Dave Matthews

David John Matthews, popularly known as Dave Matthews, (born January 9, 1967 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is the Grammy-award winning lead vocalist and guitarist from Dave Matthews Band. He has also worked as a solo artist and with other musicians, most often with Tim Reynolds. An occasional actor, he has appeared in two feature films.

Early life

Matthews was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1967. The Matthews family consisted of four children: Dave, two sisters (Anne and Jane) and a brother (Peter). Two years later, his family immigrated to Westchester County, New York, where his physicist father went to work for IBM. The elder Matthews encouraged Dave to take piano lessons as a child before he picked up the guitar at age nine. After living in New York, his family moved to Cambridge, England in the early 1970s before returning to the States, where his father died of Hodgkin's disease, in 1977. In 1980, the family moved back to South Africa, where the young Matthews went to several schools and "got more wise about the evils of government, there and in general." In 1994, his sister Anne died in a domestic tragedy at her home in South Africa. The Grammy nominated album Under The Table and Dreaming is dedicated to her.

Upon his graduation from high-school, he was required to put in two years of compulsory military service, a requirement of the South African government. Coming from a devoutly Quaker family, military service was not an option, Whitefield, Fredricka (2005). "Profiles of U2 and The Dave Matthews Band" CNN.com (accessed May 3, 2006) and his mother implored University of Virginia to accept her son in honor of his father, who had once worked there in the physics department. So in 1986 Matthews relocated to Charlottesville, Virginia, where his parents had lived before he was born.

Though he also logged time back in South Africa and in Amsterdam, it was in Charlottesville that he became part of the local music community. Pursuing various interests, Matthews tried his hand at local theatre, 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 talent 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."Driven: Dave Matthews - About the Episode" VH1.com (accessed May 4, 2006) 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. 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 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 Condor at the South Street Warehouse in downtown Charlottesville.

Other ventures

In the late 1990s, Dave Matthews was a commonly featured guest at 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 released a solo album in late 2003, 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.

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 provides organic vegetables, flowers, and herbs through a community-supported agriculture program. Close to the farm, Matthews maintains the four acre Blenheim Vineyards which utilizes a gravity flow winemaking technique.

Dave Matthews has also acted in two feature films. He played Will Coleman in the 2003 adaptation of the novel Where the Red Fern Grows. He also portrayed the character Otis in the 2005 film Because of Winn-Dixie, which was based on the novel of the same name.

Personal life

Matthews and his wife, Ashley Harper, have twin daughters born in 2001, Stella Busina and Grace Anne. The family splits their time between Seattle, Washington and Charlottesville.Eliscu, Jenny (2005). "The Boys of Summer" Rolling Stone (accessed June 19. 2006) Despite his upbringing, Matthews identifies as agnostic.Morse, Steve (2001)."Dave Matthews Gets Serious - and Playful" The Boston Globe (accessed May 29, 2006)

Matthews self-identifies as a "White" immigrant American,Matthews, Dave (2004). "Voices for Change" Rolling Stone (accessed June 19, 2006) However, he has been classified by some with the term African-American, since he was born and spent a large portion of his childhood in South Africa. However, as this term is usually reserved for Black Americans, the designation has met with dispute.Page, Clarence (2004). "Essay: American Hyphen" PBS.org (accessed June 19, 2006) Semantics aside, Matthews is a legal American and identifies strongly with American culture and politics. However, as he stated in his famous essay "My African Heart," "I go back to South Africa at least once a year, sometimes twice, and usually for a month...to both lose myself and gain awareness of myself."Matthews, Dave (2001). [http://www.time.com/time/ Time magazine (accessed June 19, 2006)

Solo discography

See also: Dave Matthews Band discography

Albums

1999: Live at Luther College (with Tim Reynolds)
2003: Some Devil

Guest appearances

1990: Imagine We Were by Tribe of Heaven
1996: In November Sunlight by Soko
1998: Left of Cool by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
1999: Supernatural by Santana
2000: Red Dirt Girl by Emmylou Harris
2000: Sharin' in the Groove: Celebrating the Music of Phish (Various Artists)
2001: Mercury by Thompson D'earth
2002: Black Ivory Soul by Angelique Kidjo
2002: We Were Soldiers Soundtrack
2003: The Complex by Blue Man Group
2003: Next by Soulive
2003: True Reflections by Boyd Tinsley
2005: Haughty Melodic by Mike Doughty
2005: Tribe of Heaven by Mark Roebuck
2005: Live From Bonnaroo 2004 (Various Artists)

Awards

Grammys

Best Male Rock Performance ("Gravedigger", 2004, Dave Matthews, solo) — WON

Quotes

Notes

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References

Driven, an episode of the VH1 show, featuring Matthews

External links

FarmAid.org — Farm Aid's Official Website
DMB.com — Official website
nancies.org — Established DMB fan website begun in July 1998
DMB rhyme and reason — A thorough, near-daily, DMB newsletter / website begun in July 2001
AntsMarching.org — A fan-created site with DMB concert downloads, news, show trading and personal show statistics, forum, setlists begun in January 2002
DMB Almanac — Song and concert history and statistics begun in April 2002
Amidreaming.org — Dave Matthews Band archive, art and message board begun in May 2002
DMBTabs.com — A site containing accurate guitar tablature for DMB's songs begun in September 2002
WeeklyDavespeak.com — A fan site with news, opinions and forums begun in 2004
Article appearing in Food and Wine in October 2005
Blenheim Vineyards Homepage -— Dave's Vineyard.
LiveInOurGraves.Org -— A website sharing many of the recorded live shows from the Dave Matthews Band, Dave solo or with Dave Matthews and Friends.

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