“Point of Retreat” by Colleen Hoover–Review & Interview with Author and Avett Fan Colleen Hoover

March 14, 2012 in News

Here is a link to Colleen Hoover’s second book “Point of Retreat”. It picks up where Slammed left off for Lake and Will. I will try not to spoil Slammed if you haven’t read it. Point of Retreat sees a somewhat more mature side of the characters after all they had gone through (and it was a lot for one short book) leading up to this sequel. I really loved Slammed and was a little nervous for Colleen and the sequel, but Colleen really did a great job following up such a sweet story in Slammed. I did miss the poetry from Slammed, but the few slams that were in Point of Retreat were really clever and enjoyed how they played into the plot of the book. Point of Retreat is now from Will’s perspective and introduces new characters who have entered the scene–some good like Kiersten and Sherry and some like Vaughn almost ruin it all.

Colleen has such clever ways of parenting for Lake and Will with sweet and suck (which my family had the practiced a form of the sweet, but we have introduced the suck now too). Other relevant and timely topics are addressed like bullying in schools, which was addressed with tenderness from the child and friend’s perspective and unfortunately realistic from the adult/school perspective. There are definitely a lot of Avett references and this time it was more subtle but equally as clever as in Slammed. Many are woven throughout as “stars” of advice from Julia (Lake’s mother). I also loved this idea, because who couldn’t us a vase full of advice to go to when you are feeling lonely or sad or that no one understands how you are feeling.

Again, kudos to Colleen Hoover for capturing the love and Will of these characters for a second time. Sequels rarely do live up to the original, but Point of Retreat most definitely holds it own. So, go to Amazon.com and download it for a mere $4.99 and support a fellow Avett fan—it will not be a waste of your time or money. Also Slammed is still available on Amazon.com for $2.99 if you haven’t read it first.

Here are a few questions that I had the privilege of discussing with Colleen about Point of Retreat:
Avettbrosfans: Why did you decide do a sequel to Slammed?
Readers. I was humbled by the response I received to Slammed, and how so many people fell in love with Hoover: Lake and Will just like I did. I really had no intentions of doing a sequel, but it was soon obvious that they weren’t through telling their story.

Avettbrosfans: What inspired you for the second installment, because at one point I thought that Slammed may be the only book with Lake & Will.
Colleen:Again, Readers. And the fact that I would lay in bed wide awake at night with tons of ideas flooding in for the sequel. I thought I had left Slammed at a point where a sequel wouldn’t be needed, but I realized the reader never really got to see Layken and Will in a relationship. I know I wanted to see more of how they interacted as a couple, since Slammed led up to that point.

Avettbrosfans: What’s the main difference between Slammed & Point of Reatreat?
Colleen: It’s from Will’s point of view this time. (hee hee. Yay) And it’s more ‘grown up’ with more ‘grown up’ themes. They aren’t in high school anymore, so of course there is sex talk and the like. Pretty much it. I tried to keep the same flow and all that.

Avettbrosfans: Is this the final Chapter for Lake & Will or will we see more of their story?
Colleen: I hesitate to answer that. I honestly feel like I finished telling their story and would like to move on to something else. But that’s how I felt after Slammed and it didn’t work out that way. It’s almost like I have to wait and see what the characters tell me to do, if that makes sense. I have also thought about doing some short stories for Amazon that are told from the POV of other characters in the novel. We’ll see where it leads. I enjoy writing so there will definitely be more of SOMETHING. Just not sure what at this point.

Avettbrosfans: We loved the Avett References in Slammed. How much are the Avetts woven in Point of Retreat?
Colleen: I couldn’t write a sequel without showing a little bit of Avett love. I didn’t use lyrics as chapter headings in this one, but there are a few references. Not as much as in Slammed, though. I am grateful to Ramseur Records for giving me the permission to use the Chapter headings in Slammed, but didn’t want to appear as though I was utilizing TAB for my own personal profit by doing it again. That’s why I chose not to add chapter lyrics into this book. My initial priority was to put a book out there that would introduce readers to their music. Everyone has an inner Avett fan in them, and I wanted to help pull that out. I have received a lot of messages from people that have enjoyed Slammed, but the messages that are the most touching are the ones thanking me for introducing them to TAB music. That rocks! There’s just something special about those boys!

