Avett Brothers bassist doubles as serious history buff
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Bob Crawford of The Avett Brothers performing in concert. Photo: Gary Miller/Getty Images
The life of a traveling musician lends itself to idle hours, Avett Brothers bassist Bob Crawford tells Axios. That's how he found the time to write a book.
Why it matters: Crawford isn't just part of the beloved Grammy Award-nominated, Concord-based band. He also has a master's in history, which he earned while the band was on the road. He also has a history podcast.
Driving the news: Crawford's new book, "America's Founding Son," is out this week.
Catch up quick: Crawford, who lives in the Durham area, and The Avett Brothers have been on the road for 25 years. At nearly 55 years old, he's getting up at 6:30am regardless of what time he goes to bed, he says.
- "That's just kind of a fact of life at this age," he says.
- Since sound check doesn't start until 2 or 3pm, he was able to dedicate a full workday to his project.
- When he's home, it's about finding time before his family gets up, or when his 14-year-old and 16-year-old are at school, or after everyone goes to bed.
Flashback: Crawford's obsession with history began amid the war in Iraq. "I just wanted to know how we got from 1776 to that moment," he says. He began to pick up history books to make sense of the world, books like "The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln" by Sean Wilentz.
- Crawford found the period between Thomas Jefferson's presidency and the 1860s fascinating.
- "It's the period we don't learn about," he says. "We learn about the revolution. We learn about the Civil War."
- This led him to John Quincy Adams, the subject of his new biography. Several years later, Crawford hosted an iHeart podcast series about Adams. This led to an agent reaching out about turning it into a book.
The bottom line: "It's quite a leap from studying history in the back of a Chevy van to writing a book, a really specific historical account," Crawford says of the book, which was about 20 years in the making.
What's next: Crawford will have a book tour stop in Concord on April 20 at 65 Union Street South. The event is free to attend.