Three questions with The Avett Brothers’ Scott Avett

The Avett Brothers, who perform Thursday at the Silverton.

By Laura Davis

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 | 12:34 p.m.

So you're finally playing Vegas ...

I think it's the one major city we haven't played in the country. I'm excited to finally play there; that's going to be interesting because you know, Vegas is kind of a notorious place, right? I don't know what to expect — what we've seen in movies and what not.

How was it working with producing legend Rick Rubin on latest album I and Love and You?

It was an honor, simply put. Rick moved in organically, naturally — he's not big on getting in the way. He knows how to lead a situation by subtly controlling [it]. I'd [also] be lying not to say that it didn't have some sort of validating feeling to it, that somebody of his experience would want to share some with us.

I read that the title track is actually about your relationship with your fans.

We started touring in 2002, and we played in very small places for very small crowds. We were very, very close to the people we played with — we hung out with them before and after shows and we knew everybody. As years passed, as crowds grew, we learned that we couldn't maintain the same relationship. So there's been a growing distancing between us and those fans, [but] at the same time, a growing closeness, as we make more music and touch more people with it.

— Originally published in Las Vegas Weekly