Avettbrosfans: It seems like response to you first book has been tremendous–what had that been like for you?
Colleen: I honestly couldn’t be more stoked. I didn’t think anyone would read it outside of my friends and family, so when people I didn’t know downloaded it the first day it was available, I was so excited! It is such a great feeling that people have enjoyed the book as much as I enjoyed writing it. With each Amazon review that came in, I would print it out and put it in a scrapbook. I know that sounds cheesy, but every single review I received was like Christmas morning! It still is. I love hearing that people enjoyed what I wrote. It’s what keeps me motivated and determined to keep writing.

Avettbrosfans: What else do we need to know about Colleen Hoover and Point of Retreat?
Colleen: While Point of Retreat is a follow-up to Slammed, it’s very different. For those that haven’t read Slammed, I don’t want to give too much away. The book focuses more on the personal lives of Layken and Will and how they cope in their relationship and in their role as guardians. Of course I had to add some twists and turns in there, too. I am hoping that readers enjoy the second installment just as much as they did the first. And for those that haven’t read Slammed, I have lowered the price to $2.99 just for you!

Welcome Avett Tour 2012!!!

February 11, 2012 in News

So, here we go! Another Avett tour has started! Who’s excited? I know I am. I am hoping for some midwest dates announced very soon so I can get my next show on the books. I wish I could fly all over the country and see a lot of shows, but with two young children that just isn’t happening right now in my life.

After a bit of a hiatus from posting, I thought I would start back up with the first official setlist of the year! It’s a long one, but a good one as usual. Every Avett song holds a memory or sparks a feeling in me, so I thought I’d share those to kick this year off right!

Will You Return?- I love the lyric “I wish you’d see yourself as beautiful as I see you”.  We never do see ourselves as others do. Why not?

The Fall–This holds 2 real memories for me.  The first is Halloween 2010 at the Ryman where we met a great group of people waiting to meet the band (they didn’t come out that night) and there was a kid dressed up as the visitor in black. There were some people who didn’t get his costume but we got it immediately and sparked a great conversation and had a wonderful time waiting in the freezing cold.

The second is seeing Paleface and Mo in a tiny little venue here in Indy sing this song.  It was a fun night getting to know PF and Mo and really enjoyed talking to them and getting some insight on their relationship with the Avetts.

At the Beach- AKA “Lake Tippy Song”  This is the song that our family plays when we are headed to the lake on the weekends and trying to forget the 9 to 5.  Elle, my 4 year old belts out “We just have to leave all that behind” and I feel the stress of life and the upcoming relaxing fun weekend take over me.

Paranoia in Bb Major–This reminds me of my friend Heather.  This was her first favorite song.  I think of her almost every time I hear it.  Plus, I am sure we can all relate to not being able to make everyone happy all of the time, even though we feel like we try.

Tin Man- There are people (I’m not calling anyone out here) who this song reminds me of–even myself some days.  The old tin man sees pain, but doesn’t feel it but he misses that feeling of feeling.  Who hasn’t felt like this at times in their life? We all have times where each moment of our life feels the same and we long when each moment was different.

Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise- The Grammys of course.  I loved the build up to The Avett Brothers playing on the Grammys and then seeing them kill it and people finally not shooting me down the first five times I try to get them to listen to their music.  After the Grammys, it seemed like a much easier sell.  This is also one of my mom’s favorite songs, which was quite a feat getting her to listen to my music even though I spent my life listening to her music and loving it.

Just a Closer Walk With Thee–Just a beautiful song and shows the spiritual nature of these guys.

