Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is an American band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. Founding members include singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, violinist Boyd Tinsley, and drummer Carter Beauford. Founding-member saxophonist LeRoi Moore was part of the band until his death in August 2008. His spot is now occupied by Grammy Award-winner Jeff Coffin, of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones fame. With Dave Matthews Band members who each have roots in differing genres, including jazz, classical music, soul music, and Afrobeat, the combination of each member has created a sound which has earned them fans from a variety of quarters.
The Dave Matthews Band is known for their annual summer-long tours of the US and Europe, featuring lengthy improvisational renditions of their songs accompanied by elaborate video and lighting. The Dave Matthews Band newest album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King debuted at number one on Billboard 200, giving the band their fifth consecutive number one debut. The Dave Matthews Band is a multi-Grammy Award winner, and was awarded the NAACP Chairman’s Award. According to Julian Bond, “they sell out the largest arenas on Earth, but frequently give their music away.” Get your tickets of all your favorite events at Ticket Market.
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Songwriter David John Matthews, working in Charlottesville as a bartender at Miller’s bar in November 1990, made friends with a lawyer named Ross Hoffman. Hoffman convinced Matthews, usually reserved and scared of playing in front of people, to lay down a demo of the few songs he had written. Hoffman hoped Matthews could shop the songs in order to find other musicians to perform on some studio work with him. Hoffman encouraged Matthews to approach Carter Beauford, a local drummer on the Charlottesville music scene. Beauford had been in several bands and was then playing on a jazz show on BET. After hearing the demo, Carter agreed to spend some time playing the drums, both inside and outside the studio. Matthews also approached LeRoi Moore, another local jazz musician who often performed with the John D’earth Quintet to join them. Moore skeptically listened to the demo, but liked what he heard and decided that he too would give the young South African a chance. These three began working on Matthews’ songs in 1991. Matthews recollects that, “…the reason I went to Carter was not because I needed a drummer, but because I thought he was the baddest thing I’d ever seen and Leroi, it wasn’t because I desperately wanted a saxophone, it was because this guy just blew my mind. At this jazz place I used to bartend at [Miller's], I would just sit back and watch him. I would be serving the musicians fat whiskeys and they’d be getting more and more hosed, but no matter how much, he used to still blow my mind. And it was the sense that everyone played from their heart. And when we got together and they asked, ‘What do you want the music to sound like?’ I said, ‘I know this is a song I wrote and I like what you guys play, so I want you to play the way you react to my song.’ There was a lot of breaking of our inhibitions.” Get your tickets of all your favorite events at Ticket Market.
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Matthews later said in an interview with Michael Krugman, “In a way, initially it was just the three of us and I approached them with this tape and they said ‘Sure,’ cause they had time on their hands. They were both working on other things, but they had some afternoon time.” The beginning stages of this new band was, in the words of Morgan Delancey, “a time of trial and incubation.” Beauford would later recall that, “It started out as a three-piece thing with Dave and Leroi…working on some of Dave’s songs. He only had four songs at the time..And it didn’t work out with the three of us.” Matthews said, “The first time we played together…we were awful. Not just kind of bad, I mean heinously bad. We tried a couple of different songs and they were all terrible…Sometimes it amazes me that we ever had a second rehearsal.”
Their limited instrumentals, however, did not provide the full sound they desired; more musicians were needed. Secrets was a former jazz fusion band based in Richmond, Virginia most notable for having LeRoi Moore and Carter Beauford as members before forming the Dave Matthews Band. Moore’s former bandmate, John D’earth, conductor of the University of Virginia Orchestra and local musician, taught music at the Tandem Friends School. Stefan Lessard, a junior bassist at the time, was under his guidance in the student jazz combo, Yabanci Jazzites. On the recommendation of John D’earth, the 16-year-old Lessard was asked to join in the studio to help complete the demo. While the partnership was never intended to continue beyond the studio, the four liked the sound and decided to continue together for live performances as well. Consequently, regular practices began in the basement of Carter Beauford’s and Matthews’ mother’s home.
Peter Griesar was a bartender at Miller’s beginning in 1989, and in August 1991, during Miller’s annual respite for inventory, Matthews, Beauford, Moore and Lessard used the empty bar for rehearsing. Griesar heard them rehearsing and decided to stop working for a while, pulled out his harmonica, and started playing with them. After a few songs, he was invited to perform with them. He immediately accepted, becoming the band’s first keyboardist. Griesar’s last show with the band was March 23, 1993.
