Avett Brothers Speak of New Album's Themes and 'Vulnerable' Live Release

The Avett Brothers have been on the road throughout the year, but they've also had the anticipated follow-up to 2009's 'I and Love and You' on their minds. When asked about what might be heard on the upcoming album, the band -- brothers Scott and Seth Avett, Bob Crawford and Joe Kwon -- paused for a moment before Scott carefully named themes in what they've been writing.

"Love, struggle, commitment, getting older, vanity, connection, forgiveness," Scott tells Spinner. "To be able to speak about that in a broad sense is really the only thing that you need to say. That's what's changed over the years. It's just less of a tunnel vision for us. It's much [more] of a bigger picture, so the things become bigger, broader."

As Spinner previously reported, the Avett Brothers have considered once again working with friend Rick Rubin, who produced 'I and Love and You.' But even though they're deep into the writing and demoing process, they really haven't sorted out details like production credits or song titles just yet.

"The songs that will become the next record are very much in the growing stage," Seth says. "We can't make a call yet to what really exactly what they are or what they're gonna be like until we start recording them. We'll see. The songs always have a way of dictating what their texture's going to be, what the aesthetic's going to be."

Before that album comes to be, the band will be releasing a concert CD/DVD called 'Live, Volume 3,' due out on Oct. 5 and recorded at Charlotte, N.C.'s Bojangles Coliseum last summer. With a decade-long career behind them and the resolution to never play the same set list twice, the Avett Brothers did put special consideration into the song choices for that evening's set.

"There were so many things to think about," Seth explains. "Having a set list was something that needed to be solved, to be a foundation to work off of. Usually, about an hour before the show we'll knock it out in about 10 or 15 minutes. This one, we probably took a day or two to sort out. We didn't put the recording into consideration at all. We were thinking about the show."

"We just thought it was gonna be grand," Scott adds of the concert, "so it would be a good thing to record. But I think also, going into it, we were vulnerable in a lot of ways. That probably comes off in the recording as well, so we're fortunate for that. That's in hindsight. We didn't plan [it]. You never plan vulnerability -- for us, anyway."

That vulnerability stems from the relationship that the North Carolina band has with the hometown venue. "We'd seen things from the circus to Soundgarden to monster truck events to motorcross races and stuff at this place," Scott says. "It's an interesting venue."

Avett Brothers' 'Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise' From 'Live, Volume 3'

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