Photo by Crackerfarm
In late February, The Avett Brothers previewed their impending Rick Ruben-produced self-titled album, The Avett Brothers, due on May 17th via Ramseur Records/American Recordings/Thirty Tigers, sharing their lead single, “Love of a Girl.” As a secondary preview of the long-awaited set, the group has shared “Country Kid” along with the new song’s official music video.
Taking a cue from today’s release, The Avett Brothers LP brims with instrumentals and lyrics intended to pinpoint the revered amongst the mundane repetition of ordinary life–moments that might not initially strike as meaningful but reveal themselves in time. The set was recorded at esteemed Malibu’s Shangri-La Studios, as well as in Nashville, Mar Vista, and the band’s hometown, Concord, N.C.
Adam Rothlein directed the “Country Kid” visual companion piece which finds the band in a roller skating rink while dressed as a priest, bear, superhero, and more characters that nod as approval of individuality in the wake of an ever-conforming society while also paying homage to the principality of arural upbringing: “I was a country kid/ With a strong foundation/ Gettin’ myself a whole second education/ In the back a’ the bus/ Kids kissin’ and cussin’ all around me.”
Tracing back their own timelines, the lyrical makeup of “Country Kid” functions like a Southern-tinged ode to growing up, “Three years old/ On a ramshackle farm/ Winnie-the-pooh in the crook of my arm/ Brother and sister not meaning no harm/ Picking on me,” before arriving at the modern moment while saving space to harken back to one’s foundation: “Yeah I grew up and hit the city/ But the skyscrapers never get me/ I fly above it all the time/ Straight through cloud nine/ Flowing fast like the Mississippi.”
Stream “Country Kid” here. Watch the official music video below.
The Avett Brothers Cover Art