Boyd Tinsley was the last member to join the Dave Matthews band. Although he had performed on the demo with Matthews, Moore, Beauford and Lessard, he was busy with a couple of other bands at the time (Boyd Tinsley Band and Down Boy Down) and did not want to commit to a group of musicians that were only together in the studio at the time. He didn’t become a full-time member until the middle of 1992. Matthews later admitted, “We had no plans of adding a violinist. We just wanted some fiddle tracked on this one song “Tripping Billies”, and Boyd was a friend of Leroi. He came in and it just clicked. That completely solidified the band, gave it a lot more power.” Get your tickets of all your favorite events at Ticket Market.
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The Dave Matthews band first in-studio demo was recorded in February or March 1991, and consisted of “The Song That Jane Likes,” “Recently,” and “Tripping Billies” prior to Tinsley joining as a full-time bandmember. Tinsley only performed on “Tripping Billies.”
Their first public show was at the city’s 1991 Earth Day Festival. Local weekly appearances soon followed, and within a short time word of the band’s sound spread.
They still did not have a name for the band. One name that was thrown around was Dumela (which is the Tswana word for “hello”,) but no real enthusiasm was ever felt, and they dropped it. One story is that Moore reportedly telephoned a place they were booked and said to just write ‘Dave Matthews.’ The person receiving the call just wrote ‘band’ after the name, and the name stayed Dave Matthews Band from that point on. Matthews told Robert Trott of AP, “Boyd [Tinsley], if memory serves, wrote ‘Dave Matthews Band [on this flyer for the show]. There was no time when we said, ‘Let’s call this band the Dave Matthews Band.’ It just became that, and it sort of was too late to change when we started thinking that this could focus unfairly on me. People sort of made that association, but it’s really not like that.”
Beauford seemed to agree with Matthews’ analysis of the band name when he said to Modern Drummer magazine that, “As a matter of fact, that’s one of the things about this band that everybody likes: There isn’t a leader. Each one of us can express ourselves musically without being choked by a leader. Everybody can offer what they feel is gonna enhance the music. So yeah, that’s the main thing that all the guys — especially me — feel make this band happen. It’s the freedom that we have to speak with our instruments.” Get your tickets of all your favorite events at Ticket Market.
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By the summer of 1991, they were playing at Eastern Standard with Charles Newman as their manager for a brief time. Dave Matthews Band were also playing a regular Tuesday night show at the popular Charlottesville club Trax. Tapings of shows at Trax are some of the most widely shared among DMB fans. After Newman, Coran Capshaw, owner of the Flood Zone where the band often played, took the helm of Dave Matthews Band.
For a variety reasons, like sensing that the band was on the verge of making it big, not wanting to have his life ruled by the grueling schedule that touring musicians often face, difficulties communicating with Matthews, and maintaining the mortgage on his new home, Peter Griesar decided to leave the band after a show at Trax nightclub on March 23, 1993, a night known as “Big League Chew”.
On November 9, 1993, Dave Matthews Band released its first album, Remember Two Things, on its Bama Rags label, later re released by RCA in 1997. Live songs on the album were recorded at The Flood Zone in Richmond, Virginia on August 10, 1993, and The Muse Music Club on Nantucket Island on August 16-18, 1993. The album debuted on college charts as the highest independent entry, and went on to be certified platinum by the RIAA in 2002 — a significant accomplishment for an independent album. Meanwhile, the band kept touring and its fan base continued to grow. By allowing fans to tape shows for their personal use, DMB created a highly interactive community that continues to this day. Only recently has the band had to take legal action against some bootleggers who sell recordings of their concerts at a profit — something the DMB trading community also abhors. Get your tickets of all your favorite events at Ticket Market.
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The Dave Matthews Band released their first live EP, entitled Recently, in 1994. The album’s five tracks were taken from shows performed at The Birchmere, in Alexandria, Virginia, and from Trax, in Charlottesville. This EP featured the first recorded version of Bob Dylan’s classic “All Along the Watchtower” and “Halloween.” Recently was re-released by RCA Records in 1997.
On September 20, 1994, DMB released their second album, Under the Table and Dreaming, featuring their first commercial hits “What Would You Say” (featuring John Popper on harmonica), “Satellite,” and “Ants Marching.” The album was dedicated “In memory of Anne” for Matthews’ older sister Anne, who was killed by her husband in 1994 in a murder-suicide.
