Dave Matthews Band
Encyclopedia
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band
formed in Charlottesville, Virginia
in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter
and guitar
ist Dave Matthews
, bassist
Stefan Lessard
, drummer
/backing vocalist Carter Beauford
and saxophonist LeRoi Moore
. Boyd Tinsley
was added to the band as a violinist soon after the band was formed. Moore died suddenly in August 2008 due to complications from an ATV
accident. Grammy Award
-winner Jeff Coffin
, of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
, has since filled Moore's spot as the band's saxophonist. Rashawn Ross
and Tim Reynolds
have also become full-time touring members of the band. With musicians who each have roots in differing genres, including jazz
, classical
, soul
, rock
, bluegrass
, and hip-hop
, the band has come together to create an eclectic sound which has earned them fans from a variety of quarters. As of 2010, Dave Matthews Band have approximate sales between 30 and 40 million copies worldwide.
The band is known for their annual summer-long tours of the US and Europe, featuring lengthy improvisational renditions of their songs, accompanied by an elaborate video and lighting show. This portion of the tour has become a stamp of DMB and has grown with the band since Fenton Williams
began in the early 1990s. After twenty consecutive years of touring the band announced that it is going to take the summer of 2011 off. The band's most recent album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
(the first since Moore's death) debuted at number one on Billboard 200, giving the band their fifth consecutive number one debut, making them the second band behind Metallica
to do so.
The band has won one Grammy Award
, 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."
Virginia as a bartender
at Miller's bar in November 1990, made friends with a lawyer named Ross Hoffman. Hoffman convinced Matthews, usually reserved and reluctant to play 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."
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 15-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 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. Tinsley is well known for his ability to add excitement to any song with his charismatic violin solos, which oftentimes become one-on-one duels with Dave at live shows. Matthews later admitted, "We had no plans of adding a violin
ist. 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."
When LeRoi was injured in an ATV accident, Jeff Coffin
was selected to replace him in the band's summer tour. After LeRoi's death, Jeff became his permanent replacement in the band, but he is not yet listed as an official member of the DMB.
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."
For years it was believed the band's first public show was at the city's 1991 Earth Day Festival
. A recent pronouncement by band member Stefan Lessard via Twitter on October 9, 2010, however, reports the discovery of an earlier show, taped March 14, 1991, at TRAX. The show was a benefit for the Middle East Children's Alliance and, according to Lessard, included the following songs: "Typical Situation" "Best of What's Around" "I'll Back You Up" "Song That Jane Likes" "Warehouse" "Cry Freedom" and "Recently". The show included only Dave, Stefan, Carter, and LeRoi. 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."
By the summer of 1991, they were playing at Eastern Standard with Charles Newman as their manager for a brief time. They also continued to play at fraternity functions; the last such show was at UVa at the SPE House's annual Lot Party in Spring 1992. Thereafter the band began 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 the Dave Matthews Band.
For a variety reasons, like sensing that the band was on the verge of making it big and 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, DMB 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.
, 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
. 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
".
By 1997, DMB reached unparalleled levels of popularity across the United States and, to some degree, the world. On October 28, 1997, the 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 band returned to the studio with producer Steve Lillywhite
and an array of guest collaborators, including Reynolds, banjo
ist Béla Fleck
, vocalist Alanis Morissette
, percussionist Aaron Carman, 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.
During 2000, DMB 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 DMB 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 Matthews began writing with Glen Ballard
, most famous for his work with Alanis Morissette
. The rest of DMB (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. Everydays 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."
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 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.
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
.
, 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.
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 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, DMB 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, pled 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. The band decided they wanted to take some chances and pursue a funkier side to their music. To help achieve this A&R Bruce Flohr tracked down producer/songwriter Mark Batson
. According to Flohr in an interview with HitQuarters
, "When the band and him got together it was instant creative karma. Things took off like a bat out of hell."
The resultant album, 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. Another song from the album - "Steady As We Go" - was featured in an episode of Everwood
and was cited by former campaign aide Andrew Young
to be a favorite song of John Edwards
and Rielle Hunter
during their much-publicized affair.
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 & Roots Music Festival
. Also in March, on the 9th, their tour bus driver, Stefan Wohl, plead guilty to charges of dumping the bus's waste tank into the Chicago river, onto a tour boat containing 109 passengers, on August 8, 2004.
The band supported the album with a summer-long tour culminating in a four-night stand at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre
.
during the Spring of 2006, notably performing a solo show at the King's College Student Union (Tutu's) on February 28, followed by a small solo tour to promote the release of Stand Up in the UK.
On April 25, 2006, Dave Matthews Band announced a $1.5 million challenge grant to help build the New Orleans Habitat Musicians' Village
. The band returned to the studio in March 2006 (with the resultant album slated for release in winter) before embarking on their annual summer tour, which concluded with a two-night stand in the band's hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia
. This tour featured the addition of trumpet
er Rashawn Ross
as a full-time touring member, which he has remained since. Ross, who received recognition with DMB's fans while playing with the jazz band Soulive
, had guested during several shows the previous year.
In August, Dave Matthews Band announced on their website that, in order to fulfill a contractual obligation, they would be releasing a greatest hits album. They held a survey on their website that encouraged fans to select their ten favorite DMB songs. The album, titled The Best of What's Around Vol. 1, named after the opening track of 1994's Under The Table And Dreaming, was released on November 7, 2006. The album features two discs, the first consisting of what the band considers their best studio tracks, and the second of live tracks voted on by fans. Additionally, those who pre-ordered the CD on the Dave Matthews Band website received an "encore" CD with four additional live songs. The Encore CD was later made available on their website to anyone for an additional $10.
The band worked with Reverb
, a non-profit environmental
organization, for their 2006 summer tour. Their Labor Day concert at The Gorge Amphitheatre
drew a crowd of 64,468, the largest ever for that venue
In early 2007, the Dave Matthews Band once again entered the studio with producers Mark Batson and Steven Miller
to begin recording their seventh studio album. Mark Batson's relationship was severed at some point during the recording process, and the album was not finished. In late February, Dave Matthews embarked on a short tour of Europe with Tim Reynolds, which was followed in April by three dates in the northeastern United States.
On April 25, 2007, it was announced on the band's website that the Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds performance at Radio City Music Hall that had been recorded earlier that week on the 22nd would be released on CD, Blu-ray Disc and DVD, the duo's second release (following Live at Luther College
). It includes unreleased songs, such as "Eh Hee" and "Corn Bread", and also two Tim Reynolds songs which he performed alone, "Betrayal" and "You Are My Sanity".
According to Billboard
magazine, the band's new studio album had been scheduled to be released in July by RCA Records
, but in an interview with the Brisbane Times on May 4, 2007, Stefan Lessard
stated, "We’re on a bit of a creative break as far as working in the studio – we’ve been in pre-production for a long time, but we’ll get more serious later in the year."
On July 7, 2007, Dave Matthews Band performed on the American
Live Earth
concert at Giants Stadium
.
On September 6, 2007, Dave Matthews Band performed a free concert for the Virginia Tech student body and faculty. The show was entitled "A Concert for Virginia Tech" and was done in memory of the shootings that took place on April 16, 2007. John Mayer
, Phil Vassar
, and Nas
joined them. There were over 50,000 people in attendance. Two days later, they performed a benefit show at Atlanta's Piedmont Park
with the Allman Brothers Band opening. Though only 65,000 tickets were sold (50,000 originally, then a second block of 15,000) nearly 20,000 people snuck into the show, making it the largest one-day concert in Atlanta history. The show raised money for the Piedmont Park Conservancy Association. It was released as a CD/DVD called Live at Piedmont Park
.
In a news article posted on August 30 on the official site, it was announced that a video for the song "Eh Hee" would be released for free download on the iTunes Store
starting September 4, and remaining free throughout the week until it would be made available for purchase. The recording and video is a result of a solo effort by Dave Matthews, and does not include the other band members.
on their next album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
. It was also mentioned that guitarist and longtime friend Tim Reynolds
would be recording with the band on the new studio album. Reynolds would also join the band for their subsequent summer tour.
