avett brothers

Amazingly, I managed somehow not to devote my entire summer to traveling for music. I was lucky enough to take a two week trip with my BOTheads to a couple festivals and a mini Phish tour in early June, but have since been on kind of a musical drought. Luckily, the scene has since picked up quite a bit in my area, keeping me plenty busy and entertained also.

Read more after the jump!

If you're as big of a fan of the Avett Brothers as myself, you're counting down the days until the Rick Rubin-produced LP I and Love and You is released. To tide you over, the Avett's have released the eponymous first single for all to enjoy. You can download "I and Love and You" here, which should help you get by until the full album is released on September 29th.

After a few listens, I'm really digging it, but I have to hear it in sync with the full album to truly appreciate it. The Avett Brothers are hitting the road pretty hard this summer, making stops in (almost) every major market (sorry Houston...) including festival stops at ACL, Forcastle, Outside Lands and Mulberry Mountain Harvest Festival. You can check out a full list of tour dates after the jump.

"St. Joseph's" is featured on the Avett Brothers 2008 EP The Gleam II. Check out their official website for more info on the band.

The 40th anniversary line-up for the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was announced today, bringing out several favorites and familiar faces. The first weekend of the festival, set to take place April 24-26, will feature headliners Wynton Marsalis, Dave Matthews Band and James Taylor, with the daytime slots being filled by the likes of Wilco, Earth Wind & Fire, Spoon, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, The Avett Brothers, Kinky, Del McCoury Band and a host of others.

The second weekend of the festival, April 30-May 3, has Aretha Franklin, Ben Harper & the Relentless 7, and a slot for a TBA performer on top of the bill, with Kings of Leon, Tony Bennett, Bonnie Raitt, Common, Buddy Guy, Toots & the Maytals, Doc Watson and more holding down the daytime.

As always, the festival leans quite heavily on the music from its host city. New Orleans is well represented with The Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas, Galactic, The Meter Men: Zig, George and Leo, Dr. John and about four hundred more Crescent City artists on the bill.

Check out the full line-up after the jump