BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Saturday night on Musikfest’s main Steel Stage was something of a family affair, with a brothers act drawing from family experience — and finding ways to transcend it, as well.
The Avett Brothers — siblings Scott and Seth — with their band have spent more than two decades riding the wave of a musical mix that’s commonly gathered under the name Americana.
It’s an elastic term that can include elements of folk, rock, bluegrass and country. The band drew from all those genres and more Saturday.
But at the heart of the show were the strong vocal performances that seem reserved for singing siblings.
The term "blood harmony" has long been used to describe the vocal blend that can be achieved by close relatives.
Partly a matter of genes, and partly a matter of long practice singing together since childhood, the examples are too numerous to list.
And they span musical genres, from country acts such as the Louvin Brothers, to the smoother sound of Don and Phil Everly, to The Beach Boys and beyond.
Starting 'so sad,' and lush sound
The Avett Brothers kicked the show with "Left on Laura, Left on Lisa" just as the sun was setting on a mild summer day. (Organizers could not have asked for better weather.)
Scott Avett’s lead vocal, starting with, “Nobody knows it, but I am so sad,” promised a level of emotional intimacy that the band delivered on over a dramatic 90-minute show plus a two-song encore, with the audience standing and singing along for much of the show.
The sound at the start was a lush one, with seven musicians on stage.
Besides drums and bass, there were keyboards, cello and violin providing an almost orchestral sound that enveloped Seth Avett’s guitar work, and Scott Avett’s distinctive banjo style.
But attention rarely strayed from the exceptional harmony singing of the brothers.
That was accentuated by the many songs in which they shared a single vocal microphone, moving in and back to achieve a perfect mix of lead and harmony.
With the experience of seasoned touring professionals, the brothers seamlessly moved through their stylistic repertoire.
It started with the full band and a dense country-rock sound punctuated by a style of banjo that owes more to Pete Seeger than to Earl Scruggs, strumming with a percussive open hand that drove the songs forward.
Then the show took a turn toward a quieter roots portion, with an instrumental that Scott Avett credited to legendary bluegrass flatpicker Doc Watson.
Emotional close
After a few more pared-down songs, the full band rejoined, this time with Seth Avett trading his Martin D-28 guitar for a Gibson Les Paul and more electric and eclectic sound.
If Seth Avett’s slightly rough voice and banjo evoke elements of an earlier American roots music tradition, younger brother Scott brings a smoother tone evoking Brian Wilson’s work at times with the The Beach Boys.
On the song "Vanity," Scott Avett’s voice soared into falsetto, followed by searing electric guitar lines reaching the upper range of the instrument.
The show came to an emotional and satisfying close with their 2016 song, "Ain’t No Man," followed by a two-song encore.
The evening opened with another pair of road veteran brothers at the core of the band Scythian.
Brothers Alexander and Danylo Fedoryka have family roots in Ukraine, but got their musical start busking on the streets near Washington, D.C., some 20 ago.
As a four-piece band, Scythian played a forceful mix of contemporary Celtic-Cajun-zydeco, with a bit of Eurovision Song Contest discernable in songs such as "The Motherland," which they described as a Ukrainian drinking song.
They kept the energy high and drums-forward with Alexander Fedoryka’s fiddle-playing jumping between, and sometimes erasing, genre altogether.