On April 6, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds performed an acoustic concert at Indiana University entitled "Rock for Change" in support of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. They also played a benefit show for the Seeds of Compassion initiative on April 11 at KeyArena
in Seattle, part of the five-day celebration that week centered on the Dalai Lama
. This was followed by two nights at the Fifth Annual Kokua Festival on April 19 and 20 at the Waikiki Shell in Honolulu, Hawaii
. These shows were part of a benefit for the Kokua Hawai'i Foundation, created by Jack Johnson
and his wife Kim to benefit Hawaii's educational system.
In July 2008, Dave Matthews Band headlined alongside Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Mile High Music Festival held in Denver, CO. The festival ultimately became the largest in Colorado history. On December 17, 2008, DMB released the live album Dave Matthews Band - Live At Mile High Music Festival (2008).
On May 27, three days before the band embarked on their annual summer tour, it was announced that keyboardist Butch Taylor
, who had toured with the band since 2001, had decided to leave the band.
The Dave Matthews Band played their last show
with all five original members on June 28 at the Nissan Pavilion
in Bristow, Virginia
. Two days later saxophonist LeRoi Moore
was injured in an ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. On July 1, 2008 while in Charlottesville, Dave Matthews announced Moore's accident. Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
saxophonist Jeff Coffin
filled in for Moore for the remainder of the tour. Although he was expected to make a full recovery, Moore died suddenly of complications from the accident on August 19. The following statement was released on the band's website:
The band went ahead with a scheduled show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where Matthews announced the death of the band's "dear friend" to the crowd.
Despite Moore's death, the band continued to play the rest of the tour, cancelling only two shows. They concluded the tour with a benefit concert for lung cancer research (Stand Up For A Cure) at Madison Square Garden
in New York City on September 10, for which tickets were exclusive to members of the band's fan club, Warehouse.
, was released on June 2, 2009, coinciding with a supporting summer tour, slated to run through early October. The band named their most recent album in honor of Moore. Moore is said to be the "King" in the album title. Tim Reynolds, Rashawn Ross and Jeff Coffin performed with the band on both the spring and the summer tours of 2009 and 2010.
The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, achieving platinum status. To date, three singles have been released, "Funny The Way It Is
", "Why I Am
", and "You and Me
".
The album was nominated for two 2010 Grammy Awards: Best Rock Album and Album of the Year. During the awards telecast, the band played "You and Me
" with accompaniment by live singers, percussionists, a string section, and an eight-piece horn section made up of teenagers from the Grammy Jazz Ensemble.
in Atlantic City, New Jersey
with David Gray
, Ray LaMontagne
, The Flaming Lips
, O.A.R.
and many others. The second show was announced on April 7 and will be in Chicago with David Gray, Ray LaMontagne, O.A.R. and others with The Flaming Lips performing The Dark Side of the Moon
.
The third and fourth shows were announced April 21. The third show will be August 26–28 at Governor's Island in New York City
with Dispatch
, The Roots
and Gogol Bordello
and others. The fourth show is over Labor Day
, September 2–4 at The Gorge in George
, Washington with Dispatch, The Roots and John Butler Trio
with many more and others to be announced.
to plug directly into the live desk at shows but after profiteering on these often high quality tapings, the taping policy was changed to only include microphones. The band and its management also worked with the US federal government in 1996 to launch a crackdown on for-profit bootleggers
, which resulted in large-scale arrests of those responsible for illegally manufacturing and selling copies of DMB material. To further combat bootleggers, the band released their first live album, Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95
, to satisfy the demand for live recordings.
In recent years it has been common to see several sources per show, sometimes as many as five or more.
founded and ran Musictoday
, a company which runs Warehouse and other online fan clubs. In August, 2006, it was acquired by major concert promoter Live Nation
, a spinoff of Clear Channel
.-->
The band has also released several live albums in their Live Trax series which are currently available on their website. There is also a download-only series, DMBLive, which is available on the band's website. See Dave Matthews Band discography
for more information.
area, and surrounding area of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene
, Louisa
, Nelson
, and Orange Counties
. In addition, BAMA Works Fund has been active in other projects, and often the Dave Matthews Band, both together and separately have planned charity events and donated their own time and resources outside of Charlottesville. Some examples include building a "Village Recovery Fund" after the tsunami
that ravaged Sri Lanka
, promoting a challenge grant for the Habitat for Humanity Musician’s Village in New Orleans, multiple appearances to benefit both Farm Aid
, and the annual Neil Young
-sponsored Bridge School Benefit
s, fundraisers for the victims of Hurricane Katrina
, and followed this with donations after the 2010 disaster that leveled many villages in Haiti
. The band played benefit concerts to help fund the school system in New York City, and countless other concerns. As a result, the band was awarded the NAACP Chairman's Award. In Matthews' acceptance speech, he spoke for the band as a whole, commenting that of all the achievements they had enjoyed, that the award by the NAACP and Julian Bond in particular was by far the highest honor they had bestowed upon them.
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
formed in Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Dave Matthews
Dave Matthews
David John "Dave" Matthews is a South African–born American musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band...
, bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Stefan Lessard
Stefan Lessard
Stefan Kahil Lessard is an American musician, most famous as the bassist for the Dave Matthews Band.-Early life:Lessard was born in Anaheim, California, to musicians Ron and Janaki Lessard. After moving a number of times during his childhood, Lessard and his family eventually settled in...
, drummer
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
/backing vocalist Carter Beauford
Carter Beauford
Carter Anthony Beauford is an American drummer, percussionist, and founding member of Dave Matthews Band. He is known for his ability to adapt to a variety of genres, and both his ambidextrous and his open hand drumming styles. He plays the drums and sings backing vocals in the band...
and saxophonist LeRoi Moore
Leroi Moore
LeRoi Holloway Moore was an American saxophonist best known as a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band. Moore often arranged music for the songs written by frontman Dave Matthews...
. Boyd Tinsley
Boyd Tinsley
Boyd Calvin Tinsley is an American violinist and mandolinist who performs as a member of the Dave Matthews Band. Within the band, Tinsley has collaborated in writing songs, harmonizing, and singing backing vocals.-Early life:Tinsley was raised in a musical family...
was added to the band as a violinist soon after the band was formed. Moore died suddenly in August 2008 due to complications from an ATV
All-terrain vehicle
An all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...
accident. Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winner Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin is an American jazz and alternative rock musician best known as the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. In addition to the saxophone, he plays clarinet, flute and oboe.-Biography:...
, of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS series Lonesome Pine Specials. The Flecktones have toured extensively...
, has since filled Moore's spot as the band's saxophonist. Rashawn Ross
Rashawn Ross
Rashawn Ross is an American trumpeter and arranger from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Ross is arguably best known for his contributions in the Dave Matthews Band. After his graduation from the Berklee College of Music , Ross has worked with artists in many different genres of music ranging from...
and Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds is a Grammy nominated multi-instrumentalist known as both a solo artist and as the lead guitarist for Dave Matthews Band...
have also become full-time touring members of the band. With musicians who each have roots in differing genres, including jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, and hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, the band has come together to create an eclectic sound which has earned them fans from a variety of quarters. As of 2010, Dave Matthews Band have approximate sales between 30 and 40 million copies worldwide.
The band is known for their annual summer-long tours of the US and Europe, featuring lengthy improvisational renditions of their songs, accompanied by an elaborate video and lighting show. This portion of the tour has become a stamp of DMB and has grown with the band since Fenton Williams
Fenton Williams
Fenton Williams is a production designer and video director. He has worked with Dave Matthews Band since 1991. He began as their road manager and has served as Dave Matthews Band's lighting designer and video director for the last 20 years...
began in the early 1990s. After twenty consecutive years of touring the band announced that it is going to take the summer of 2011 off. The band's most recent album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King
The track listing was made available on April 14 on the Dave Matthews Band website, and the first single from the album, "Funny the Way It Is", was made available for free download on the Dave Matthews Band website for the week of 14 April 2009.-Little Red Bird:...
(the first since Moore's death) debuted at number one on Billboard 200, giving the band their fifth consecutive number one debut, making them the second band behind Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
to do so.
The band has won one Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
, and was awarded the NAACP Chairman's Award. According to Julian Bond
Julian Bond
Horace Julian Bond , known as Julian Bond, is an American social activist and leader in the American civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the early 1960s, he helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating...
