They grew up in rural North Carolina and even had bluegrass players in the family. Funny, then, how the members of the Avett Brothers took a rather circuitous route before getting their twang on -- which helps explain why they're hot and hip enough to sell out Friday's First Avenue gig months in advance, instead of being just some familial roots-music act trying to fill the Cedar Cultural Center.

Not many music groups with bluegrass/Appalachian undertones have young indie-rockers and emo fans clamoring to hear more banjo.

Led by brothers Scott and Seth Avett, the group found a fresh new way of crafting rootsy songs, bringing in the raw emotionalism and hyper energy of punk and the dramatic flair of metal and emo. It's no mistake that they often cite Mike Patton's oddball prog-metal/funk band Mr. Bungle as an influence.

Talking by phone during a tour hiatus last month, the band's other co-founder, standup bassist Bob Crawford, said the transition to rootsier acoustic music was a natural progression.

"You're young and full of angst, whether there's any real reason for you to have the angst," Crawford laughingly recalled. "We all had great families and grew up with pretty good security, but regardless, you go through that phase as you're growing up. Then as you get older, you start to appreciate other styles of music."

That was especially true with the Avett bros, Crawford said, since their father was a bluegrass player and a grandfather was a prominent preacher. "They had a natural thing against the music their father played for them, but then by the time we started this band in the late '90s, they began to embrace that music and see the quality of it. That's sort of life as an American teenager."

Now, plenty of teenagers and collegiate fans are flocking to the Avett Brothers. The trio -- rounded out by cellist Joe Kwon in concert -- started racking up thousands of MySpace and Youtube hits and an avid live following around their 2007 album "Emotionalism." Then they were discovered by Rick Rubin.

The super-producer for everyone from Johnny Cash and the Dixie Chicks to Jay-Z and Slayer signed the group to his Sony-tied American Recordings label and helmed their latest disc, "I and Love and You," an eclectic collection of lovelorn ballads and lively, stomping twang-pop. Since its release in September, the album's piano-led title track and the more playful track "Kick Drum Heart" have kicked up a lot of airplay locally on Cities 97 and the Current.

While its mainstream crossover has been rapid, the group's rise through the underground was as slow and steady as a Carolina tide stream. The Avett Brothers crammed in seven albums and several EPs over seven years, and they toured like crazy.

"Since 2001, we just went and went and went," Crawford recalled, detailing a rather ingenious game plan. "We couldn't get a gig in New York City, but we got one in Poughkeepsie or Apalachin, N.Y., or Albany. We couldn't get a gig in downtown Columbus, Ohio, but we could get one in Hilliard, Ohio.

"This allowed us to begin to build relationships out of the beltway of the major cities, and these people were appreciative we were going there. When we started getting inside the beltways, these people would come from the outskirts to see us, and that allowed us to gain more attention more quickly."

A long drive to Apple Valley

Whether or not Apple Valley qualifies as the Twin Cities' outskirts, Crawford said the group fondly remembers its Minnesota Zoo gig last summer -- and has an even more vivid memory of another show there way back in 2004.

"We opened for Clarence (Gatemouth) Brown and Dan Hicks. We drove 18 hours to play that half-hour, then turned around and went home, and it was worth every minute of it."

Oh, how things have changed for this little band that could, especially since it signed with Sony. Said Crawford, "We were always gradually selling out shows and moving up and selling out bigger shows, but now we're selling out a rate that doubles and triples from before. It's good on all fronts."

Actually, there is one downside to the success. Now that it's on a major label, the group that used to average an album and a half per year has to wait a year and a half before putting out another one, as is commonplace at the bigger companies.

"On this break, we did 20 demos working toward the next album," Crawford boasted. "We're already moving in that direction. We need to make something happen, because the material comes so fast, it can get lost."

They could always record those songs as a Mr. Bungle-ian side project in the interim.

Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658