Ed Masley

The Republic | azcentral.com

You may wonder how the Avett Brothers came to place such emphasis on live performance that the banjo-rocking alternative-country standard bearers recently released a fourth live album in the span of 13 years, “Live, Vol. 4.”

Bassist Bob Crawford explains.

“In the early days,” he says, “we couldn’t get anyone to play our CDs. Even college radio. There’s a really popular public station in North Carolina, WNCW, and they just thought our record, (2003’s) ‘A Carolina Jubilee,’ sounded terrible. So, they refused to play it. It wasn’t until they saw the live performance that everything began to make sense. So, the live performance was the first aspect of what we do that gained attention.”

Review: Avett Brothers reaffirm their standing at forefront of roots scene at McDowell Mountain Music Festival

'The live thing has always kind of been our terrain'

Their first live recording arrived in 2002, the same year Crawford joined the original Avett Brothers — two actual brothers whose actual names are Seth and Scott Avett.

“We did that EP ‘Country Was’ and then we put out a record called ‘Live at the Double Door Inn,’” Crawford says. “It was basically the soundman recorded the show and gave us a CD so we put it out. When I say put it out, I mean we made a cover, reproduced it and sold it. I don’t know if it still can be purchased. I’d have to look into it. But the live thing has always kind of been our terrain.”

That may be changing, though, Crawford continues.

“The live element is still our terrain,” he says. “But we’ve grown much more comfortable in the studio. I think we’ve always loved the studio and been intrigued with the possibilities but just like playing live, you get better at it the more you do it.”

The very little he'll actually share about the sessions for their latest album

They’ve actually been in the studio recently, putting the finishing touches on their fourth consecutive release with producer Rick Rubin, a relationship that began in 2008 with the recording of their first Top 40 album, “I and Love and You,” which hit the charts at No. 16.

Asked what keeps them coming back to Rubin, the bassist replies with a laugh, “That he wants to keep doing it.”

Then, he gives a more serious answer.

“He’s kind of grown to be part of the team,” Crawford says. “He’s easy to work with. He’s a fan of what we do. He does a good job at letting us be us but getting the best out of us. And he’s a great sounding board. With the new one, we were all recording in the studio and he would come out and give someone notes, like ideas for how to attack the next take. It kind of felt like maybe how a jazz band would have recorded in the ‘40s or ‘50s with everybody in the studio playing live and the producer on the other side of the glass kind of driving the ship in some ways.”

There’s really not much else he’d care to say about the record.

“Just that we recorded it with Rick,” he says. “It was done very live and it’s the first time we’ve recorded with the seven-piece band. I’d rather hear what people think of it after they hear it than tell you too much about the process that went into making it. I know how it was made. I want to know what people think of it.”

New material likely at Phoenix festival

The album should be coming out in late June, Crawford says. And two songs from the album, “Satan Pulls the Strings” and “Rejects in the Attic,” were featured on “Live, Vol. 4,” which arrived in December. Crawford says it's also very likely that you'll hear some new material should you attend their Sunday night performance at McDowell Mountain Music Festival in downtown Phoenix.

“We’re not really good at holding things back,” Crawford says, with a laugh. “Those are two songs that have developed in the live arena. We’re playing them now and we’re making more changes to them so they’re already written, developed and recorded and now they’re being further developed. I think that’s an interesting aspect of what we do. The song is never finished.”

Like Dylan?

“Very much so,” Crawford says. “Or like the Grateful Dead. We’re constantly relearning old songs and reintroducing them. And we’ve added a lot of musicians over the years. We’ve gone from three to seven musicians in 15 years. And so the songs that we wrote and played and released when we were a three-piece, we’re now doing with a seven-piece band. It’s been a matter of rearranging and giving them new life really.”

McDowell Mountain Music Festival

When: March 11-13. 3 p.m. Friday; 1 p.m. Saturday; noon Sunday. The Avett Brothers' performance is 8 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Margaret T. Hance Park, 1202 N. Third St., Phoenix.

Admission: $70 per day. Three-day passes are $170.

Details: mmmf.com.