Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and backing vocalist Carter Beauford, violinist and backing vocalist Boyd Tinsley, and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. As of 2022, Matthews, Lessard, and Beauford are the only remaining founding members still performing with the band.

Dave Matthews Band's 1994 major label debut album, ''Under the Table and Dreaming'', was certified platinum six times. , the band had sold more than 25 million concert tickets and a combined total of 38 million CDs and DVDs. Their 2018 album, '' Come Tomorrow'', debuted at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200, making DMB the first band to have seven consecutive studio albums debut at the peak. The band won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "So Much to Say".

A jam band, Dave Matthews Band is renowned for its live shows. The band is known for playing songs differently each performance; this practice has become a staple of their live shows since the early 1990s.

History

Formation (1991–1993)

Songwriter David John Matthews, working in Charlottesville, Virginia, as a bartender at Miller's Bar in November 1990, became a friend of a lawyer named Ross Hoffman. Hoffman convinced Matthews to record a demo of the few songs Matthews had written and encouraged him 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 Matthews's 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. The trio began working on Matthews's 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 proved to be, 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 did not provide the full sound they desired, however, and more musicians were needed. Upon the recommendation of John D'earth, Director of Jazz Performance at the University of Virginia and a local musician, Stefan Lessard, a junior bassist at the time, joined the band. In 1991, Miller's waiter Peter Griesar became the band's first keyboardist. Because of other commitments, violinist Boyd Tinsley did not become a full-time member until 1992. Matthews later admitted, "We had no plans of adding a violinist. We just wanted some fiddle tracked on this one song " Tripping Billies", and Boyd was a friend of Leroi. He came in and it just clicked. That completely solidified the band, gave it a lot more power."

The band's first in-studio demo was recorded in February or March 1991 before Tinsley joining as a full-time band member and consisted of "Song That Jane Likes", "Recently", "Best of What's Around", and "I'll Back You Up."

For years, it was believed that the band's first public show was at Charlottesville's 1991 Earth Day Festival. On October 9, 2010, Stefan Lessard reported, via Twitter, the discovery of an earlier show, taped March 14, 1991, at TRAX, a local music venue. 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 word of the band's sound spread within a short time.

The band considered calling itself "Dumwelah", which is the Tswana word for "hello", but there was little enthusiasm for the name and they decided against it. One story is that Moore reportedly telephoned a place they were booked and said to write "Dave Matthews." The person receiving the call wrote "band" after the name, and the name stayed Dave Matthews Band from that point on. Matthews told Robert Trott of AP, "Boyd insley if memory serves, wrote 'Dave Matthews Band' n 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's 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."Nevin Martell, ''Dave Matthews Band: Music for the people'', (New York: Pocket Books, 2004) 21

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 DKE house on September 11, 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 of 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".Delancey, Morgan, ''Dave Matthews Band: Step Into The Light'', page 104, ECW Press, 2001

On November 9, 1993, DMB released its first official release, ''Remember Two Things'', on its Bama Rags label, later re-released by RCA in 1997. Live songs on the album were recorded at Trax in Charlottesville, Virginia The Flood Zone in Richmond, Virginia, and The Muse Music Club on Nantucket Island. The album debuted on college charts as the highest independent entry, and went on to be certified platinum by the RIAA in 2002.

Breakthrough to stardom (1994–1999)

The band released their first live EP, entitled ''Recently'', in 1994. The album's five tracks were taken from shows performed at The Birchmere, in Alexandria, Virginia, and from Trax, in Charlottesville. ''Recently'' was re-released by RCA Records in 1997.

On September 27, 1994, DMB released their debut studio album, ''Under the Table and Dreaming'', featuring their first commercial hits "What Would You Say" (featuring John Popper of Blues Traveler fame on harmonica), "Satellite", and "Ants Marching". The album was dedicated "In memory of Anne" for Matthews's older sister Anne, who was killed by her husband in 1994 in a murder–suicide. ''Under the Table and Dreaming'' brought the band worldwide fame and was eventually certified six times platinum.

''Under the Table and Dreaming'' and its follow-up album, ''Crash'', brought the band a Grammy Award and four additional Grammy nominations. The band won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group for "So Much to Say". In addition, the band was nominated for the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group and the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form for "What Would You Say", and was nominated for the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album for ''Crash'' and the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song for "Too Much". The band 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, banjoist Béla Fleck, vocalist Alanis Morissette, future touring band member Butch Taylor, Chapman Stick player Greg Howard, and the Kronos Quartet. They composed and recorded '' Before These Crowded Streets'', their third album with RCA, 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". Before These Crowded Streets was an instant commercial success, with over 900,000 albums sold worldwide in the first week. As of 2018, there have been over 21,000,000 copies sold worldwide.

The band took part in the Woodstock '99 concert during the summer. In the fall, it then released a third live album, ''Listener Supported''. 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. From their recent album, they earned another Grammy Award for Best Rock Album nomination for "Before These Crowded Streets", and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals nomination for the song "Crush".

Early 2000s

In 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. The songs were heavily influenced by personal conflicts, notably the death of Matthews's uncle from alcoholism.

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 fresh start, Ballard's production, which featured a pop-rock music sound and no songs over 4:43, was very different from the acoustic sound and long jams that the albums produced by Steve Lillywhite featured (only 8 of the 35 tracks on the previous three albums were under 4:43). 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" all charted on many ''Billboard'' charts, including the Hot 100.

In March 2001, the Lillywhite studio sessions from the previous year 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 who were less than pleased with Everyday's more electric sound were frustrated with the band's decision to scrap the work in exchange for ''Everyday''.

Many of the songs from ''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.

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, guitarist Mitch Rutman, 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.

2004–2007

'' The Gorge'', a combination 2-CD/1-DVD set with highlights from their 3-night 2002 tour closer at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington was released on June 29, 2004.

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. On March 9, 2005, the band's tour bus driver, Stefan Wohl, pleaded guilty to dumping the bus's waste tank into the Chicago River, 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 it, 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 No. 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

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases