BETHLEHEM, Pa. — An Americana rock band favorite that has headlined Bethlehem’s Musikfest festival twice will return for a third headline show, it was announced Monday.
The Avett Brothers, which blends folk, rock and country, will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2.
Tickets, at $45 and $119, go on sale 10 a.m. Wednesday, to ArtsQuest members and 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 6 to the public at www.musikfest.org and 610-332-3378.Musikfest website
Tickets, at $45 and $119, go on sale 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 5, to ArtsQuest members and 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 6, to the public at www.musikfest.org and 610-332-3378.
The Avett Brothers are the third headliner announced for Musikfest’s 42nd year, following announcements of country singer Riley Green performing Aug. 1 and Darius Rucker on Aug. 3.
Musikfest will run Aug. 1-10, with a preview night July 31, in downtown Bethlehem and the SteelStacks campus in South Bethlehem.
The announcement means people can buy tickets in time for Christmas presents, and purchase them at the box office at ArtsQuest Center during ArtsQuest’s Christkindlmarkt, Thursdays-Sundays through Dec. 22 at SteelStacks.
Success at SteelStacks
The Avett Brothers last played SteelStacks with a headline show at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in 2018 — just five days after Musikfest — and drew a sold-out crowd of 4,500, more than almost all the Musikfest shows that year.
It also was the largest ever for a show in the paid-ticket Yuengling Summer Concert series.
The Avett Brothers' single "Love of a Girl" peaked at No. 7 on Billboard's Adult Alternative chart — the group's highest-charting single in five years — and even crossed over to the Rock Airplay chart.Billboard chart data
The Avett Brothers also played to 4,107 people headlining Musikfest in 2016, and to a crowd of 4,537 at Musikfest in 2014.
The group also played a smaller venue at Musikfest in 2010, selling out the 1,000-seat Zoellner Arts Center.
The Avett Brothers’ latest, self-titled album was released May 17 and peaked at No. 13 on Billboard’s Folk chart. It was the group's first album in 15 years not to make the Top 10 on that chart.
Its single "Love of a Girl" peaked at No. 7 on Billboard's Adult Alternative chart — the group's highest-charting single in five years — and even crossed over to the Rock Airplay chart.
The album also is nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.
It's the group's fourth Grammy nomination: It previously was nominated for Best Americana Album for "The Carpenter" in 2013 and in 2017 for Best Americana Album for "True Sadness" and Best Americana Roots Performance for “Ain’t No Man,” which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s AAA singles chart.
Its 2013 album “Magpie and the Dandelion,” also topped the Folk chart, as did 2009’s “I and Love and You.”
Nearing 25th anniversary
The Avett Brothers is nearing its 25th anniversary as a band.
It was formed in 2001 by brothers Scott and Seth Avett, and released its debut recording, “Country Was,” in 2002.
After nearly a decade together, and five largely unnoticed albums, The Avett Brothers first started to gain notice in 2009.
The Avetts really caught fire after performing with Bob Dylan and Mumford and Sons at the 2011 Grammy Awards.Avett Brothers history
That year the group released its major-label debut, “I and Love and You,” which went all the way to No. 16. The group was chosen one of Rolling Stone’s “Artists to Watch” that year.
But The Avetts really caught fire after performing with Bob Dylan and Mumford and Sons at the 2011 Grammy Awards.
“I and Love and You” shot to No. 4 on iTunes, and its next album, 2012’s “The Carpenter,” debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s albums chart.
The band has been nominated for nine Americana Music Awards and won five, including Emerging Artist of the Year in 2007; Duo/Group of the Year in 2007, 2010 and 2011; and a Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance in 2023.
