Dave Matthews Biography

By Joshua Matyi

Dave Matthews

• The Beginnings

• Early Career

• Building an Empire

• Present Day

The Beginnings• Born January 9, 1967 in the city of

Johannesburg, South Africa

• Father, John, a physicist, worked for IBM

• Moved to Yorktown Heights, NY at the age of 2

• Father passed away from lung cancer in 1977, family moved back to South Africa

The Beginnings• Dave taught himself the basic

fundamentals of how to play the guitar by age 13

• Graduated from St. Stithians College High School in 1985

• Moved to Charlottesville, Virginia to avoid a strict South African military draft

• Started working as a bartender at Miller’s Jazz Club

Early Career• In 1990, Dave made a demo tape that was

presented to –

• Carter Beauford, Drummer

• Boyd Tinsley, Violinist

• Leroi Moore, Saxophonist

• And Stephan Lessard, Bassist

• Beginnings of the Dave Matthews Band

Early Career• 1993, The Dave Matthews Band released

Remember Two Things, their first official album

• Remember Two Things reached the top of the College Charts and was certified gold by the RIAA

• The lesser known Recently was released shortly after in 1994

Building an Empire• In 1994, the Band released Under the

Table and Dreaming, which achieved instant success and became platinum

• Included well known songs “Ants Marching” and “Satellite”

• This album was dedicated to Dave’s older sister, Anne, who was murdered by her husband just one year earlier

Building an Empire• Crash, released in 1996, debuted at No. 2

on the Billboard Charts

• Included Grammy-nominated song “Crash Into Me”

• Heightened the band’s status when a concert at Madison Square Garden sold out in under three hours

Building an Empire• 1997, Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95 was

released

• This album was used to combat a prevalent bootlegging problem by offering a good quality CD at a lower price

• In early 1997, nearly all bootlegging companies had been arrested slowing the momentum of the industry

Building an Empire• Before These Crowded Streets was

released in 1998 and became The Dave Matthews Band’s fourth consecutive album to reach platinum

• After completion of the album, the band decided to change producers to Glen Ballard, formerly associated with Alanis Morissette and Aerosmith

Building an Empire• In 2000, Dave Matthews married Jennifer

Ashley Harper

• One year later, twin daughters Stella and Gracie Ann were born

• Since then, in 2007, Jennifer gave birth to Oliver, their first son

Building an Empire• With Glen Ballard’s wind at their sails, the

DMB was hard at work• 2000, Everyday• 2001, Busted Stuff• 2005, Stand Up• Stand Up brought the fourth consecutive

album to hit Billboard’s No. 1, only previously accomplished by U2 and Metallica

Building an Empire• Since his debut with the band, Dave Matthews

has worked with other artists such as Neil Young and Tim Reynolds

• Dave released the solo album, Some Devil in 2003

• The single, “Gravedigger” from this album won Dave a Grammy in 2003

• DMB also received a Grammy for “So Much to Say”, from the Crash album in 1997

Building an Empire• In 2008, saxophonist Leroi Moore passed

away from complications due to an ATV accident

• He was replaced by Jeff Coffin from Bela Fleck

• The 2009 album, Big Whiskey and The GrooGrux King is the DMB tribute to Leroi

Present Day• Dave Matthews currently resides in

Seattle, Washington with his wife and children

• Along with multiple charities, Dave set up a relief fund for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Indonesian Tsunami

• He has also worked with the U.S.A. and other countries to stimulate agricultural economy

Composition History• “So Much To Say”, 1996, Crash album• Lyrics, Lead and rhythm guitars were

written and performed by Dave Matthews• Song is about living life to the fullest and

has a catchy beat and an uplifting promise• Incorporates entire band; i.e. guitars, sax,

violin, and drums• Won a Grammy in 1997 for best

performance by a group

Composition History• “The Last Stop”, 1998, Before These

Crowded Streets album

• Has wonderful use of the pentatonic scale

• Has been performed on multiple live albums, including Live in Chicago, Live Trax Vol. 1 and Vol. 6

• Incorporates Dave’s wilder side with ranting lyrics and wild howls

Composition History• “Gravedigger”, 2003, Some Devil album

• Originally performed acoustically, but both acoustic and DMB recordings

• Carpe-diem lyrics may be contributed to the deaths in Dave Matthews’ life

• Appeared on The Gorge 2002, Live at Radio City, Live Trax Vol. 10 and Live at Mile High

Listening Guide• “So Much To Say” – Begins with rhythm

guitar and lyrics in a major scale

• 0:45 Enter the percussion and bass to accompany the guitar and lyrics

• 1:01 The entire band is playing at this point, consisting of guitar, bass, percussion, sax, and violin

• http://youtube.com/watch?v=HgJOjB8-e8w

Listening Guide• 1:52 First bridge after a succession of

verses, contains a set of staccato blasts from the saxophone

• 2:29 Chorus plays for the first time, contains an imitation with the violin and saxophone in a descending melody

• 3:23-4:02 Chorus repeats and at 3:56 the coda is present with A Cappella lyrics and a final blast from all instruments

Listening Guide• “The Last Stop” – Begins with all instruments,

guitars, percussion, woodwinds, and violin playing in a pentatonic scale

• 0:17 An organized chant is present with the lyrics as all instruments play an arch type melody

• 0:35 Verse 1 enters with lyrics sang to the common melody

• http://youtube.com/watch?v=ariMzM1Uw5M

Listening Guide• 1:11-3:05 A series of breaks and verses

that give this song a dark feeling; the violin and woodwinds offer a “spiral” type melody as if falling into despair

• 3:08 The song transfers to a major mode with an accompanying bright banjo, signifying hope is not lost

• 3:22 Back down to despair as the melody returns to the pentatonic scale

Listening Guide• 3:31-5:04 A “tug-o-war” is being played

between the two scales, creating a “good vs. evil” feel

• 5:52 As the fight continues, all instruments begin to build to crescendo

• 6:18 The build fades and the bright banjo and a mandolin are victorious as they fade away

Listening Guide• “Gravedigger” – Begins with a simple,

descending guitar melody in a minor scale• 0:24 Enter verse 1 with lyrics and a variation of

the melody• 0:45 Chorus 1 enters with the same melody as

the introduction• 1:03-1:27 The addition of a low string is added to

give more depth to the song as it transitions between another verse and chorus

• http://youtube.com/watch?v=1po92tr0VEU

Listening Guide• 1:47 The only bridge is played; in a major

mode with lyrics of “Ring around the Rosie” – origins of pertaining to death

• 2:10-3:25 As the last verses and chorus play, the lyrics have been shifted up an octave

• 3:33 Coda – The guitar plays a chord progression as the string is held to a diminuendo

The End

Works Cited• www.biography.com/articles/Dave-Matthews-9542554• www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/dave-matthews-band

-and-dave-matthews-biography/a3eeddf8ec8364ab482568b60012fdd6

• www.mtv.com/music/artist/dave_matthews_band/artist.jhtml

• www.imdb.com/name/nm0559986/bio • www.davematthewsband.com/#/history• http://www.youtube.com• http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi