The following is a continuation of the interview with Avett
Brothers’ bassist Bob Crawford that appeared in Friday’s CLT section. Crawford rejoined
the group in August (his daughter Hallie, 3, has been being treated for brain
cancer). In addition to the Avetts’ Grammy nominated 2012 album “The Carpenter,”
Crawford has another project in the works. The Overmountain Men - his
cross-Carolina group with Gaston County songwriter and band leader David
Childers - will release its second album in January. He’s with the Avetts at
Greensboro Coliseum Monday.
Did you still feel
like you were a part of the band during the time away? We were always in
contact. They came to see us every time possible. Scott (Avett’s) family came to
see us. We felt plenty of support and love. Still you walk out there (on stage)
and think do “I even belong here anymore?” These are all the things I went
through.
How close in age are
your and Scott’s children? Hallie is a year younger than Eleanor. And then
my son Sam is two months younger than Scott’s son.
You had an infant
while you were going through this? He was born June 7, 2011. Two and a half
months before Hallie got sick.
What was that like? Really,
really nuts. When Hallie got sick she wasn’t going to make it. My wife and I
were there 24 hours a day. My wife would come home one hour a day to breastfeed.
I only bonded with Sam when we got home because I was always with Hallie. We
took a woman that volunteered to be our nanny to Memphis with us. She and Sam
lived in one place and Hallie, my wife and I lived in another. We felt like we
had to do it for Hallie, but there’s a whole period of Sam’s life we weren’t
there.
When did you have
time to do another Overmountain Men record? That was also before Hallie got
sick. My part of it was finished and then I asked David last year, “Can you
just give me a little time?” He wanted to put it out Spring of last year. I was
like, “Give me a little time and let’s see what the world looks like.” I love
the first one. This one has a different character to it. I just love David and
we’re talking about more songs. It’s out January 22 and it’s called “The Next
Best Thing.” We’re going to shoot some video for it to go along with the release.
I hope it continues to introduce people to David Childers. The Avetts play Childers’
“Prettiest Thing.” It’s become a staple of our set. People ask me who he is. I
tell ‘em get “’Room 23.’ It’s a great album.” Hopefully these videos will help
to introduce more people to who David is; to let the world know about this
great artist that you guys have there in Mt. Holly. He’s a wonderful man and
very creative and very thoughtful.
Also I produced a Christmas album (“My Favorite Gifts”) that
was a benefit for (longtime Avett tour manager) Dane Honeycutt’s mother, who died
of cancer. She was a teacher. The Vickie Honeycutt Foundation gives money to
families of school teachers who have cancer. We’d also completed that before
Hallie got sick. One of the little boys we met at Saint Jude’s - Carter - his
family got money from the Vickie Honeycutt Foundation. Teachers don’t make very
much money. When someone in your family gets cancer, the whole family gets
cancer. The Vickie Honeycutt Foundation helps people in North Carolina. We’ll
continue to do that.
I also noticed you
playing fiddle in one of the online videos. Is that something you’re
incorporating into the shows? A little bit. One of the things I did at St.
Jude’s when I got a moment to help me relax and do something musical - I started
playing the fiddle. There’s a room for the patient and then there’s a parent
room. I’d go in the bathroom and play very quietly and then I’d do it at the apartment
we were staying at. I’d play the fiddle and have the neighbors complain. That
was something that was cathartic.
We have been introducing fiddle to the live show since
August. Some nights it’s more successful than others. I always say you’re not
going to learn how to play something unless you do it in front of people and
make a lot of mistakes. When the song “Sorry Man” was being written, Scott wanted
to do this high harmony. Every night we’d play it and his voice would crack and
he’d fall on his face a lot, but in six months he could do the high harmony.
For me to walk out on stage with a fiddle when I know how to
play it about twenty percent - that’s a credit to the guys I get to travel
with.
Why don’t the Avetts
play Charlotte more? I think we have it in our mind that we can only play
North Carolina so many times a year. We try to spread that out. We may be in
Wilmington one year and Greensboro and Raleigh and Charlotte the next.
You’re scheduled to
go to Europe in 2013. How do you feel about it? I don’t want to go. I would
rather not go, but I have to. As long as Hallie’s doing well I’ll go and we’ll
have it arranged where I have constant contact at home. I would prefer not to go
on this trip, but I and the guys feel like I need to do it. Hopefully it’ll go
smoothly and it won’t be scary.
Have you had a lot of
support and outpouring from the fans? I know there was a website at St. Jude’s
in Hallie’s name. Oh yeah. Hallie raised $60,000 on that website. You can
still go to that link. In Raleigh we did a walk. Hallie’s team raised another
$15,000. It’s not just financial support. We’ve gotten a lot of cards and letters.
When I got out I always hear, “Hey Bob, we’re praying for Hallie” when I’m on stage
or people stop me all the time and ask me how she’s doing. We always ask for
prayers.
Many musicians don’t
have health insurance. Did this happen at a time after the band was on a major
label where you were in a better position to handle it? There are people in
the band that still don’t have insurance. It’s the one thing I listened to my
parents about. When I moved to Charlotte in 1996 from New Jersey and started
working in the film business the first thing I did was get myself personal
health insurance. It really paid off this time. We also got a lot of support
from the band and from other organizations and charities. St. Jude is a place where
if you can’t pay, you don’t pay. That’s what is so important other than research
and the fact that its child-centered. They only began taking insurance 15 years
ago and they will only take seventeen percent of your maximum. They have
housing and transportation. They treat the kids so well at Christmastime. Santa
comes and brings toys for everyone. They have a great Halloween there. They go
as far as you can go to allow the child to have fun and excitement and to get
to feel like a child.
When Danny Thomas established St. Jude in 1960 the most
common survival rate was twenty percent. Today it’s over eighty percent. Now
they’re trying to do that with brain tumors. It costs 1.5 million dollars a day
for St. Jude’s to function. That’s why it’s important for me to continually be
out there trying to raise money for them.
So what does Hallie
like? What’s she enjoy? She loves people. She loves music. She loves
dancing. She’s not standing on her own or walking. You hold her up and play
music. We take her to kindermusic classes. She actually goes crazy for that. In
her therapy in Charlotte they realized that she responded very well to music and
they brought in a music therapist. She loves to shake the shaker. And she loves
(the 1982 movie musical) “Annie.” I could quote the whole movie.
(Photo of Crawford and Hallie presenting a check to St. Jude's last year is courtesy of the Team Hallie Prayer Chain Facebook page)
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