About 1,370 folks were in the audience last Thursday as Americana-rockers The Avett Brothers were, as their song says, "a breathing time machine" transporting us all in that opulent 1920s-era theater into a perfect space in time.

Brothers Avett rolled into the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center and, armed with a heart full of songs and their own painted backdrops, banjo-piano-drum-guitar-and-cello, rocked like festival season was just starting over.

A tip of the hat to V Club owner Pat Guthrie who produced the show with Outback Concerts out of Nashville.

Not to get greedy or be filled with boatloads of shame for it, but boy, I could see some more shows in the Keith.

From the crowd reaction I heard, so could everyone else, including former Columbia Records Jersey girl and opening act Nicole Atkins, who honestly remarked from the stage, "You know, I'm hypnotized by the ceiling," before busting into her song "Neptune City."

Amen sister.

O' YouTube here art thou

If you didn't make it to the Avett Brothers show, you can catch more than a few short videos of the songs shot live on YouTube.

Speaking of Avett videos, the professionally shot video of "I and Love and You," the title track to the group's new Rick Rubin-produced album, is now airing on CMT's Pure Channel and is eligible for CMT Pure's 12 Pack Countdown. Each episode of the countdown debuts at 9 p.m. Friday and repeats seven times the following week.

File this one under one of the most bizarre collaborations in recent memory.

Dr. Ralph Stanley, the southwest Virginia mountain music legend who will perform on the Late Show with David Letterman Friday, Nov. 6, has teamed up on video with Jesco White, "The Dancing Outlaw," and Obama Girl as well.

The three cut a video with Obama Girl (Amber Ettinger) singing a song to the tune of "Man of Constant Sorrow," in an attempt to attract the attention of President Barack Obama and get attorney Eric C. Conn appointed to the Social Security Board.

The video, filmed regionally at the Mountain Homeplace in Johnson County, Ky., can be viewed at www.barelypolitical.com or on the Obama Girl's YouTube channel under the title "Obama Girl's New Crush."

Mountain State international

A couple of internationally flavored CDs have come across the desk in the past week.

No stranger to Huntington as he's played the V Club and past Dream Fests at Harris Riverfront Park, the Jamaican-born singer-songwriter Lenval "Shayar" Jarrett has a new CD, "Get Up and Try."

Shayar, who toured as rhythm guitarist for Burning Spear and Anthony B, has been a Beckley, W.Va., resident since 1997 as these mountains remind him of home.

On his fifth CD, cut with Beckley-based Dan Bailey and with Beckley's own Lady D singing backup, Shayar lays down 10 new original songs. He plays everything from percussion and keyboards to guitar, harmonica and mandolin, making an excellent new batch of homegrown Mountain State reggae.

Hailing from Martinsburg, W.Va., Inventing New Revolutionary Genre presents "For the Love of Music," a new CD that's an original blend of songs from Jordan Ottley and Blaise Christian Sitchet.

Blaise, who hails from Africa, said that INRG is the group's first CD.

On its 13 tracks, the two rather smoothly blend up a stew of smooth jazz, classical, African, reggae and R&B colored with lots of flowing hip-hop starting with the aptly titled first cut, "Get to Know Us."

Check the Web site at www.inrgmusic.com or at www.myspace.com/inrgmusic.

Be the first person to call me with the right answer to this question and win both CDs. What genre of music does Lady D usually sing? Call me at 304-526-6686 or e-mail at lavender@herald-dispatch.com.

Eight shades of bluegrass

A rare Friday show at the Mountaineer Opry House in Milton is award-winning bluegrass bandleader Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.

Show time is 7:30 p.m., and adult tickets are $15.

On Saturday, the FOOTMAD series in Charleston hosts Rounder Records artist Claire Lynch at 8 p.m. at the Culture Center Theater. Tickets are $10 and $12. Go online at www.footmad.org.

Last but not least, at 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, Mountain Stage hosts Cadillac Sky, as well as WPA, which is the new band featuring Nickel Creek's Sean Watkins and Glen Phillips and many others.

Tickets are $12.50 in advance or $18 at the door. Call 800- 594-TIXX, go online at www.mountainstage.org or stop by Taylor Books, downtown Charleston.

Oblivion beckons again

The Charleston-based thrash metal act that recorded for the L.A.-based Prosthetic Records is reporting that it will be back after taking a two-year hiatus following the release of "Oblivion Beckons."

Vocalist/rhythm guitarist Chris "OJ" Ojeda reported on the band's Web site that the abrupt halt to the band "was a really anti-climactic way to go out. We know a lot of fans and friends alike felt cheated that we didn't play any shows supporting our last album, 'Oblivion Beckons.'"

The band has set three dates in West Virginia for next spring: March 5, at the Sound Factory in Charleston; March 6, at the V Club in Huntington and March 7, at 123 Pleasant Street in Morgantown.

Tickets are not on sale yet.

Go online at www.myspace.com/byzantine where the band has some 23,500 and counting MySpace friends and more than 516,000 plays of its music.

Dave Lavender writes about music for The Herald-Dispatch. Contact him at 304-526-6686 or lavender@herald-dispatch.com.