Under the Table and Dreaming and its follow-up album, Crash brought the band national attention, culminating in a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “So Much to Say” as well as four other nominations between the years 1996 and 1997. The band also achieved hits with “Crash into Me,” “Too Much,” and “Tripping Billies.” While the band enjoyed growing commercial success and the devotion of fans, among critics, they still suffered from (largely negative) comparisons to jam band legends like The Grateful Dead.[19]
By 1997, Dave Matthews Band reached unparalleled levels of popularity across the United States and, to some degree, the world. On October 28, 1997, the Dave Matthews Band released their first full length live album, Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95. The album, which was recorded at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, featured popular songs from the band’s first three albums and included longtime collaborator Tim Reynolds on electric guitar.
In late 1997, the Dave Matthews Band returned to the studio with producer Steve Lillywhite and an array of guest collaborators, including Reynolds, banjoist Béla Fleck, vocalist Alanis Morissette, future permanent keyboardist and unofficial sixth band member Butch Taylor, and the Kronos Quartet. They composed and recorded Before These Crowded Streets, their third album with RCA, which was released on April 28, 1998. The album represented a great change in direction for the band as they did not rely on upbeat hit singles to carry the album. “Stay (Wasting Time)”, an uplifting gospel number, and “Crush”, a love ballad, became very popular tracks along with the lead single “Don’t Drink the Water”. Dave Matthews has commented that the inspiration for this song came from the treatment of Native Americans by the United States government.
On January 19, 1999, Matthews and Reynolds released the live album, Live at Luther College, from a February 6, 1996, acoustic concert played by Matthews and Reynolds at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. The album features songs mostly from DMB’s first two albums, while also featuring the previously unreleased pieces “Deed Is Done” and “Little Thing”. Also included on the album is Reynolds’ acoustic virtuoso piece “Stream.”
During the summer, the band took part in the Woodstock ’99 concert and then released their third live album, Listener Supported, in the fall. The album, a live recording, used a show performed at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey on September 11, 1999 for a PBS television special. The album was also released as the band’s first DVD. The year also provided two more Grammy nominations. Get your tickets of all your favorite events at Ticket Market.
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During 2000, Dave Matthews Band set up their own recording studio at a large countryside home outside Charlottesville. With longtime producer Lillywhite at the helm, the band began work on a fourth studio album. Heavily influenced by personal conflicts, notably the death of Matthews’ uncle from alcoholism, the songs recorded with Lillywhite rank as some of the darkest he has ever written. In the end, the studio sessions were scrapped and the band’s seven-year relationship with Lillywhite was over. Some believe Dave Matthews Band was unhappy with the atmosphere of the songs and frustrated with Lillywhite’s often perfectionist style of production, while others believe Lillywhite was made into a scapegoat for the band’s lack of professionalism during the recording sessions. Or, as Matthews was quoted as saying, he was in a depressive state and BMG kept asking him for happy music.
In October 2000, an energized Dave Matthews Band began writing with Glen Ballard, most famous for his work with Alanis Morissette. The rest of Dave Matthews Band (along with special guest Carlos Santana) soon joined Matthews in a Los Angeles studio and quickly recorded Everyday. While the album gave the band a much-needed fresh start, Ballard’s slick pop-music approach to production was very different from the creative process used to produce previous studio albums. Carter Beauford has said that the album was a product of Matthews and Ballard and that it did not showcase the rest of the band. The February 27, 2001, release of Everyday was a huge commercial success. The singles “I Did It”, “Everyday”, and “The Space Between”, brought the band an even larger level of popularity. However, some long-time members of the fanbase were disappointed with the release. Everyday’s slick pop sound (including Dave Matthews’ first ever recording sessions on electric guitar) was a big departure from the band’s previous work and highly divergent from the songs recorded with Lillywhite.
Certain songs such as “What You Are” and “When The World Ends” kept a darker edge to them, and have been more well received by older DMB fans. “Everyday” was also familiar to older DMB fans, as the main guitar lick is derived from that of the song “#36.” Get your tickets of all your favorite events at Ticket Market.
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In March 2001, the Lillywhite conflict came full circle when the 2000 studio sessions with the producer were leaked over the internet. The tracks spread quickly over established internet channels such as Napster. Collectively known as The Lillywhite Sessions, these tracks were lauded by both the fan base and the popular press. After critical comparison of the two simultaneous albums, fans that were less than pleased with Everyday’s slicker sound were frustrated with the band’s decision to scrap the work in exchange for Everyday.