, "they sell out the largest arenas on Earth, but frequently give their music away."
History
Songwriter David John Matthews, working in CharlottesvilleCharlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
Virginia as a bartender
Bartender
A bartender is a person who serves beverages behind a counter in a bar, pub, tavern, or similar establishment. A bartender, in short, "tends the bar". The term barkeeper may carry a connotation of being the bar's owner...
at Miller's bar in November 1990, made friends with a lawyer named Ross Hoffman. Hoffman convinced Matthews, usually reserved and reluctant to play 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
Carter Beauford
Carter Anthony Beauford is an American drummer, percussionist, and founding member of Dave Matthews Band. He is known for his ability to adapt to a variety of genres, and both his ambidextrous and his open hand drumming styles. He plays the drums and sings backing vocals in the band...
, a local drummer
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
on the Charlottesville music scene. Beauford had been in several bands and was then playing on a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
show on BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
. After hearing the demo, Carter agreed to spend some time playing the drums, both inside and outside the studio. Matthews also approached LeRoi Moore
Leroi Moore
LeRoi Holloway Moore was an American saxophonist best known as a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band. Moore often arranged music for the songs written by frontman Dave Matthews...
, another local jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician who often performed with the John D'earth
John D'earth
John D'earth is an American post bop/hard bop jazz trumpeter born in Holliston, Massachusetts has appeared on recordings by Dave Matthews and Bruce Hornsby as well as recording a number of CDs on his own. D'earth attended Harvard University briefly only to drop out and pursue his musical career....
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
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, 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."
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."
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
band based in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
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
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
and local musician, taught music at the Tandem Friends School
Tandem Friends School
Tandem Friends School is a coeducational secondary school founded in 1970 in Albemarle County, Virginia, just outside Charlottesville, by educators John Howard and Duncan Alling. In 1995, it joined the Friends Council on Education, adopting the educational beliefs and practices of the Quakers. The...
. Stefan Lessard
Stefan Lessard
Stefan Kahil Lessard is an American musician, most famous as the bassist for the Dave Matthews Band.-Early life:Lessard was born in Anaheim, California, to musicians Ron and Janaki Lessard. After moving a number of times during his childhood, Lessard and his family eventually settled in...
, a junior bassist
Bass Player
Bass player can refer to:*Bass Player , an album by Rhombus*Bass Player , a magazine for bassists*Bassist, or bass player, a musician who plays the bass guitar...
at the time, was under his guidance in the student jazz combo, Yabanci Jazzites. On the recommendation of John D’earth, the 15-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
Peter Griesar
Peter Griesar played in the Dave Matthews Band from August 1990 to March 1993, playing keyboards, harmonica and providing backup vocals. He grew up in Westchester County, New York and moved to Charlottesville, Virginia to attend the University of Virginia. He met Dave Matthews, later joining his...
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
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, 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
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
. Griesar's last show with the band was March 23, 1993.
Boyd Tinsley
Boyd Tinsley
Boyd Calvin Tinsley is an American violinist and mandolinist who performs as a member of the Dave Matthews Band. Within the band, Tinsley has collaborated in writing songs, harmonizing, and singing backing vocals.-Early life:Tinsley was raised in a musical family...
was the last member to join the 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. Tinsley is well known for his ability to add excitement to any song with his charismatic violin solos, which oftentimes become one-on-one duels with Dave at live shows. Matthews later admitted, "We had no plans of adding a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist. We just wanted some fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
tracked on this one song "Tripping Billies
Tripping Billies
"Tripping Billies" is a song by the Dave Matthews Band, released as the fifth single from the album Crash. It originally debuted on their independent release Remember Two Things. It reached #18 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart...
", 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."
When LeRoi was injured in an ATV accident, Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin is an American jazz and alternative rock musician best known as the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. In addition to the saxophone, he plays clarinet, flute and oboe.-Biography:...
was selected to replace him in the band's summer tour. After LeRoi's death, Jeff became his permanent replacement in the band, but he is not yet listed as an official member of the DMB.
Early years
The band's first in-studio demoDemo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
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."
For years it was believed the band's first public show was at the city's 1991 Earth Day Festival
Earth Day
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...
. A recent pronouncement by band member Stefan Lessard via Twitter on October 9, 2010, however, reports the discovery of an earlier show, taped March 14, 1991, at TRAX. The show was a benefit for the Middle East Children's Alliance and, according to Lessard, included the following songs: "Typical Situation" "Best of What's Around" "I'll Back You Up" "Song That Jane Likes" "Warehouse" "Cry Freedom" and "Recently". The show included only Dave, Stefan, Carter, and LeRoi. 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
Tswana language
Tswana or Setswana is a language spoken in Southern Africa by about 4.5 million people. It is a Bantu language belonging to the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho languages branch of Zone S , and is closely related to the Northern- and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi...
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
Modern Drummer
Modern Drummer is a monthly publication targeting the interests of on drummers and percussionists. The magazine features interviews, equipment reviews, and columns offering advice on technique, as well as information for the general public...
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."
By the summer of 1991, they were playing at Eastern Standard with Charles Newman as their manager for a brief time. They also continued to play at fraternity functions; the last such show was at UVa at the SPE House's annual Lot Party in Spring 1992. Thereafter the band began playing a regular Tuesday night show at the popular Charlottesville club Trax
Trax (nightclub)
Trax was a nightclub in Charlottesville, Virginia most notable for being a frequent gig for Dave Matthews Band during their early years. The band first played at Trax a few months after forming in 1991. Because their local and regional popularity grew, they secured a standing gig at Trax every...
. Tapings of shows at Trax are some of the most widely shared among DMB fans. After Newman, Coran Capshaw
Coran Capshaw
Robert Coran Capshaw is the manager of Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Alicia Keys, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, and Trey Anastasio, among others. He also is the founder of Red Light Management, co-founder of ATO Records, former CEO of Musictoday LLC, and a real estate...
, owner of the Flood Zone where the band often played, took the helm of the Dave Matthews Band.
For a variety reasons, like sensing that the band was on the verge of making it big and 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
Peter Griesar
Peter Griesar played in the Dave Matthews Band from August 1990 to March 1993, playing keyboards, harmonica and providing backup vocals. He grew up in Westchester County, New York and moved to Charlottesville, Virginia to attend the University of Virginia. He met Dave Matthews, later joining his...
decided to leave the band after a show at Trax
Trax (nightclub)
Trax was a nightclub in Charlottesville, Virginia most notable for being a frequent gig for Dave Matthews Band during their early years. The band first played at Trax a few months after forming in 1991. Because their local and regional popularity grew, they secured a standing gig at Trax every...
nightclub on March 23, 1993, a night known as "Big League Chew".
On November 9, 1993, DMB released its first album, Remember Two Things
Remember Two Things
Remember Two Things is an album by Dave Matthews Band, released independently on the band's Bama Rags label in 1993. This was the only release where the band was referred to as "The Dave Matthews Band." It was reissued by RCA Records on June 24, 1997 and was certified platinum by the RIAA in 2002...
, 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
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
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.
Mid-to-late nineties
The band released their first live EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, entitled Recently, in 1994. The album's five tracks were taken from shows performed at The Birchmere
The Birchmere
The Birchmere is a concert hall in Alexandria, Virginia, known for presenting performers in the bluegrass, country, folk, and jazz genres. The main stage has table seating with dinner service. The room seats 500 people and the tables in front are about two feet from the stage...
, in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, and from Trax
Trax (nightclub)
Trax was a nightclub in Charlottesville, Virginia most notable for being a frequent gig for Dave Matthews Band during their early years. The band first played at Trax a few months after forming in 1991. Because their local and regional popularity grew, they secured a standing gig at Trax every...
, in Charlottesville
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
. Recently was re-released by RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
in 1997.
On September 20, 1994, DMB released their second album, Under the Table and Dreaming
Under the Table and Dreaming
-Songs cut from the album:Songs that were recorded during the sessions, but weren't included on the final cut:*"Granny" – Dave wanted this to be the band's first single, but the song never made it to any of the studio albums. Nonetheless, the song remains a strong fan favorite and is being played...