Once And Future Carpenter–This is an exciting preview of the future for the Avetts.  The first time I heard this in South Bend, IN in January 2011 it was still fresh and new.  No one in the crowd knew it and we all sat there and just listened in silence.  Then the lyric Seth sung “If I live the life I’m given–I won’t be scared to die” and we were in awe at the amazing ability of these guys to put together a song in such a way that we can all relate and leave us a bit stunned. They craft words in such a clever way that it’s almost impossible not to be taken in by their art.

Pretty Girl from Cedar Lane–Another one of my favs.  This song makes me hate every girl named Ashley (or at least this mysterious one).  I mean seriously who would leave Scott Avett on the rooftop all night long?  Only a crazy fool.  But it does show the down to earth real life experiences these guys have had.  We’ve all been stood up or dumped and drank Bourbon (insert your drink of choice) in sorrow by ourselves.

Slight Figure of Speech-Two memories here too.  The first is that this song is the sole reason I started watching the TV show Parenthood.  It was in the opening scene of the pilot.  I had to watch to hear my Avetts on TV and had to keep watching out of respect of a show the recognizes great music and realized that the show was awesome.  I am now an avid follower.

The second memory was in Merrillville, IN 2011.  It was an odd and sparse crowd with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band opening, but the Avetts rocked it like there was a full house.  I was in the front with a young girl who had a poster saying it was her birthday and she wanted to hear Slight Figure of Speech.  I was bummed because it is not a favorite of mine, but the show was winding down to the last song and Seth looked at her and winked as they fired up SOS.  It was just a sign that these guys pay attention and do love and care about their fans.  Not to mention this is the show that I got a banjo pick Scott threw out too.

January Wedding–My four year old has already planned to marry the love of her life Caleb in January because of this song.  It’s just a beautiful story and I can just see the birds performing in the morning on her wedding day, now whether that’s to Caleb only time will tell.

Denouncing November Blue- This is a personal fav of mine.  I love the references to jelly shoes, the memories of all the cries I have over guys and then moving on as quickly as I got attached, the story of traveling the open road and and talking to people and realizing they “don’t know nothing—no matter what they tell you”.  Not to mention this has a lot of banjo and harmonica which I love.

Murder in the City (daughter/son)–This is a special one for me.  I first heard this song in 2008 at the Bluebird in Bloomington, IN.  I stood in the crowd with tears running down my face.  This song touched me in a way few songs ever have and made me so happy to finally share my name with someone and it to really mean something.

When I Drink- I love this one too.  It reminds me of being younger and drinking all the time and doing dumb stuff.  It also is a reflection of growing up and not wanting to act like that anymore.  The line “You only get so many days–now I have one less” is genius and my husband and I reference it all the time on the rare occasions we get to go out alone or with our friends.  We love to have fun, but don’t want to have one less day with our kids–not to mention hungover days are miserable with a 2 and 4 year old.

Shame– We all need a helping hand some days- Don’t say you don’t!  I love the last line of this song which says “I couldn’t help them, now I can” .  We can all help each other out in small or big ways in life.  Sometimes it’s a smile, sometimes it’s introducing them to The Avett Brothers music, and sometimes it’s giving them food.  We all can help each other or will need help at some point in our lives and this song is a reminder that we are all capable of that.

Matrimony– Another song that I think I have only heard live once at the Ryman over Halloween weekend 201o.  I remember that Matt our friend was excited to hear it.  I like the different feel and pace to this one too.

Salina– I see this as a tribute to all the hard work the Avetts put into on the road.  They are all over and giving a shout out so some of their stops along the way.  My hometown of Indianapolis is mentioned it too, which is always fun when they play here.

And It Spread–This was the opening song to the Indianapolis show this past year.  That was such a wonderful day for me.  We had such an amazing experience with the food drive, the venue and the generosity of the Avett Brothers.  It is a day I will never forget all you as fans coming up with your cans and donations.  I felt so special to be a part of the Avett fan base that day.  It was the most successful concert food drive for Gleaners (a huge food bank here in Indiana) that they can ever remember.  It was truly one of the best days ever.

