There really is something new to report about them just about every day right now. One fun detail is that cyclist Lance Armstrong is a big fan, if his twitter feed is to be believed:

"I'm thinking this new Avett Brothers is pretty damn good."

Also, tune in tonight's episode of "One Tree Hill," which is entitled "I and Love and You" -- after the title track of the aforementioned "pretty damn good" new Avetts album. It plays at the end of the show. That's tonight at 8 on the CW Network.

ADDENDUM: Spin review of Avetts show in Nashville.

While it's not terribly unusual for North Carolina acts to crack the Billboard 200 album-sales chart, it's pretty rare for them to place more than one record on there simultaneously. But Concord's Avett Brothers turn the trick this week.

The Avetts' major-label debut "I and Love and You" is still hanging in there at No. 54 after debuting at No. 16 two weeks ago; and buzz from that has pulled the Avett's self-released 2008 mini-album back onto the chart. "The Second Gleam" comes back in at No. 139, after debuting at No. 82 in its chart run last year.

Concord's fast-rising Avett Brothers are making a splashy debut on the Billboard 200 album-sales chart this week with their major-label debut, "I and Love and You." The album sold almost 40,000 copies in its first week to open at No. 16 on the big chart -- 66 places ahead of their previous chart peak. That's the good news.

The bad news, for those of us in Eastern North Carolina, is that it's probably going to be a while before we see them in our end of the state again. The word from management is that it will probably be 2010 before the next Avett Brothers show in the Triangle.

Behold, the mysterious cover art for the forthcoming Avett Brothers album, "I and Love and You" -- a Scott Avett oil painting titled "Julianne in Vain":

Look for "I and Love and You" on Sept. 29. The Avetts don't have another Triangle show on the calendar yet, but surely that's just a matter of time.

Although the release date for the Avett Brothers' major-label debut album has been bumped back to Sept. 29, the band is already hard at work spreading the word. Check the very fine three-song set the band recently played at a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR -- quite moving and lovely despite some tuning issues.

Then again, there are those who say that being out of tune in just right the way is the Avetts' secret weapon.

ADDENDUM (7/29/09): Daytrotter session. 

Head on over to the blog Raleigh Philosophical Society, where there is a discussion in progress about songs that namecheck the City Of Oaks in the lyrics -- including songs by the Connells, Corrosion of Conformity, Avett Brothers, James Brown and others.

If nothing else, it's a good antitdote to "Shine, Raleigh, Shine" (the City of Raleigh's regrettable attempt to come up with a "theme song" back in 2007).

(Thanks, Matt.) 

Six months ago, after watching Concord's Avett Brothers just slay a soldout crowd at Booth Amphitheatre, I likened it to seeing "Bruce Springsteen on the Jersey Shore in the early '70s, pre-breakthrough." Possibly hyperbolic, yes. But the Avetts have lately been ensconced in the studio with producer Rick Rubin, making their major-label debut album -- and apparently getting in touch with their inner Bruce. This video can be found on the "Hangin' on E Street" page of Springsteen's Web site.

That Rubin-produced Avett Brothers album, meanwhile, should be out this summer.

The milestones keep coming for Concord's Avett Brothers. Even though they won't have a major-label album out until next year, they've already cracked the top-half of the Billboard 200 album-sales chart. The Avetts' new mini-album "Second Gleam" (Ramseur Records) sold 7,552 copies in its opening week, good for a debut at No. 82 -- which is a 52-spot improvement over their chart peak for last year's "Emotionalism."

Once they get Columbia's machinery behind them, who knows how high they'll go?

In the warm afterglow of Saturday night's Avett Brothers concert in Cary, I posted a review that likened the scene to a long-ago Bruce Springsteen show -- which might have been just a tad hyperbolic on my part. But Springsteen himself might not disagree, because it turns out he's an Avett Brothers fan, too. Below is from a followup e-mail exchange with Avetts manager Dolph Ramseur, posted with his permission. If nothing else, this is a very positive harbinger for the future, because a Boss endorsement can definitely pay career dividends.

Seth Avett wrote the liner notes for Nicole Atkins' release, which is out on Columbia. Nicole is from New Jersey and knows Bruce Springsteen. She was over at his house last year and he mentioned that he loved the liner notes to her record. She said that Seth Avett wrote them, and he asked, "Is that one of the Avett Brothers?" He had heard some songs from "Emotionalism" on satellite radio and went to an indie record store and purchased a copy. He told her he really liked "Emotionalism."

Seeing the Avett Brothers around here right now feels like what it must have been like to see Bruce Springsteen on the Jersey Shore in the early '70s, pre-breakthrough. Which is actually more of a comment on the audience than the band. Saturday night, the Avetts rode the momentum from lots of cool recent developments into Cary's Koka Booth Amphitheatre, drawing a sold-out-to-the-gills crowd that was primed to explode.

That's just what happened at the moment the band came onstage -- a massive roar that sounded like multiples more people than the 7,000 in attendance. It was one of the most electric scenes I've witnessed all year.

Alas, the first few songs were kind of adventures-in-tuning trainwrecky, with some puzzling gear malfunctions. But by the third song, a rocked-up "Die Die Die," the band hit its stride and everything (including the audience sing-alongs that are a part of every Avetts show) picked right up. Between the perfect weather and the delirious crowd and a band seizing its moment, it really felt like the planets lining up.