, featuring their first commercial hits "What Would You Say
What Would You Say
"What Would You Say" is a song by the Dave Matthews Band, released as a single in 1994, taken from their album Under the Table and Dreaming. It reached #11 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It is also featured on Dave Matthews Band's first compilation album, The Best of What's Around Vol. 1. The...
" (featuring John Popper
John Popper
John Popper is an American musician and songwriter.He is most famous for his role as frontman of rock band Blues Traveler performing harmonica, guitar and vocals...
on harmonica), "Satellite
Satellite (Dave Matthews Band song)
"Satellite" is a song by the Dave Matthews Band, released as the fifth and final single from their LP Under the Table and Dreaming. It reached #18 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song originally debuted on their album Remember Two Things. The song presumably evolved from an earlier song...
", and "Ants Marching
Ants Marching
"Ants Marching" is a song by the Dave Matthews Band, released as the second single from their 1994 album Under the Table and Dreaming. It reached #18 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and received some album-oriented rock play as well. A different recording of it was included on their prior album,...
". 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
Murder-suicide
A murder–suicide is an act in which an individual kills one or more other persons before or at the same time as killing himself or herself. The combination of murder and suicide can take various forms, including:...
.
Under the Table and Dreaming and its follow-up album, Crash
Crash (Dave Matthews Band album)
Crash is the second studio album by Dave Matthews Band, released on April 30, 1996. It includes the band's most successful single, "Crash into Me".The album has been certified 7× platinum.-Track listing:All songs by David J...
brought the band national attention, culminating in a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011.The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories...
for "So Much to Say
So Much to Say
"So Much to Say" is a song by Dave Matthews Band from their album, Crash. It won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1997. It reached #19 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart as a single...
" as well as four other nominations between the years 1996 and 1997. The band also achieved hits with "Crash into Me
Crash into Me
Stevie Nicks released "Crash into Me" as the first single from her album, The Soundstage Sessions, on March 17, 2009.The promo, with the orchestra version of "Landslide" as the B-side, was serviced to radio on the week of March 3, 2009. It has been serviced to Triple A radio stations, and to XM...
", "Too Much
Too Much (Dave Matthews Band song)
"Too Much" is a song by Dave Matthews Band. It was the first single off their album Crash, and reached #5 on the Billboard magazine Modern Rock Tracks chart. It is also featured on the Dave Matthews Band compilation album The Best of What's Around Vol. 1...
", and "Tripping Billies
Tripping Billies
"Tripping Billies" is a song by the Dave Matthews Band, released as the fifth single from the album Crash. It originally debuted on their independent release Remember Two Things. It reached #18 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart...
".
By 1997, DMB reached unparalleled levels of popularity across the United States and, to some degree, the world. On October 28, 1997, the band released their first full length live album, Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95
Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95
Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95 is an album by the Dave Matthews Band, released on October 28, 1997. It was recorded live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado on August 15, 1995. The album is known on the Internet by the abbreviation L@RR...
. The album, which was recorded at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red Rocks Amphitheatre is a rock structure near Morrison, Colorado, where concerts are given in the open-air amphitheatre. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind the stage, a huge vertical rock angled outwards from stage right, several large outcrops angled outwards from stage left and a...
in Morrison
Morrison, Colorado
The historic Town of Morrison is a Home Rule Municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The population was 430 at the 2000 census...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, featured popular songs from the band's first three albums and included longtime collaborator Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds is a Grammy nominated multi-instrumentalist known as both a solo artist and as the lead guitarist for Dave Matthews Band...
on electric guitar.
In late 1997, the band returned to the studio with producer Steve Lillywhite
Steve Lillywhite
Steve Lillywhite is an English Grammy Award winning record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited for working on over 500 records and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including XTC, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Dave Matthews Band, U2, Peter Gabriel,...
and an array of guest collaborators, including Reynolds, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
ist Béla Fleck
Béla Fleck
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
, vocalist Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
, percussionist Aaron Carman, future permanent keyboardist and unofficial sixth band member Butch Taylor
Butch Taylor
Butch Taylor is a composer, writer, keyboardist and long time guest musician with Dave Matthews Band....
, and the Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...
. They composed and recorded Before These Crowded Streets
Before These Crowded Streets
Before These Crowded Streets is the third studio album by Dave Matthews Band, released on April 28, 1998. It is the last official album by the group to be produced by longtime producer Steve Lillywhite and their first album recorded at The Plant Recording Studios in Sausalito, California...
, 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)
Stay (Wasting Time)
"Stay " is a song by the Dave Matthews Band, released as the second single off their album Before These Crowded Streets. As a single, it reached #8 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, #33 on the Top 40 Mainstream, and #20 on the Adult 40...
", an uplifting gospel number, and "Crush
Crush (Dave Matthews Band song)
"Crush" is a song by the Dave Matthews Band, released as the third single from their album Before These Crowded Streets. As a single, it reached #11 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, #75 on the Billboard Hot 100, #38 on the Top 40 Mainstream, and #20 on the Adult Top 40...
", 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
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
by the United States government.
On January 19, 1999, Matthews and Reynolds released the live album, Live at Luther College
Live at Luther College
Live at Luther College is a live album by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds recorded at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Recorded on February 6, 1996 and released nearly three years later, it was the first concert by the pair to be available commercially...
, from a February 6, 1996, acoustic concert played by Matthews and Reynolds at Luther College
Luther College (Iowa)
Luther College is a four-year, residential liberal arts institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, located in Decorah, Iowa, USA...
in Decorah
Decorah, Iowa
Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,172 at the 2000 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. 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
Woodstock 1999
Woodstock 1999, also called Woodstock 99, performed July 22–25, 1999, was the second large-scale music festival that attempted to emulate the original Woodstock Festival of 1969. Like the previous Woodstock festivals it was performed in upstate New York, this time in Rome, New York, around 200...
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
Continental Airlines Arena
Izod Center is a multi-purpose arena, in the MetLife Sports Complex, in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. It opened in 1981 and currently has a maximum seating capacity of 20,000...
in East Rutherford
East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
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.
Early 2000s
In October 2000, an energized Matthews began writing with Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...
, most famous for his work with Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
. The rest of DMB (along with special guest Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
) soon joined Matthews in a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
studio and quickly recorded Everyday
Everyday (Dave Matthews Band album)
Everyday is the fourth studio album by Dave Matthews Band, released on February 27, 2001.-Sales:The album did very well in the United States. It opened at #1 with 755,000 copies sold its first week, and stayed at #1 for two weeks. After 25 weeks of sales, it sold over 2.5 million copies. To date,...
. 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
I Did It
"I Did It" is a song by the Dave Matthews Band, released as the lead single from their album Everyday. It reached #71 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 on the Modern Rock Tracks, and #40 on the Adult Top 40....
", "Everyday", and "The Space Between
The Space Between
"The Space Between" is a song written by the Dave Matthews Band. It was released on their 2001 album, Everyday. It was the album's first hit single and the band's first top 40 hit, with its peak at #22 in the United States - several of their previous singles had been ineligible to chart on the...
", brought the band an even larger level of popularity. However, some long-time members of the fanbase were disappointed with the release. Everydays 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."
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
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...
. Collectively known as The Lillywhite Sessions
The Lillywhite Sessions
The Lillywhite Sessions is a collection of songs recorded by Dave Matthews Band in 1999 and 2000 and produced by Steve Lillywhite. The songs, recorded by the band as a follow-up to their 1998 album Before These Crowded Streets, were ultimately scrapped by the band...
, 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
Busted Stuff
Busted Stuff is the fifth album by Dave Matthews Band, released by RCA Records on July 16, 2002.Nine of the eleven tracks on this album are re-recorded versions of songs that first appeared on 2000's abandoned project now known as The Lillywhite Sessions. "Where Are You Going" and "You Never Know"...
. Produced by Stephen Harris
Stephen Harris (producer)
Stephen Harris is an English music producer and mixer. He has worked with artists including Dave Matthews Band, Ben Kweller, Blue Merle, Kula Shaker, and with B-Unique bands such as Kaiser Chiefs, The Automatic and Pull Tiger Tail...
, 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
Where Are You Going
"Where Are You Going" is the first single from Dave Matthews Band's album Busted Stuff. The single reached #38 on the Billboard Hot 100, #20 on the Modern Rock Tracks, and topped the Triple A chart. The song was featured in the 2002 Adam Sandler motion picture, Mr. Deeds. It is also featured on the...
