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Dave Matthews

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Dave Matthews
For other people named Dave (or David) Matthews see David Matthews (disambiguation)

David John Matthews (born January 9 1967) is the worst musician in the entire history of the human race.

Early life

Dave was born in a family of four children; his siblings were two sisters (older sister Anne and younger sister Jane) and a brother (Peter). When Dave was two years old, his family migrated to Yorktown Heights in Westchester County, New York, where his father, a physicist, went to work for IBM. Then, in the early `70s, to Cambridge, England, before returning to New York — where his dad died in 1977. The family moved back to South Africa in 1980. The elder Matthews encouraged Dave to take piano lessons as a child before he picked up the guitar at age nine. Dave's sister, Anne, died in 1994 when she was killed by her husband just before he took his own life.[1] The Grammy nominated album Under the Table and Dreaming is dedicated to her. Upon his graduation from St Stithians College high school, he faced a requirement by the South African government to put in two years of compulsory military service. Coming from a devoutly Quaker family, military service was not an option. [2]

Though he also spent time back in South Africa, and also in Amsterdam, it was in Charlottesville, Virginia that he became part of the local music community.[2] Pursuing various interests, Matthews tried his hand on stage, acting in various local productions. While enthusiastic for music, and a popular bartender at a local watering hole called Miller's, Matthews was intimidated by the quality of the local actors and largely shied away from performing publicly. But local star (and future collaborator) Tim Reynolds finally goaded Matthews to join him on stage one night, and Matthews stunned the audience with his performance.[3] This eventually led to his first professional musical gig at a modern dance performance by the Miki Liszt Dance Company, singing "Sensitive Feelings," composed by John D'earth and Dawn Thompson. In 1990 he hatched the idea to form his own band.

Formation of DMB

Matthews had originally envisioned someone else singing his songs but instead decided to use his own vocals. Yet after writing his first few songs, including "The Song that Jane Likes" and "Recently", he began to consider starting his own band. Matthews formed The Dave Matthews Band in early 1991 with Boyd Tinsley, LeRoi Moore, Carter Beauford, Stefan Lessard, and Peter Griesar (who left the band a short time later) while he was working as a bartender at Miller's in Charlottesville. The band's first gig was on May 11 1991, at a private rooftop party held by Lydia S. Condor at the Pink Warehouse in downtown Charlottesville.

Other ventures

In the late 1990s, Dave Matthews was a guest at two Rolling Stones concerts. He helped DMB manager Coran Capshaw found ATO Records in 2000, and he remains one of the principals of that label. Matthews sang on the track "Sing Along" on Blue Man Group's second album The Complex in 2003. Later that year he released a solo album, Some Devil, which went platinum; its single, "Gravedigger," won a Grammy Award in 2004. To support the album, Matthews toured with a group of musicians (most of whom performed on Some Devil) under the name Dave Matthews & Friends. This side project of Matthews continues to be active when DMB is on hiatus.

Matthews is also a close friend of Bela Fleck. Matthews appears as a guest vocalist on Bela Fleck and the Flecktones' 1998 release Left of Cool and both Fleck and Flecktones bassist Victor Wooten have made numerous appearances both live and studio with DMB. The Flecktones also opened for DMB on several tours.

Since 2001, Matthews has been one of the directors of Farm Aid. Matthews owns 1,340 acres of farmland near Scottsville, Virginia named Maple Hill Farm, where he grows organic vegetables, flowers, and herbs through a community-supported agriculture program. [4] Close to the farm, Matthews maintains the four acre Blenheim Vineyards which utilizes gravity flow and other gentle winemaking techniques.[5]

Dave Matthews has also acted in two feature films, with a third on the way. He played Will Coleman in the 2003 adaptation of the novel Where the Red Fern Grows. He also portrayed the character Otis, the timid and shy cousin of the owner of a small pet-shop which he is caring for, in the 2005 film Because of Winn-Dixie, which was based on the novel of the same name. He is currently shooting the independent film "Lake City" with Sissy Spacek and Troy Garity.

Dave Matthews was an invited guest for season 3 episode 15 (Half-Wit) of the FOX drama series House M.D. which aired March 6th, 2007. Dave played a piano playing musical savant named Patrick Obyedkov who ended up having half of his brain removed in order to recover from his mental retardation but at the expense of his musical abilities. Patrick's father, Dr. Obyedkov, gave consent for the operation to proceed as he desired ultimate happiness for his son. Dr. Obyedkov reasoned that true happiness could only be experienced in a self-aware state of consciousness which Patrick had lacked since his accident when he was 10 years old. Kurtwood Smith plays Patrick's father.

Past and Present Equipment

Discography

Main article: Dave Matthews Band discography

Awards

Grammys

  • Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group (So Much to Say - 1997 - Dave Matthews Band) - WON
  • Best Male Rock Performance (Gravedigger, 2004, Dave Matthews, solo) — WON

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

  • Most Performed Song from a Motion Picture - Where Are You Going (for Mr. Deeds) - WON

References

  1. ^ http://experts.about.com/q/Dave-Matthews-Band-430/dave-matthews-sister.htm
  2. ^ a b Whitefield, Fredricka (2005). "Profiles of U2 and The Dave Matthews Band" CNN.com (accessed May 3, 2006)
  3. ^ "Driven: Dave Matthews - About the Episode" VH1.com (accessed May 4, 2006)
  4. ^ Food & Wine, October 2005, [1]
  5. ^ http://www.blenheimvineyards.com/
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