Seth Avett, Jessica Lea Mayfield Annouce Elliott Smith Cover Album and Tour
Three years in the making, Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield will release their much anticipated album Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith on March 17 on Ramseur Records followed by a series of intimate performances, including a stop at the Palace of Fine Arts on March 29.
Avett, one of the founding members of North Carolina folk rock band The Avett Brothers, and Mayfield, a singer/songwriter from Ohio known for her ominous songwriting, are avid Elliott Smith fans.
The two met while touring and came up with the concept before recording at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC, as well as at their homes.
“The point of us doing it is to be taking part in an artistic venture that that is just fun and feels right,” ,” Avett said in a video announcing the project He praises the songwriting and the songs, saying “There’s just a joy to singing them, even if the topics are dark sometimes.”
Elliott Smith is regarded as one of the most prolific and influential songwriters of his generation. A multi-instrumentalist known for his whispery and haunting vocal harmonies, he tragically took his own life in 2003 after battling with drug addiction and depression. His subject matter is dark, as Mayfield admits, “there are times when I can’t listen to Elliott Smith at all. It’s all are nothing.”
The duo recognizes this as one of the most ambitious and personal projects they’ve undertaken in their musical careers, “With a considerable portion of the set list being comprised of covers by another artist, Jessica and I are certainly heading into unchartered territory,” Avett said. “I’m expecting these performances to be among the most intimate of our lives to date.”
Expect the two to incorporate some of their own solo material, along with other surprises. Avett Brother’s bassist, Paul Defiglia, will also accompany them for the tour.
TRACKLIST:
1. Between the Bars
2. Baby Britain
3. Fond Farewell
4. Somebody That I Used to Know
5. Let’s Get Lost
6. Twilight
7. Ballad of Big Nothing
8. Angel in the snow
9. Pitseleh
10. Angeles
11. Roman Candle
12. Memory Lane