" which was subsequently used in the movie Mr. Deeds
Mr. Deeds
Mr. Deeds is a 2002 American comedy film, directed by Steven Brill and starring Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder. The movie, which is loosely a remake of the 1936 film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, also stars Peter Gallagher, John Turturro, Allen Covert and Steve Buscemi...
. 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 band released two live albums. The first, Live in Chicago 12.19.98
Live in Chicago 12.19.98
Live in Chicago 12.19.98 at the United Center, also known as simply Live in Chicago 12.19.98, is a live album by the Dave Matthews Band, released by RCA on October 23, 2001. It was recorded at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois...
, features Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds is a Grammy nominated multi-instrumentalist known as both a solo artist and as the lead guitarist for Dave Matthews Band...
on guitar as well as many other special guests such as bassist Victor Wooten
Victor Wooten
Victor Lemonte Wooten is an American bass player, composer, author, and producer, and has been the recipient of five Grammy Awards....
and saxophonist Maceo Parker
Maceo Parker
Maceo Parker is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing alto, tenor and baritone saxophones...
. The second, Live at Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado
Live at Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado
Live at Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado, also known as Live at Folsom Field, is the fourth live album released by the Dave Matthews Band. It was recorded in Boulder, Colorado at Folsom Field, the football stadium of the University of Colorado at Boulder on July 11, 2001. It was released on the RCA...
, highlights songs from both Everyday and Busted Stuff and was released as both a CD and a DVD.
Solo albums (2003)
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 were usually more intimate, and the song selection is very different. The shows are also notable for Reynolds' virtuoso guitar work.In 2003 Matthews and Tinsley released their first solo albums. Tinsley released True Reflections
True Reflections
True Reflections is a rock album by violinist Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band, released in June 2003. Tinsley was the first member of the group to release a solo album. Despite that Tinsley is a violinist, his album makes spare use of the instrument. The album was not well-received by...
on June 17, 2003.
On September 23, 2003, Dave Matthews released his first solo album, Some Devil
Some Devil
Some Devil is the debut solo album by musician Dave Matthews. It was released on September 23, 2003 on RCA Records. It has been certified platinum by the RIAA, signifying over a million copies sold. The album features several guest musicians, including long-time Dave Matthews Band collaborator...
. The album's lead single, "Gravedigger
Gravedigger (song)
"Gravedigger" is a song by Dave Matthews from his debut solo album, Some Devil. This was the first solo single released by Matthews away from the Dave Matthews Band, and it won a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at the 46th Grammy Awards held on February 8, 2004...
" won Matthews another Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
. 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
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
.
2004–2005
The GorgeThe Gorge (album)
The Gorge is a collection of the songs played during Dave Matthews Band's three-night concert in 2002 at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington. The album was released in a three-disc set featuring 2 CDs and a DVD with live footage, advanced multi-angle features, behind the scenes clips, and...
, a combination 2-CD/1-DVD set with highlights from their 3-night 2002 tour closer at The Gorge Amphitheatre
The Gorge Amphitheatre
The Gorge Amphitheatre is a 20,000+ seat concert venue, located above the Columbia River in George, Washington. It offers lawn-terrace seating and concert-friendly weather....
in George, Washington
George, Washington
George is a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 528 at the 2000 census. Its name is a play on the name of George Washington.The city is known for being near the Gorge Amphitheatre, sometimes being called, "The Gorge at George"....
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
Live Trax Vol. 1
Live Trax Vol. 1 is the first release of the Dave Matthews Band's Live Trax series. This two-disc set was released on November 2, 2004 and features the band's live performance at the former Centrum Centre in Worcester, MA on December 8, 1998....
, was released on November 2, 2004 and was their performance at the Centrum Center
DCU Center
The DCU Center is an indoor arena and convention center complex, located in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts....
in Worcester
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
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
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
in San Francisco. This concert drew one of their largest crowds and produced a popular bootleg. The band was joined by guitarist Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
on many songs, and the tracks led to the second release in the Live Trax Series, Live Trax Vol. 2
Live Trax Vol. 2
Live Trax Vol. 2 is the second release of the Dave Matthews Band's Live Trax series. This show took place on the Polo Fields of Golden Gate Park on September 12, 2004 and was a benefit concert for Bay Area Charities. Carlos Santana sits in as a special guest for several songs, including the...
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, DMB 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
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
onto passengers aboard a sightseeing boat on the Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
below. The bus driver, Stefan Wohl, pled guilty, and the band has donated $50,000 to the Friends of the Chicago River and $50,000 to the Chicago Park District
Chicago Park District
The Chicago Park District is the oldest and largest park district in the U.S.A, with a $385 million annual budget. It has the distinction of spending the most per capita on its parks, even more than Boston in terms of park expenses per capita...
. 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. The band decided they wanted to take some chances and pursue a funkier side to their music. To help achieve this A&R Bruce Flohr tracked down producer/songwriter Mark Batson
Mark Batson
Mark Batson is an American record producer, arranger, and songwriter from Bushwick, Brooklyn, now based in Los Angeles.As a co-writer and producer with Dr. Dre, he is responsible for Jay-Z's 2006 single "Lost One", as well as tracks for Eminem, 50 Cent, Game and Snoop Dogg. As a co-writer and...
. According to Flohr in an interview with HitQuarters
HitQuarters
HitQuarters is an international music industry publication and contact database founded in 1999. It is noted for in-depth interviews with industry figures, with past subjects including Simon Cowell, Martin Kierszenbaum, Jason Flom, Diane Warren, Peter Edge, Ron Fair and RedOne, as well as its A&R...
, "When the band and him got together it was instant creative karma. Things took off like a bat out of hell."
The resultant album, Stand Up
Stand Up (Dave Matthews Band album)
Stand Up is the sixth album by Dave Matthews Band, released on May 10, 2005. It shares the same name as Jethro Tull's second album and was produced by Mark Batson. It was their fourth straight number one album on the Billboard 200...
, 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
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
, a long-time fan of the band. Another song from the album - "Steady As We Go" - was featured in an episode of Everwood
Everwood
Everwood is an American drama television series that initially aired in the United States on The WB. The series is set in the fictional small town of Everwood, Colorado, and was filmed in Ogden, South Salt Lake, and Draper, Utah, except the series pilot which was filmed in Canmore, Alberta,...
and was cited by former campaign aide Andrew Young
Andrew Young
Andrew Jackson Young is an American politician, diplomat, activist and pastor from Georgia. He has served as Mayor of Atlanta, a Congressman from the 5th district, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations...
to be a favorite song of John Edwards
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
and Rielle Hunter
Rielle Hunter
Rielle Hunter , August 1, 2008, San Jose Mercury-News. is an American actress and film producer. She is known for having had an affair with and conceiving a child with 2004 Democratic Party vice-presidential nominee John Edwards., August 8, 2008, Chicago Tribune. She is said to be the basis of a...
during their much-publicized affair.
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 & Roots Music Festival
East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival
The East Coast International Blues & Roots Music Festival, also known as Byron Bay Bluesfest, is an annual music festival held for five days over the Easter long weekend at Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia...
. Also in March, on the 9th, their tour bus driver, Stefan Wohl, plead guilty to charges of dumping the bus's waste tank into the Chicago river, onto a tour boat containing 109 passengers, on August 8, 2004.
The band supported the album with a summer-long tour culminating in a four-night stand at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red Rocks Amphitheatre is a rock structure near Morrison, Colorado, where concerts are given in the open-air amphitheatre. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind the stage, a huge vertical rock angled outwards from stage right, several large outcrops angled outwards from stage left and a...
.
2006–2007
Dave Matthews made several appearances in the UKUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
during the Spring of 2006, notably performing a solo show at the King's College Student Union (Tutu's) on February 28, followed by a small solo tour to promote the release of Stand Up in the UK.
On April 25, 2006, Dave Matthews Band announced a $1.5 million challenge grant to help build the New Orleans Habitat Musicians' Village
Musicians' Village
Musicians' Village is a new neighborhood built around a music center where musicians can teach and perform. Musicians Harry Connick, Jr...
