North Carolina

Fire claims 60 guitars at NC home of Avett Brothers Band dad. ‘We will move forward.’

A fire on Friday destroyed 60 guitars and up to 100 paintings at the Concord home of Jim Avett, father of Scott and Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers band.

“The fire started from a golf cart,” Jim Avett posted on Facebook late Friday. “Half the house is totally beyond repair.”

Firefighters attack flames on Friday. Nov. 26, 2021, at the Concord NC home of Jim Avett, father of Scott and Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers band.
Firefighters attack flames on Friday. Nov. 26, 2021, at the Concord NC home of Jim Avett, father of Scott and Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers band. PAUL LOFFIRE ALLEN VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT

As they rushed to the scene just before 1 p.m., firefighters saw “a smoke column from a distance,” according to a Facebook post by the Allen Volunteer Fire Department.

Firefighters on the first engine to arrive noticed “heavy fire from the garage,” fire officials said in the post. They entered the house to keep the flames from spreading.

Firefighters from four other fire departments arrived with more water and helped attack the fire, according to the Allen Fire Department post.

No one was hurt, fire officials said.

“Great team work by all involved!” the fire department posted.

Jim Avett said a cat is missing.

He said the guitars “were almost a total loss” and all of the art was destroyed.

Scott Avett of The Avett Brothers has an exhibit titled “Scott Avett : INVISIBLE” at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. Avett has many personal pieces, including these two pieces featuring him and his wife with two of their children.
Scott Avett of The Avett Brothers has an exhibit titled “Scott Avett : INVISIBLE” at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. Avett has many personal pieces, including these two pieces featuring him and his wife with two of their children. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com

His sons’ band, The Avett Brothers, is the nationally touring, N.C.-based Americana/country-rock/country-folk/folk-rock band.

“While we are saddened by this setback it is not a knockout punch,” Avett posted on Facebook. “We have the strength, attitude, faith and abilities to move forward. And we will!”

He thanked everyone “for your most gracious and kind words. They mean the world to this family.”

This story was originally published November 27, 2021 at 11:26 AM with the headline "Fire claims 60 guitars at NC home of Avett Brothers Band dad. ‘We will move forward.’."

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Joe Marusak
The Charlotte Observer
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
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