The Lillywhite Sessions would, however, eventually be officially released. In response to overwhelming fan support, coupled with a popular and widely publicized online campaign known as the Release Lillywhite Recordings Campaign, DMB returned to the studio in 2002 to record Busted Stuff. Produced by Stephen Harris, the recording engineer who worked under Lillywhite on previous albums, the resulting CD provided new treatments of much of the Lillywhite Sessions’ material, along with newly written songs “You Never Know” and the single “Where Are You Going” which was subsequently used in the movie Mr. Deeds. Busted Stuff hit the shelves on July 16, 2002, receiving moderate critical and commercial success, while being generally well-received by the band’s fans.
During these two years the Dave Matthews Band released two live albums. The first, Live in Chicago 12.19.98, features Tim Reynolds on guitar as well as many other special guests such as bassist Victor Wooten and saxophonist Maceo Parker. The second, Live at Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado, highlights songs from both Everyday and Busted Stuff and was released as both a CD and a DVD. Get your tickets of all your favorite events at Ticket Market.
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In the spring of 2003, Matthews and Reynolds embarked on another successful solo acoustic tour. The shows are very different from the normal DMB shows in that the venues are usually more intimate, and the song selection is very different. The shows are also noted for Reynolds’ virtuoso guitar work.
In 2003 Matthews and Tinsley released their first solo albums. Tinsley released True Reflections on June 17, 2003.
On September 23, 2003, Dave Matthews released his first solo album, Some Devil. The album’s lead single, “Gravedigger” won Matthews another Grammy Award. The album was followed by the Dave Matthews & Friends tour.
The next day, September 24, DMB played a free concert on the Great Lawn in New York City’s Central Park.
Live Trax & Stand Up (2004-2
The Gorge, a combination 2-CD/1-DVD set with highlights from their 3-night 2002 tour closer at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington was released on June 29, 2004.
Later in the year it was announced that highlights from the Band’s extensive live archives would be available for purchase via the official website. The first such release, Live Trax Vol. 1, was released on November 2, 2004 and was their performance at the Centrum Center in Worcester, Massachusetts on December 8, 1998. Get your tickets of all your favorite events at Ticket Market.
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The Gorge, a combination 2-CD/1-DVD set with highlights from their 3-night 2002 tour closer at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington was released on June 29, 2004.
The first such release, Live Trax Vol. 1, was released on November 2, 2004 and was their performance at the Centrum Center in Worcester, Massachusetts on December 8, 1998.
On September 12, 2004, DMB played their second benefit show in less than a year, with a free show at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. This concert drew one of their largest crowds and produced a popular bootleg. The Dave Matthews Band was joined by guitarist Carlos Santana on many songs, and the tracks led to the second release in the Live Trax Series, Live Trax Vol. 2 released on December 17, 2004. The album gave fans previews of newly-penned songs “Joy Ride”, “Hello Again”, and “Sugar Will”; all at the time presumed to be destined for release on a new studio album in 2005. However, only “Hello Again” was actually included on the subsequent album release, Stand Up.
In August 2004, Dave Matthews Band was at the center of a controversy when about 800 pounds of liquid human waste was dumped from band member Boyd Tinsley’s tour bus through the grate in the Kinzie Street Bridge in Chicago onto passengers aboard a sightseeing boat on the Chicago River below. The bus driver, Stefan Wohl, pleaded guilty, and the band has donated $50,000 to the Friends of the Chicago River and $50,000 to the Chicago Park District. In April 2005, the band paid $200,000 to settle the civil lawsuit that followed.
In Fall 2004, DMB returned to their studio in Charlottesville, Virginia with a new producer, Mark Batson. Stand Up was released on May 10, 2005, debuting at #1 on the Billboard charts with sales of 465,000. Stand Up spawned the singles “American Baby”, “Dreamgirl”, and “Everybody Wake Up”. The band also released a video for “Dreamgirl”, featuring Julia Roberts, a long-time fan of the band.
During March 2005, Dave Matthews Band arrived on Australian shores for the first time, playing shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Byron Bay [East Coast Blues and Roots Festival].
The band supported the album with a summer-long tour culminating in a four-night stand at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Get your tickets of all your favorite events at Ticket Market.
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