. The band returned to the studio in March 2006 (with the resultant album slated for release in winter) before embarking on their annual summer tour, which concluded with a two-night stand in the band's hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
. This tour featured the addition of trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er Rashawn Ross
Rashawn Ross
Rashawn Ross is an American trumpeter and arranger from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Ross is arguably best known for his contributions in the Dave Matthews Band. After his graduation from the Berklee College of Music , Ross has worked with artists in many different genres of music ranging from...
as a full-time touring member, which he has remained since. Ross, who received recognition with DMB's fans while playing with the jazz band Soulive
Soulive
Soulive is a funk/jazz trio that originated in Woodstock, New York, and is known for its solos and catchy, upbeat songs. The band consists of Eric Krasno , Alan Evans , Neal Evans...
, had guested during several shows the previous year.
In August, Dave Matthews Band announced on their website that, in order to fulfill a contractual obligation, they would be releasing a greatest hits album. They held a survey on their website that encouraged fans to select their ten favorite DMB songs. The album, titled The Best of What's Around Vol. 1, named after the opening track of 1994's Under The Table And Dreaming, was released on November 7, 2006. The album features two discs, the first consisting of what the band considers their best studio tracks, and the second of live tracks voted on by fans. Additionally, those who pre-ordered the CD on the Dave Matthews Band website received an "encore" CD with four additional live songs. The Encore CD was later made available on their website to anyone for an additional $10.
The band worked with Reverb
Reverb (non-profit)
Reverb is a non-profit environmental organization that educates and engages musicians and their fans to promote environmental sustainability. It was founded by environmentalist Lauren Sullivan and her musician husband, Guster guitarist/vocalist Adam Gardner....
, a non-profit environmental
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
organization, for their 2006 summer tour. Their Labor Day concert at The Gorge Amphitheatre
The Gorge Amphitheatre
The Gorge Amphitheatre is a 20,000+ seat concert venue, located above the Columbia River in George, Washington. It offers lawn-terrace seating and concert-friendly weather....
drew a crowd of 64,468, the largest ever for that venue
Steven Miller
Steven Miller is an American record producer and executive. He is best known for his association with Windham Hill Records, where his ambient sound helped create notable instrumental recordings such as Michael Hedges’ Aerial Boundaries, Mark Isham’s Vapor Drawings and George Winston’s December.As...
to begin recording their seventh studio album. Mark Batson's relationship was severed at some point during the recording process, and the album was not finished. In late February, Dave Matthews embarked on a short tour of Europe with Tim Reynolds, which was followed in April by three dates in the northeastern United States.
On April 25, 2007, it was announced on the band's website that the Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds performance at Radio City Music Hall that had been recorded earlier that week on the 22nd would be released on CD, Blu-ray Disc and DVD, the duo's second release (following Live at Luther College
Live at Luther College
Live at Luther College is a live album by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds recorded at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Recorded on February 6, 1996 and released nearly three years later, it was the first concert by the pair to be available commercially...
). It includes unreleased songs, such as "Eh Hee" and "Corn Bread", and also two Tim Reynolds songs which he performed alone, "Betrayal" and "You Are My Sanity".
According to Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine, the band's new studio album had been scheduled to be released in July by RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, but in an interview with the Brisbane Times on May 4, 2007, Stefan Lessard
Stefan Lessard
Stefan Kahil Lessard is an American musician, most famous as the bassist for the Dave Matthews Band.-Early life:Lessard was born in Anaheim, California, to musicians Ron and Janaki Lessard. After moving a number of times during his childhood, Lessard and his family eventually settled in...
stated, "We’re on a bit of a creative break as far as working in the studio – we’ve been in pre-production for a long time, but we’ll get more serious later in the year."
On July 7, 2007, Dave Matthews Band performed on the American
Live Earth concert, New York City
The Live Earth concert for North America was held at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA on July 7, 2007.-Running order:In order of appearance:*Kenna - "Out Of Control", "Face The Gun", "Sun Red Sky Blue"...
Live Earth
Live Earth
-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...
concert at Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
.
On September 6, 2007, Dave Matthews Band performed a free concert for the Virginia Tech student body and faculty. The show was entitled "A Concert for Virginia Tech" and was done in memory of the shootings that took place on April 16, 2007. John Mayer
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
, Phil Vassar
Phil Vassar
Phil Vassar is an American country music artist. Vassar made his debut on the country music scene in the late 1990s, co-writing singles for several country artists, including Tim McGraw , Jo Dee Messina , Collin Raye , and Alan Jackson Phil Vassar (born May 28, 1964 in Lynchburg, Virginia) is an...
, and Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
joined them. There were over 50,000 people in attendance. Two days later, they performed a benefit show at Atlanta's Piedmont Park
Piedmont Park
Piedmont Park is a urban park in Atlanta, Georgia, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as his out-of-town gentleman's farm and residence...
with the Allman Brothers Band opening. Though only 65,000 tickets were sold (50,000 originally, then a second block of 15,000) nearly 20,000 people snuck into the show, making it the largest one-day concert in Atlanta history. The show raised money for the Piedmont Park Conservancy Association. It was released as a CD/DVD called Live at Piedmont Park
Live at Piedmont Park
Live at Piedmont Park is a live album and video release by the Dave Matthews Band from a 2007 benefit concert in Atlanta. The concert was held at Atlanta's Piedmont Park in front of an audience of over 80,000 people to raise over US $1 million of a US $42.5 million project to expand of...
.
In a news article posted on August 30 on the official site, it was announced that a video for the song "Eh Hee" would be released for free download on the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
starting September 4, and remaining free throughout the week until it would be made available for purchase. The recording and video is a result of a solo effort by Dave Matthews, and does not include the other band members.
2008 and the death of LeRoi Moore
On March 6, 2008, it was revealed that the band had been working with Rob CavalloRob Cavallo
Rob Cavallo is a record producer and A&R, most famous for signing and producing Green Day. He is currently Chairman of Warner Bros. Records.- History :...
on their next album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King
The track listing was made available on April 14 on the Dave Matthews Band website, and the first single from the album, "Funny the Way It Is", was made available for free download on the Dave Matthews Band website for the week of 14 April 2009.-Little Red Bird:...
. It was also mentioned that guitarist and longtime friend Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds
Tim Reynolds is a Grammy nominated multi-instrumentalist known as both a solo artist and as the lead guitarist for Dave Matthews Band...
would be recording with the band on the new studio album. Reynolds would also join the band for their subsequent summer tour.
On April 6, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds performed an acoustic concert at Indiana University entitled "Rock for Change" in support of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. They also played a benefit show for the Seeds of Compassion initiative on April 11 at KeyArena
KeyArena
KeyArena at Seattle Center , is a multipurpose arena, in Seattle, Washington. It is located north of downtown in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, the Century 21 Exposition...
in Seattle, part of the five-day celebration that week centered on the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
. This was followed by two nights at the Fifth Annual Kokua Festival on April 19 and 20 at the Waikiki Shell in Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
. These shows were part of a benefit for the Kokua Hawai'i Foundation, created by Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson (musician)
Jack Johnson was born May 18, 1975 is an American folk rock singer-songwriter, surfer and musician known for his work in the soft rock and acoustic genres. In 2001, he achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. He has since released four more albums, a...
and his wife Kim to benefit Hawaii's educational system.
In July 2008, Dave Matthews Band headlined alongside Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Mile High Music Festival held in Denver, CO. The festival ultimately became the largest in Colorado history. On December 17, 2008, DMB released the live album Dave Matthews Band - Live At Mile High Music Festival (2008).
On May 27, three days before the band embarked on their annual summer tour, it was announced that keyboardist Butch Taylor
Butch Taylor
Butch Taylor is a composer, writer, keyboardist and long time guest musician with Dave Matthews Band....
, who had toured with the band since 2001, had decided to leave the band.
The Dave Matthews Band played their last show
Live Trax Vol. 14
Live Trax Vol. 14 is a live album by Dave Matthews Band, and is the 14th volume in the band's Live Trax series. The album was recorded on June 28, 2008 at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia. This show is notable because it is the last concert performance by the band's founding saxophonist,...
with all five original members on June 28 at the Nissan Pavilion
Nissan Pavilion
Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia, is an outdoor live performance amphitheater in suburban Prince William County, about 35 miles west of Washington, DC...
in Bristow, Virginia
Bristow, Virginia
Bristow is an unincorporated town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,910 in the 2000 census, and the 2009 estimate was 15,137....
