“Take the time to peel a few layers / And you will find / True sadness,” sings Seth Avett on the aptly named track “True Sadness,” one of 12 on The Avett Brothers’ eponymous 2016 album. It’s a fitting lyric to describe the depth of personal introspection mined to bring True Sadness to life. Already known for the raw intimacy of their music, the brothers get bluntly (and beautifully) to the heart of matters — reflecting on such heady subjects as divorce, tragedy, and hope.
Recorded at producer Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La studios in Malibu, the record debuted at number 3 on the Billboard charts, earned two Grammy nominations (Best Americana Album and Best American Roots Performance for “Ain’t No Man”), and spawned a critically acclaimed documentary by Judd Apatow and Mike Bonfiglio called May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers.
I recently caught up over the phone with band member Bob Crawford (stand-up bass, backing vocals) to talk about True Sadness and May It Last.