Dave Matthews Band Essay Research Paper When

Dave Matthews Band Essay, Research Paper

When the contemporary Dave Matthews Band came out in 1991, they had no idea what was in store for them. The Dave Matthews Band has influenced many people and have also contributed to the great musical movement of the 1990 s and of today.

The Dave Matthews Band takes from widely varied musical interests of five musicians to create a unique sound that combines the influences of folk, jazz, rock, world beat, and reggae. David Matthews, the band’s namesake and lead guitarist and vocalist, began to assemble the players in 1991 to accompany him on a demo tape of original songs. At the time, a waiter in Charlottesville, Virginia, Dave Matthews says he aimed high, approaching the musicians he respected most. (The Official Dave Matthews Band Website, 1997)

Jazz players LeRoi Moore and Carter Beauford agreed to help out. The trio then approached Stefan Lessard, who at 16, was already an accomplished upright bass player, about playing electric bass guitar for the band. When one of the tunes seemed to need violin, they enlisted the string expertise of Boyd Tinsley, and a band was born. (The Official Dave Matthews Band Website, 1997)

Dave Matthews was born in South Africa on January 9, 1967. His family moved from place to place and finally settled in America. He never acquired a high school diploma, so jobs were limited. He took a job as a waiter, but his dream was to be in a band. (Delancey, 1998)

Over the years, Dave Matthews had written many songs, and at this point in his life, wanted to make a demo tape. He and his manager, Ross Hoffman, went out on a mission to find musicians for the band. They found LeRoi Moore and Carter Beauford whom Dave respected greatly. (Delancey, 1998)

LeRoi Moore plays many different instruments, including saxophones, flutes, pennywhistles, and assorted reeded instruments. Before joining the band, LeRoi played jazz at many night clubs in the Charlottesville-Richmond area.

Carter Beauford, the oldest member of the band who was born on November 2, 1957 making him 42, has been playing the drums since his childhood. Jazz playing ran in the family, as his father played trumpet in a band. After college, Carter gave up the drums and decided to teach history, but that soon ended when he signed for a band called Secrets in 1984. (The Official Dave Matthews Band Website, 1997)

When the band broke up in 1990, Carter then landed a job on the jazz show “Bet on Jazz”. This too, didn t last very long and Carter returned to Charlottesville to play random gigs. Dave heard that Carter was back in town and decided to approach him about recording a demo, to which Carter quickly agreed.

Now a group of three, Dave, LeRoi, and Carter found Stefan Lessard who was only 16 at the time. Even at his young age, Stefan was a very well respected upright bass player in Virginia. The band, however, was looking for an electric guitarist. Yet after listening to some of the tapes, Stefan was easily persuaded to change his instrument and join the group.

Peter Griesar who was the band s keyboardist and harmonica player didn t stay too long. He joined the band at its start, but soon quit in March of 1993 due to the touring of the group, which Peter did not enjoy. He said that the rock and roll touring lifestyle wasn t for him. Fortunately, Peter left on good terms and is still known to play with the band when in Virginia.

The last member of the group to join was their violinist, Boyd Tinsley. Boyd was a classical violinist

until 1985, when he switched over to rock and roll and has since defined the rock n roll violin. Before joining the Dave Matthews Band, Boyd has his own Boyd Tinsley Band, which he continued to play with until 1993. In 1993, Boyd met up with the members of Dave Matthews Band and said to them “I like what you re doing, I like you sound, so I m going to quit my other bands and join you guys.” (Martell, 2000) And the rest is history.

There is, however, another guitarist that is usually associated with the band, but hasn t been christened a Dave Matthews Band member. Tim Reynolds has played with Dave for a longer time than the band has been together. Tim joins the band on tour, but mostly plays acoustic shows with just Dave on the “off-season”. (The Official Dave Matthews Band Website, 1997)

In addition to Tim, a variety of artists play with the Dave Matthews Band, or known to fans as DMB. Artists such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Ben Harper, Bruce Hornsby, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, Edwin McCain, Phish, John Popper of Blues Traveler, Rusted Root, and many more have accompanied Dave Matthews Band in their numerous sold-out shows all over the world. With such a wide variety, one can

certainly agree that Dave Matthews Band appeals to everyone.(Challen, 1995)

The first official gig (an artist s term for a show or a concert) for Dave Matthews Band was on May 11, 1991 at a private rooftop party in Charlottesville. The first public show was at the 1991 Earth Day Festival. The band continued with local weekly gigs, until the word of the band got out and clubs began to fill up, tours began to cover more territory and the amount of fans grew at an incredible rate. (The Official Dave Matthews Band Website, 1997)

On November 9, 1993, the Dave Matthews Band released its first album under its own Bam

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