. Two days later saxophonist LeRoi Moore
Leroi Moore
LeRoi Holloway Moore was an American saxophonist best known as a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band. Moore often arranged music for the songs written by frontman Dave Matthews...
was injured in an ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. On July 1, 2008 while in Charlottesville, Dave Matthews announced Moore's accident. Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS series Lonesome Pine Specials. The Flecktones have toured extensively...
saxophonist Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin is an American jazz and alternative rock musician best known as the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. In addition to the saxophone, he plays clarinet, flute and oboe.-Biography:...
filled in for Moore for the remainder of the tour. Although he was expected to make a full recovery, Moore died suddenly of complications from the accident on August 19. The following statement was released on the band's website:
We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.
The band went ahead with a scheduled show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where Matthews announced the death of the band's "dear friend" to the crowd.
Despite Moore's death, the band continued to play the rest of the tour, cancelling only two shows. They concluded the tour with a benefit concert for lung cancer research (Stand Up For A Cure) at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
in New York City on September 10, for which tickets were exclusive to members of the band's fan club, Warehouse.
Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King (2009)
The band's newest album, titled Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux KingBig Whiskey and the Groogrux King
The track listing was made available on April 14 on the Dave Matthews Band website, and the first single from the album, "Funny the Way It Is", was made available for free download on the Dave Matthews Band website for the week of 14 April 2009.-Little Red Bird:...
, was released on June 2, 2009, coinciding with a supporting summer tour, slated to run through early October. The band named their most recent album in honor of Moore. Moore is said to be the "King" in the album title. Tim Reynolds, Rashawn Ross and Jeff Coffin performed with the band on both the spring and the summer tours of 2009 and 2010.
The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, achieving platinum status. To date, three singles have been released, "Funny The Way It Is
Funny the Way It Is
"Funny the Way It Is" is the first single from Dave Matthews Band's album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. Matthews said that it "talks about the world of opposites that we are in." The single reached #37 on the Billboard Hot 100, #22 on the Modern Rock Tracks , and #17 on the Hot Digital Songs...
", "Why I Am
Why I Am
"Why I Am" is the second single from American rock band Dave Matthews Band's album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. It hit radio stations on July 27, 2009. The song is a tribute to former band member LeRoi Moore, who died on August 19, 2008. The song discusses death and the urgency of living...
", and "You and Me
You and Me (Dave Matthews Band song)
"You and Me" is the third single from American rock band Dave Matthews Band's album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. Matthews wrote the lyrics on his iPhone whilst crossing a lake on a boat with his family and some friends. It was recorded sometime in early 2008, making it one of the earliest...
".
The album was nominated for two 2010 Grammy Awards: Best Rock Album and Album of the Year. During the awards telecast, the band played "You and Me
You and Me (Dave Matthews Band song)
"You and Me" is the third single from American rock band Dave Matthews Band's album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. Matthews wrote the lyrics on his iPhone whilst crossing a lake on a boat with his family and some friends. It was recorded sometime in early 2008, making it one of the earliest...
" with accompaniment by live singers, percussionists, a string section, and an eight-piece horn section made up of teenagers from the Grammy Jazz Ensemble.
2011: 20th Anniversary and The Dave Matthews Band Caravan
2011 marks the 20th Anniversary of the Band, and in March 2010 DMB announced that they would not tour in 2011, for the first time in 20 years. On January 19, 2011, the band announced on their website: "2011 is our 20th anniversary as a band and we want to celebrate by playing music together. While we are still taking the year off from touring, we have decided to plan four multi-day, multi-artist music events that will take place this summer. We will be sending out save the date emails and announcing more information soon but we wanted to share the news with our fans first." On February 22, the dates of the first show was announced as being at Bader FieldBader Field
Bader Field , also known as Atlantic City Municipal Airport, was a city-owned public-use general aviation airport located in west of Atlantic City, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. It was approximately one mile from the terminus of U.S. Route 40 and U.S. Route 322. Bader Field...
in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
with David Gray
David Gray (musician)
David Gray is an English singer-songwriter. He released his first studio album in 1993 and received worldwide attention after the release of White Ladder six years later...
, Ray LaMontagne
Ray LaMontagne
Raymond "Ray" Charles Jack LaMontagne is a Grammy-award winning American singer-songwriter. LaMontagne has released four studio albums, Trouble, Till the Sun Turns Black, Gossip in the Grain and God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise. He was born in New Hampshire and was inspired to create music after...
, The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
, O.A.R.
O.A.R.
O.A.R. is an American rock band composed of Marc Roberge , Chris Culos , Richard On , Benj Gershman , and Jerry DePizzo...
and many others. The second show was announced on April 7 and will be in Chicago with David Gray, Ray LaMontagne, O.A.R. and others with The Flaming Lips performing The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
.
The third and fourth shows were announced April 21. The third show will be August 26–28 at Governor's Island in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with Dispatch
Dispatch (band)
Dispatch is an American indie/roots band. The band consists of Brad Corrigan , Pete Francis Heimbold , and Chad Urmston ....
, The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
and Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring.Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music...
and others. The fourth show is over Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
, September 2–4 at The Gorge in George
George, Washington
George is a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 528 at the 2000 census. Its name is a play on the name of George Washington.The city is known for being near the Gorge Amphitheatre, sometimes being called, "The Gorge at George"....
, Washington with Dispatch, The Roots and John Butler Trio
John Butler Trio
The John Butler Trio are an eclectic roots and jam band from Australia led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler. They formed in Fremantle in 1998 with Jason McGann on drums and Gavin Shoesmith on bass guitar...
with many more and others to be announced.
Taping and bootlegs
Dave Matthews Band allows audience members to record most live shows and permits non-profit trading and streaming of the audience recordings. The band cites college students trading these tapes in the early 1990s as a key reason for their current fame. Up until February 23, 1995 the band allowed tapersTaper (concert)
A Taper is a person who records musical events often from standing microphones in the audience for the benefit of the musical group's fanbase. Such taping was popularized in the late 1960s and early 1970s by fans of the Grateful Dead. Audio recording was allowed at shows and fans would share their...
to plug directly into the live desk at shows but after profiteering on these often high quality tapings, the taping policy was changed to only include microphones. The band and its management also worked with the US federal government in 1996 to launch a crackdown on for-profit bootleggers
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
, which resulted in large-scale arrests of those responsible for illegally manufacturing and selling copies of DMB material. To further combat bootleggers, the band released their first live album, Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95
Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95
Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95 is an album by the Dave Matthews Band, released on October 28, 1997. It was recorded live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado on August 15, 1995. The album is known on the Internet by the abbreviation L@RR...
, to satisfy the demand for live recordings.
In recent years it has been common to see several sources per show, sometimes as many as five or more.
Warehouse Fan Association
In an effort to promote fan interaction, the official fan association for DMB, Warehouse, was opened December 4, 1998. Warehouse gives fans early access to concert tickets, exclusive CDs and merchandise to its members. Warehouse Fan Association (also known as "The Warehouse") pioneered the internet-based ticket sales used by many artists today. DMB Manager Coran CapshawCoran Capshaw
Robert Coran Capshaw is the manager of Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Alicia Keys, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, and Trey Anastasio, among others. He also is the founder of Red Light Management, co-founder of ATO Records, former CEO of Musictoday LLC, and a real estate...
founded and ran Musictoday
Musictoday
Musictoday is an entertainment marketing company located in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded and run by Coran Capshaw, the manager of Dave Matthews Band. Musictoday is a pioneer in presales of concert tickets, by starting fan clubs for hundreds of artists. Musictoday's first fanclub was...
, a company which runs Warehouse and other online fan clubs. In August, 2006, it was acquired by major concert promoter Live Nation
Live Nation
Live Nation is a live-events company based in Beverly Hills, California, focused on concert promotions. Live Nation formed in 2005 as a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications, which then merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 to become Live Nation Entertainment....
, a spinoff of Clear Channel
Clear channel
A clear-channel station is an AM band Radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. Usually known as class A stations since 1982, they are occasionally still referred to by their former...
