Next Step

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When The Avett Brothers walk onto the Louisville Palace stage Friday night as headliners, it will mark a dramatic shift in the band’s fortunes since its first visit to Louisville.

That was in 2003, when the Avetts were part of the annual Fan Fest staged by the International Bluegrass Music Association. The massive Grand Ballroom at the Galt House was filled with a couple thousand fans for the likes of Doyle Lawson and Ricky Skaggs, while the Avetts were wedged into an out-of-the-way conference room that could hold maybe 50 people but didn’t.

A handful of listeners. A locale with all the ambience of, well, of a hotel conference room. And still the Avetts brought it, flailing through a raw set of anti-grass and fractured country. It was a much-needed tonic for the squeaky-clean bluegrass that dominated the event, where the sheer professionalism was nearly its downfall.

“And you were like, I think I’ve just found the most unprofessional music I’ve ever heard,” said Seth Avett, laughing. “I’m glad we could stand out in that way. We were happy to be there, I suppose.”

Since then, The Avett Brothers have been on a slow, steady burn that in retrospect seems inexorable. Every album from Seth Avett, his brother, Scott Avett, and their non-sibling bandmate, Bob Crawford, has gotten better and sold more copies. The live show has grown into one of the most exhilarating in any genre. And the band’s major-label debut, the Rick Rubin-produced “I and Love and You,” is out now on Sony’s American Recordings.

Some bands embrace a slow roll to the majors, while others have it thrust upon them. The Avetts were lucky enough to make their own decision.

“I think initially (taking it slowly) was unintentional,” Seth said. “We’re about to head into our ninth year as a band, and after we considered the possibility that this really could be something that we could make a living doing, we became more conscious about the way that we wanted to do it. And the way that we wanted to do it was gradual.

“We’ve talked to major labels before, and it didn’t seem right, it didn’t feel right, so we kept doing our thing,” he said. “So yeah, the gradual hot-air balloon rather than a rocket ship mentality was definitely intentional after a while.”

The Avetts were born in Wyoming, but their parents eventually returned to their hometown of Concord, N.C., where the band is still based. They were in bands growing up, and by the late 1990s were both performing in a rock band called Nemo while playing around with acoustic music on the side.

When Nemo dissolved, Scott and Seth hooked up with bassist Crawford in 2000 to officially form The Avett Brothers, retaining the energy and dynamics of rock music but using instruments traditionally associated with bluegrass — banjo, stand-up bass, guitar. Cellist Joe Kwon started performing regularly with the group in 2007, adding another wild-card element.

Describing the band is still something of a game, with fans and writers throwing darts at a chart of cobbled-together styles — “indie-folk,” “alt-country,” “punk-folk” and the wholly unfortunate “grungegrass.” At the end of the day, the Avetts are simply very good songwriters with moments of brilliance that have the unmistakable clarity and stubbornness of truth.

To that you add their voices. Seth’s is like a soft knock at the door when you know your lover is on the other side, while Scott’s sounds as if it was raised by wolves. When they wrap around each other, you get this kind of wild, aching prettiness that can lift you off the floor or pull your heart out of your chest.

Moments like that are all over “I and Love and You” — Google “Laundry Room.+.NPR” — which is produced by Rubin with his typical gift for staying out of the way.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s very much the logical next step and very much the next chapter I was hoping for — a higher-fidelity representation of the newest song,” Seth said. “That’s what I got and a lot more other than that. By this point my mind is so occupied with the next set of songs that it’s difficult for me to look back on it, but I’m very proud of the record.”

As for Rubin, “Sometimes he’s just a great audience,” Seth said. “He’d be there generally six or eight hours each day, always engaged but less interested in dominating the sessions. That was very helpful for us because at this point it would have been difficult for Scott and I to give up control to anyone but Rick.”

The Avetts, who have returned to Louisville many times and in far better circumstances since 2003, have been touring nonstop to promote the new album since April. The Louisville show and one the next night in Nashville are the last of the run.