November 2003
H.E.A.R. Honors Dave Matthews
The Dave Matthews Band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia,
in early 1991, when vocalist/guitarist Dave Matthews decided
to put some songs he had written on tape. Instead of simply
recording himself with a guitar, he opted to bring in some
instrumental help to give his musical ideas more depth. Dave
found assistance in drummer Carter Beauford and saxophonist
LeRoi Moore, who were both accomplished jazz musicians in
the local Charlottesville music scene. Based on the recommendation
of distinguished local jazz guru John D earth, 16-year-old
musical prodigy Stefan Lessard came on board to play bass.
Completing the band was keyboard player Peter Griesar, who
left the band after a couple of years, as well as the talented
and classically trained violinist, Boyd Tinsley. The first
official gig for the newly conceived Dave Matthews Band was
May 11, 1991, at a private rooftop party in Charlottesville.
Its first public show was at the city s 1991 Earth Day Festival.
Local weekly gigs soon followed, and within a little time,
word of the band s contagious new sound spread like wildfire
throughout the region. Clubs started to fill up, tours began
to cover more territory, and the fan base grew at an incredible
rate.
On November 9, 1993, DMB released its first album, Remember
Two Things, on its Bama Rags label. The album was recorded
live at The Muse Music Club on Nantucket Island, in August
of 1993. The album debuted on College charts as the highest
independent entry, and went on to be certified gold by the
RIAA -- 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
in spirit today. During the first part of 1994, Dave Matthews
Band recorded its RCA debut, Under The Table and Dreaming.
Just before the album s release on September 27, 1994, Dave
Matthews Band hit the road for their first official national
tour. The tour lasted well over a year and included sold out
theater dates across the country, a trip to Europe, and two
summers playing on the main stage of HORDE.
By the fall of 1995, when the band returned to the studio
to record its next album, Under The Table and Dreaming had
been certified four times platinum by the RIAA. Crash, Dave
Matthews Band s second album for RCA, was released on April
30, 1996, and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart.
The band continued with a steady schedule of touring throughout
1997, headlining sold-out amphitheater dates across North
America. DMB, though elevated to the level of national pop
stardom, continued to do things precisely as it had from day
one: organically, with a grass roots mentality. On October
28, 1997, Bama Rags/RCA label released an official double-disc
live Dave Matthews Band album, entitled Live at Red Rocks
8-15-95. Without any marketing or promotion, Live at Red Rocks
debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart and was
instantly certified platinum. The album provided fans with
a high-quality and reasonably priced alternative to the over-priced,
ill-produced, and illegal live DMB CDs that were beginning
to flood the bootleg black-market. The overwhelming success
of Live at Red Rocks, combined with the bandŐs tremendous
touring achievements, proved that Dave Matthews Band had grown
from a grass roots phenomenon to one of the hottest bands
in America.
On April 28, 1998, RCA released Dave Matthews Band s third
studio album, Before These Crowded Streets. The critically
acclaimed recording debuted at number one on the Billboard
200 chart; it was the band s strongest debut to date. DMB
spent the following year and a half on the road, selling out
stadiums, arenas, and amphitheaters across the country. On
January 19, 1999, Bama Rags/RCA released Live at Luther College:
An Acoustic Performance by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds.
Tim Reynolds was a guest guitarist on all of the Dave Matthews
Band albums, and toured with the band as a guest musician.
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds toured as an acoustic duo during
the winters of 1996, 1997, and 1999. The second in a series
of live Dave Matthews Band-related releases, Live at Luther
College debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart and
has since been certified platinum by the RIAA . As with Live
at Red Rocks, the success of this second live album was based
solely on word-of-mouth buzz. The third installment in this
ongoing live album series, Listener Supported, was released
by Bama Rags/RCA on November 23, 1999. The album was recorded
live at New Jersey s Continental Airlines Arena in September
1999, and a video of the performance, also titled Listener
Supported, was released at the same time. The double-disc
album was quickly certified double-platinum, and the video
has sold over a million copies as well. The band spent much
of 2000 on tour, finishing as the top-grossing touring band
in the U.S. In the fall, Dave Matthews joined legendary producer
Glen Ballard in Los Angeles to fine-tune song arrangements
for a new album, and the pair wound up co-writing 12 new songs
in a matter of days. From this explosion of creative chemistry
came the band's new album, Everyday, released February 27,
2001. Matthews played electric guitar for the first time,
and Ballard helped the band focus and tighten their arrangements,
resulting in the phenomenal success of Everyday, which has
since gone triple platinum. DMB spent the summer of 2001 touring
the country and exposing sold-out audiences to songs from
Everyday. On August 21, Dave Matthews Band, The Videos 1994-2001,
was released on DVD and VHS. For the first time, the entire
collection of Dave Matthews Band videos (the first 12) were
presented together, along with director commentary and behind
the scenes footage.
On October 23, 2001, the band released it's fourth live release,
Live In Chicago, 12.19.98, featuring guest musicians such
as Victor Wooten, Maceo Parker, and a full set with Tim Reynolds.
The band regrouped in January 2002 at the familiar Plant Studios
in Sausalito, CA where they had recorded their 3rd RCA release
Before These Crowded Streets. The band revisited tracks they
had previously written and recorded in 2000 and collaborated
on a couple of new tunes that had debuted in recent months.
The resultant creation, Busted Stuff, was made available July
16th, 2002. Busted Stuff is a landmark record for DMB; for
the first time ever, this album is without any musical guests.
Included on the album are road-tested fan favorites such as
"Bartender", "Grey Street", "Where Are You Going", and "Grace
Is Gone". Following a successful tour throughout the US in
Summer 2002, Dave Matthews Band released Live At Folsom Field,
Boulder CO, the band's 5th live release overall. This double
CD / DVD / VHS from the band's 7/11/01 performance, contains
first ever live versions of songs from Everyday and Busted
Stuff, such as "When The World Ends," "So Right," "What You
Are," "If I Had It All," "Angel," "The Space Between," "Everyday"
"Big Eyed Fish," "Digging A Ditch," and "Bartender." The DVD
utilizes footage taken from 22 cameras, is recorded in 5.1
surround sound, and presents the finest audio quality of any
DMB live release to date. A short tour in several US cities
in December of 2002 was highlighted by 2 sold out performances
at Madison Square Garden.
The Central Park Concert, scheduled for release on Nov 18th,
captures Dave Matthews Band in one of their finest moments.
The benefit concert, a show staged on Central Park's Great
Lawn, will be available on DOUBLE DVD and TRIPLE CD and is
now available for preorder. The Central Park Concert was recorded
in stereo and 5.1 audio and shot with 30 cameras in High Definition
video to provide viewers and listeners with the ultimate sound
and video quality.
Dave Matthews Band is very concerned about the nature of
our media system. A few large corporations have entirely too
much control, making it difficult for musicians to get their
music produced or played on the radio. Inherently, it puts
commercial pressure on our culture, and can sometimes lead
to a lousy grade of journalism. Dave Matthews believe government
policies enable the problem. This issue affects us all. The
Dave Matthews Band are asking you to pay attention to this
issue because we need your help in the battle for free press.
|