.-->
Discography
Studio albums
- Under the Table and DreamingUnder the Table and Dreaming-Songs cut from the album:Songs that were recorded during the sessions, but weren't included on the final cut:*"Granny" – Dave wanted this to be the band's first single, but the song never made it to any of the studio albums. Nonetheless, the song remains a strong fan favorite and is being played...
(1994) - CrashCrash (Dave Matthews Band album)Crash is the second studio album by Dave Matthews Band, released on April 30, 1996. It includes the band's most successful single, "Crash into Me".The album has been certified 7× platinum.-Track listing:All songs by David J...
(1996) - Before These Crowded StreetsBefore These Crowded StreetsBefore These Crowded Streets is the third studio album by Dave Matthews Band, released on April 28, 1998. It is the last official album by the group to be produced by longtime producer Steve Lillywhite and their first album recorded at The Plant Recording Studios in Sausalito, California...
(1998) - EverydayEveryday (Dave Matthews Band album)Everyday is the fourth studio album by Dave Matthews Band, released on February 27, 2001.-Sales:The album did very well in the United States. It opened at #1 with 755,000 copies sold its first week, and stayed at #1 for two weeks. After 25 weeks of sales, it sold over 2.5 million copies. To date,...
(2001) - Busted StuffBusted StuffBusted Stuff is the fifth album by Dave Matthews Band, released by RCA Records on July 16, 2002.Nine of the eleven tracks on this album are re-recorded versions of songs that first appeared on 2000's abandoned project now known as The Lillywhite Sessions. "Where Are You Going" and "You Never Know"...
(2002) - Stand UpStand Up (Dave Matthews Band album)Stand Up is the sixth album by Dave Matthews Band, released on May 10, 2005. It shares the same name as Jethro Tull's second album and was produced by Mark Batson. It was their fourth straight number one album on the Billboard 200...
(2005) - Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux KingBig Whiskey and the Groogrux KingThe track listing was made available on April 14 on the Dave Matthews Band website, and the first single from the album, "Funny the Way It Is", was made available for free download on the Dave Matthews Band website for the week of 14 April 2009.-Little Red Bird:...
(2009)
Live albums
- Remember Two ThingsRemember Two ThingsRemember Two Things is an album by Dave Matthews Band, released independently on the band's Bama Rags label in 1993. This was the only release where the band was referred to as "The Dave Matthews Band." It was reissued by RCA Records on June 24, 1997 and was certified platinum by the RIAA in 2002...
(1993: Bama Rags Recordings release; 1997: RCA Records re-release) - Recently - EP (1994: Bama Rags Recordings release; 1997: RCA Records re-release)
- Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95 is an album by the Dave Matthews Band, released on October 28, 1997. It was recorded live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado on August 15, 1995. The album is known on the Internet by the abbreviation L@RR...
(1997) - Listener Supported (1999)
- Live at Luther CollegeLive at Luther CollegeLive at Luther College is a live album by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds recorded at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Recorded on February 6, 1996 and released nearly three years later, it was the first concert by the pair to be available commercially...
(Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds) (1999) - Live in Chicago 12.19.98 at the United Center (2001)
- Live at Folsom Field, Boulder, ColoradoLive at Folsom Field, Boulder, ColoradoLive at Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado, also known as Live at Folsom Field, is the fourth live album released by the Dave Matthews Band. It was recorded in Boulder, Colorado at Folsom Field, the football stadium of the University of Colorado at Boulder on July 11, 2001. It was released on the RCA...
(2002) - The GorgeThe Gorge (album)The Gorge is a collection of the songs played during Dave Matthews Band's three-night concert in 2002 at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington. The album was released in a three-disc set featuring 2 CDs and a DVD with live footage, advanced multi-angle features, behind the scenes clips, and...
(2002) - The Central Park ConcertThe Central Park ConcertThe Central Park Concert is a three disc live album and video by the Dave Matthews Band. The album was recorded on September 24, 2003 on the Great Lawn of Central Park in New York, New York in front of a crowd of 121,382, the band's largest audience to date...
(2003) - Weekend on the RocksWeekend on the RocksWeekend on the Rocks is a live album by Dave Matthews Band. It contains highlights of the four shows in four days the band performed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado on September 9–12, 2005. The set is packaged on two CDs and one DVD. However, a complete recording of the four...
(2005) - Live at Radio CityLive at Radio CityLive at Radio City is a live album and video by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds. This was the first release by Matthews and Reynolds since Live at Luther College, released in 1999.-Release:...
(Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds) (2007) - Live at Piedmont ParkLive at Piedmont ParkLive at Piedmont Park is a live album and video release by the Dave Matthews Band from a 2007 benefit concert in Atlanta. The concert was held at Atlanta's Piedmont Park in front of an audience of over 80,000 people to raise over US $1 million of a US $42.5 million project to expand of...
(2007) - Live at Mile High Music FestivalLive at Mile High Music FestivalLive at Mile High Music Festival is a live album by the Dave Matthews Band from the 2008 Mile High Music Festival outside Denver, Colorado. In its first week of sales, the album debuted at #97 on the US charts...
(2008) - Europe 2009Europe 2009Europe 2009 is a live album and video release by the Dave Matthews Band from several 2009 concerts in Italy and London. The concert on the three CDs was held in Piazza Napoleone in Lucca, Italy on July 5, 2009. The concert featured on the DVD was at Brixton Academy in London, England on June 26,...
(2009) - Live in Las Vegas (Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds) (2010)
- Live in New York CityLive in New York City (Dave Matthews Band)Live in New York City is a live album by Dave Matthews Band recorded on July 17, 2010 at Citi Field in Queens. The album was recorded on the second night of a two night stint at the venue...
(2010) - Live at Wrigley FieldLive at Wrigley FieldLive at Wrigley Field is a live album by Dave Matthews Band recorded on September 18th, 2010 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The album was recorded on the second night of a two night stint at the venue...
(2011)
The band has also released several live albums in their Live Trax series which are currently available on their website. There is also a download-only series, DMBLive, which is available on the band's website. See Dave Matthews Band discography
Dave Matthews Band discography
Dave Matthews Band's discography includes independent, studio, and live albums. In addition to release on major labels, Dave Matthews Band also maintains the Bama Rags record label...
for more information.
Philanthropic efforts
According to the band's website, as of May, 2010, the band's own charity, the BAMA Works Fund, has contributed over $8.5 million dollars to a wide variety of need organizations. Initially it was founded in 1999 to address the needs of disadvantaged youth, disabled persons, the environment, and arts and humanities in the city of Charlottesville, VirginiaCharlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
area, and surrounding area of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene
Greene County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there are 15,244 people, 5,574 households, and 4,291 families residing in the county. The population density is 97 people per square mile . There are 5,986 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile...
, Louisa
Louisa County, Virginia
Louisa County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 33,153. The county seat is Louisa.- History :...
, Nelson
Nelson County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 14,445 people, 5,887 households, and 4,144 families residing in the county. The population density was 31 people per square mile . There were 8,554 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile...
, and Orange Counties
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
. In addition, BAMA Works Fund has been active in other projects, and often the Dave Matthews Band, both together and separately have planned charity events and donated their own time and resources outside of Charlottesville. Some examples include building a "Village Recovery Fund" after the tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
that ravaged Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, promoting a challenge grant for the Habitat for Humanity Musician’s Village in New Orleans, multiple appearances to benefit both Farm Aid
Farm Aid
Farm Aid started as a benefit concert on September 22, 1985, in Champaign, Illinois, held to raise money for family farmers in the United States...
, and the annual Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
-sponsored Bridge School Benefit
Bridge School Benefit
The Bridge School Benefit is an annual non-profit charity concert held in Mountain View, California, every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. The concerts are all organized by musician Neil Young and his wife, Pegi....
s, fundraisers for the victims of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, and followed this with donations after the 2010 disaster that leveled many villages in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
. The band played benefit concerts to help fund the school system in New York City, and countless other concerns. As a result, the band was awarded the NAACP Chairman's Award. In Matthews' acceptance speech, he spoke for the band as a whole, commenting that of all the achievements they had enjoyed, that the award by the NAACP and Julian Bond in particular was by far the highest honor they had bestowed upon them.
External links
- Dave Matthews Band on YoutubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....