I Killed Sally’s Lover–This is a great lesson.  A bleeding heart is better that the penitentiary.  No matter what someone does to you in a relationship or life, there are better ways to move on than Sally’s ex-lover did. It is a fun song live!

Down With The Shine–Another “newer” song that makes me excited for the upcoming new album.  I love this feel of this song.  This song talks about change happening to you right now.  Things that change and look shiny aren’t always as they seem.

I and Love and You–And the Avetts are big time now with this one.  This is the song that got first radio play on our local station (and many of your stations I’m sure).  It reminds me that they will never look back and keep spreading their music to whoever will listen and try to keep that intimate connection with their fans even though it gets harder the bigger you get.  And I do love seeing my daughter put her 3 fingers up and sing “I and Love and You”

Living of Love- This is a song that I like and will sing along any day, but don’t have a specific memory or feeling tied to it.  Just being honest here.

Go To Sleep–I sing this to my kids every night

Colorshow -I love this raucous song.  I am loud (too loud at times) and I feel like I let my colors show.  If you know me, you know that I am up front, direct and honest to a fault at time.

Encore:
Ballad of Love and Hate–What a story this is!  It is amazing how Seth can stand up with just his guitar and draw you into this fairly long song with is guitar, his beautiful voice and ability to tell a story.  I also love Ballad False start when recording Live Vol. 3.  Who can get so lost in the moment and forget as song and just start over and have fans who ate it up?  The Avett Brothers–that’s who.

Talk On Indolence-This reminds me that the Avetts aren’t just bluegrass, country, punk grass, americana, folk,  or whatever you want to call them.  This shows a real versatility and ability to really rock it out!  I love the punk side to these guys as well as the soft side too.

This may have been my longest post ever! I had no idea it would be this long. Sorry! Enjoy the upcoming year with The Avett Brothers.

“Slammed” Free Download–Review and Interview with Avett Fan and author Colleen Hoover

January 4, 2012 in News

A fellow Avett fan Colleen Hoover has written a book that is available for the next two days to be downloaded for free from Amazon.com. It is a book that the Avett Brothers lyrics and approach to music/poetry as an art are woven throughout. It is a quick read (took me about 5 hours or so even with my crazy kids over the holiday), but well worth the time spent. The story of Lake and Will and their struggles in life and death to either be together or not are genuine and I found myself pulling for them every step of the way. There is also an interesting dynamic called Poetry Slam which I had never heard of, but am so intrigued by after reading the book. Colleen does an excellent job relating poetry to music and the important role both can play in the healing process and expressing your true emotions. 

I paid the hefty pre-free $4.99 for the book and don’t regret, take advantage of the free offer for the next few days. You won’t regret that investment.  Best of luck with the book Colleen!!

Here is the interview with Colleen about the book:

Avettbrosfans: What was your motivation to write your first book?
Hoover: “Decide what to be and go be it.” I’ve always loved to write in my spare time. After I heard those lyrics, I knew it’s what I wanted to be. It took me a while to actually ‘go be it’, but I eventually sat down to write my first book. It started when my 8 year old son auditioned for a part in a community theater play. For two months, I would get off work at six o’clock and take him to practice and have to sit in the audience for 3 hours. I ended up bringing my laptop with me to listen to music, read, whatever…just to pass the time. Well, I had been watching performances on youtube for slam poetry and thought it would be an interesting fiction subject to read about, so I tried to search for a fiction novel on the subject. Well, turns out, I couldn’t find any. So I decided I would just write one myself. I started jotting down notes around December 1st and once I put the pen to paper…it just came out.

Avettbrosfans: Being a huge Avett fan, I loved all the references throughout the book. How did you manage to make the quotes and references fit into the book?
Hoover: The Avett Brothers are such a huge part of bringing back my passion for writing. Their lyrics are sometimes just so profound, it amazes me. I knew I wanted to reference them in the book, just to give them a ‘shout out’ in case anyone ever read the book that had never heard of The Avett Brothers. I had this dream that somehow, through my book, I could return a favor to them for all the joy they have brought me. I ended up finishing the book, then dividing it into chapters. I used lyrics to correlate with each chapter that I felt ‘fit’ the events of that chapter. When I was finished, it all fit together so well it seemed as though their lyrics were written for my book.

