I And Love And The Avett Brothers

I use Facebook status posts almost exclusively to talk about my experience with acting class, but, while tangentially related to acting, the ol' blog feels like a more appropriate venue to talk about The Avett Brothers.

I remember when I was in film school, people would ask me if studying film had changed the way I watched and appreciated movies.  It never really did.  I don't mean to necessarily draw meaning by the comparison, but since I have begun taking these acting classes, I absolutely see acting performances in a different way, which is just to say that I am in awe of everybody.  Stupid TV commercials that I would never even think about before, I watch now and think "I can imagine what that looked like on the page and he really did a great job with it.  Awesome work, brother!"  You can imagine what a great Paul Giamatti performance can do to me.  However, as much as my mind is blown like never before by great acting, it's not often inspirational to me, in terms of making me want to get to work on acting*.  To me, the best inspiration to work harder comes from music and concerts.  (Spoiler Alert: I am nearing the part where I get to the friggin' point)

There's a few that equal it**, but no band's music or shows give me quite the stir that The Avett Brothers do. Music journalist Stephen Thompson, writing on the NPR Music app which is currently streaming their forthcoming album,  describes The Avett Brothers as "gorgeous roots music...alternately stompy and swoony music that's rooted in a desire for self-improvement...a makeshift guide to life and to being fundamentally decent in the pursuit of something even better."  I love that.  Here's a line from their song "Head Full of Doubt / Road Full of Promise" that I keep written on the chalkboard in our kitchen:

If you're loved by someone, you're never rejected.  Decide what to be and go be it.

Here's another one from "Murder in the City," which, no matter how many times I hear them sing it, still makes me well up (and in concert, forget about it):

Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name.  Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name.

The first time I saw them in concert, I had no idea what I was in for.  I was casual about it, I'd been listening to their album "Emotionalism" for a while and saw they were coming to LA so I figured I'd "check it out."  I ended up going alone, straight from a USC game, and didn't even get a ticket until I arrived at the box office. If you haven't been to the Orpheum, it's just what you would expect with that name, a grand old theatre with the red velvet curtain and the side balconies.  I had never before nor have I since seen a concert go full throttle so fast.  In a span of five seconds (max.), the lights cut off, that massive red curtain flew up like a window shade on a roller and the band launched into a fast-start song like a rodeo bull when the door opens.  Ever since that moment, I have to see them whenever they're in town.  They play so hard they frequently break strings, stagehands running back and forth to bring them new guitars (or banjos) mid-song.  Their cellist, Joe Kwon, holds a bow that looks like string cheese by the fourth song of the night.  They sing and dance and stomp with an open-hearted passion that is uplifting and incredibly freeing.  It could very well be just another day at the office for them, but with the spiritual zest they pour into it, you'd never know they were not living and breathing in these songs for the first time.

That's how they inspire me.

As you might have guessed, I was at an Avett Brothers show last night.  And tonight...I have my acting class.  I'm coming in hot, folks!

*But watching great actors on "Inside The Actor's Studio" definitely does inspire.  The Hugh Jackman episode stayed on my DVR for a long time.

**Others include: Stephen Kellogg, Brandi Carlile, Jackson Browne...