ♪

♪ Die, die, die,
die, die, die, die ♪

♪ Die, die, die ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ You can try
to swim the sea ♪

♪ You can try
to hold the breeze ♪

♪ You can try
to hide the sun ♪

♪ But say good-bye
to everyone ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ There ain't no man
can save me ♪

♪ There ain't no man
can enslave me ♪

♪ Ain't no man or men ♪

♪ That can change
the shape my soul is in ♪

- Oh!

- ♪ There ain't nobody here ♪

♪ Who can cause me pain ♪

♪ Or raise my fear ♪

♪ 'Cause I got
only love to share ♪

- ♪ That's it ♪

- ♪ If you're looking
for truth ♪

♪ I'm proof
you'll find it there ♪

- ♪ You say you look funny,
I say you're a star ♪

♪ I say you're whatever
you think you are ♪

♪ Watch the naysayers
fall right in line ♪

♪ If we believe it,
they'll say ♪

- ♪ She's so pretty ♪

♪ He is so fine ♪

- ♪ Ain't no man
can save me ♪

♪ There ain't no man
can enslave me ♪

♪ Ain't no man or men ♪

♪ That can change
the shape my soul is in ♪

- ♪ Change the shape
my soul is in ♪

- ♪ There ain't nobody here
who can cause me pain ♪

♪ Or raise my fear ♪

♪ 'Cause I got
only love to share ♪

♪ If you're looking
for truth ♪

♪ I'm proof
you'll find it there ♪

♪ If you're looking
for truth ♪

♪ I'm proof
you'll find it there ♪

♪ If you're looking
for truth I'm proof ♪

♪ You'll find it ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- We love you, New York.
Thank you so much.

- Bob kind of summed
it up in, you know,

you put out a record

and everybody claps
their hands and, voila,

here it is,
and it's kind of like

this ending point
where just for us,

it's really not that--
that way at all.

It just is this,
this breakpoint where

just the stream keeps going.

- Like, put the
record out and it's this,

tut we were doing
something before this,

and we're already well
into doing something else.

- Absolutely.

- So we kind of--
it just never stops.

- Well, maybe, kind of.

So I was still
in the hospital

after Isaac was born,
middle of the night.

It's called "C-Sections
and Railway Trestles."

♪ ♪

♪ You're long and strong
like a railway trestle ♪

♪ Dad's just a muscle
and mama just a vessel ♪

♪ Meant to crawl, falling over
nuzzle and nestle ♪

♪ But Dad's just a bear you
can tackle down and wrestle ♪

♪ Son give me time ♪

♪ I'm a bona fide missile,
if Mama says no ♪

♪ Maybe Dad will say yes-o,
did you do wrong ♪

♪ Well go ahead confess-o ♪

♪ Dad just a muscle
and mama just a vessel ♪

♪ ♪

♪ You all blue and your mama
like a rattle ♪

♪ Came out looking
like a Smurf in a battle ♪

♪ Me in the nosebleeds,
mama in the saddle ♪

♪ Anesthesiologist
fiddle and faddle ♪

♪ Emotion going like
a stampede of cattle ♪

♪ Real like rain
and coffee in Seattle ♪

♪ Brave like a Sioux brave
going into battle ♪

♪ You all blue
and your mama like a rattle ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Oh, life's so clear
like a Rivera mural ♪

♪ Lucifer's teeth
introduced the epidural ♪

♪ Dr. Jones, do you need
a heaven referral ♪

♪ God sent you down
to me and my girl ♪

♪ She long and tall
and healthy as hell ♪

♪ But the plan
went to hell ♪

♪ When the little fella fell ♪

♪ Boy went headfirst
into her pelvis ♪

♪ 1956 shaking like Elvis ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Oh, yesterday born
and already thinking ♪

♪ Body like a Ford and
a mind like a Lincoln ♪

♪ Mama and papa in love ♪

♪ And sinking into
a brand-new situation ♪

♪ Drinking up coffee
like a fish ♪

♪ On the second
and third shift ♪

♪ Loving every single
ever-loving minute of this ♪

♪ Standing ovation
for the OR specialist ♪

♪ Let me get close ♪

♪ Wanna give my son
one kiss ♪

♪ On his head ♪

♪ Planning for the future,
health and dental ♪

♪ Picking up my baby boy,
easy and gentle ♪

♪ Soup for the family,
sausage and lentil ♪

♪ Beans and greens,
arugula and fentil ♪

♪ Don't never sleep,
I'm about to go mental ♪

♪ But nothing so far
has been accidental ♪

♪ Can't keep my life,
so it's got to be a rental ♪

♪ Picking up my baby boy,
easy and gentle ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Oh, you're long and strong
like a railway trestle ♪

♪ Dad's just a muscle
and mama just a vessel ♪

♪ Meant to crawl, falling over
nuzzle and nestle ♪

♪ But Dad's just a bear you
can tackle down and wrestle ♪

♪ You can have a pop-tent
or you can have a castle ♪

♪ Try to change people
but it's gonna be a hassle ♪

♪ Don't have to be
an astronaut for NASA ♪

♪ But it's always good
to get a gown and a tassel ♪

♪ Son have fun
with your life ♪

♪ It's a drama ♪

♪ Just one period
and all kinds of commas ♪

♪ Now you got a onesie
but then you get pajamas ♪

♪ You know you've got me ♪

♪ And you know
you've got your mama ♪

♪ ♪

Thank you, thank you.

- That's great.
- Thanks, Rick.

- Watch this.
He likes this, watch.

All right, all right,
all right .

♪ It's raining today ♪

♪ The house framing crew ♪

♪ They all can sleep in ♪

♪ The filmmakers too ♪

♪ It's raining today ♪

♪ Let's stay in our room ♪

♪ Be patient babe ♪

♪ The clouds will break soon ♪

♪ But I must confess ♪

♪ Glad if they stay ♪

♪ I don't want to leave ♪

♪ It's raining today ♪