Avettbrosfans: Tell us more about how you became an Avett fan and why you obviously love them so much.
Hoover: I was was watching some videos on youtube, looking for music. I’ve never been into ‘mainstream’ music and tended to listen to more stuff from before I was born like Cat Stevens. I ran across ‘Murder in The City’ and actually laughed. I thought that it was a joke. I couldn’t imagine that those beards were for real. By the time the song had finished, I was hooked. I stayed up for hours searching videos of every single song I could find. I downloaded all of their music from itunes that night. I’ve been a huge fan since.

Avettbrosfans: I could really feel the connection between Lake and Will in the book and was for them every step of way. Their love at first sight was so believable in the book. Where did your idea for them and their story come from?
Hoover: Actually, once I started writing, I didn’t really have an outline. I love ‘If it’s the Beaches’ and would listen to it as I wrote. I believe that song is such a powerful love song, that I had to portray their connection with that sort of intensity.

Avettbrosfans: I was fascinated with the poetry slam concept in the book. Do you slam? Tell us more about it and why it interests you.
Hoover: I have never slammed…I wouldn’t have the nerve. I actually first heard of it through a documentary on HBO called ‘Brave New Voices’. The young people that performed the poetry just enthralled me. It was amazing. To have that kind of passion and bravery and put it all out there is extremely captivating. I admire everyone that is able to do it, and couldn’t think of a better group of people to introduce to the reader than slam poets.

Avettbrosfans: The names are so interesting in the book Layken, Caulder, Kel and Eddie for a girl. Where did you come up with those?
Hoover: Well, Layken would have been my daughter’s name if they all wouldn’t have turned out to be boys. Kel is actually the name of one of my boys, although I spell his name ‘Cale’. After I filled out his birth certificate, I immediatley regretted not spelling it ‘Kel’. Eddie is my father’s name. He passed away 7 years ago. I have no idea where I got Caulder from. It just sort of came out as I was writing.

Avettbrosfans: Is this just the beginning of the Lake and Will story? Will we see more about them in the future?
Hoover: I didn’t plan on writing a sequel with this cast of characters. However, based on the feedback it seems as though I’ll be cut off from a lot of my friends if I don’t. I’ve currently got a few ideas running around in my mind for a sequel, but right now I’m taking some time off. I just finished the book last week….maybe I’ll give myself a two week break. If the next one goes as smoothly as this one did, hopefully I’ll have something by Valentine’s!

Well, Colleen best of luck and we can’t wait to see what’s next for you, Will and Lake, and of course the Avetts!

Truth & Salvage Co. Food Drive November 4th at The Vogue in Indy

October 25, 2011 in News

After our roaring success with the food drive at the Indianapolis Avett show, their opener Truth & Salvage Co. wanted to continue to give back to the Indianapolis community when they return here November 4th to play The Vogue Theatre (venue of the a few Avett shows in the past) with JJ Grey.

So if you are in the Indy area, come out and enjoy more Truth & Salvage Co., JJ Grey and here’s another opportunity to support Gleaners Food Bank and the hungry in Indiana!

WHAT: Los Angeles based Americana Soul band, Truth & Salvage Co. along with TheAvettBrothersFans.com, JJ Grey and Mofro and WTTS will host a canned food drive benefiting Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana at the Vogue Theatre.

Concert goers and community members are encouraged to bring canned food and cash donation to the Vogue Theatre in Indianapolis prior to the 8 PM show on November 4, 2011. Truth & Salvage Co. and JJ Grey and Mofro will raffle off signed merchandise and free concert tickets prior to the show that night.

WHO: Truth & Salvage Co., TheAvettBrothersFans.com, JJ Grey and Mofro, WTTS and Vogue Theatre.

WHEN: November 4, 2011
Anytime prior to the 8:00 pm show

WHERE: The Vogue
6258 N. College Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46220