Dave Matthews

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For other people named David Matthews, see David Matthews (disambiguation).
This article is about Dave Matthews. For the band, see Dave Matthews Band.
Dave Matthews

David John Matthews (born January 9, 1967) is a South African, now naturalized American, Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band but he has also worked as a solo artist, and with other musicians such as Tim Reynolds and Trey Anastasio. An occasional actor, he has also appeared in several feature films.

Biography

Early life

Matthews is the third of four children born to John and Valerie Matthews. At age two, Matthews' family migrated to Yorktown Heights in Westchester County, New York, where his father, a physicist, started working for IBM.[1]

In 1974, the family again moved to Cambridge, England for a year before returning to New York—where his father died from lung cancer in 1977. Nevin Martell argues that Dave's father's death may be an impetus for his "carpe diem" lyrics.[2] The family moved back to Johannesburg, South Africa in 1980.[citation needed]

Upon Matthews' 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.[3]

Matthews moved to New York, then Charlottesville, Virginia in 1986, a town Matthews' family had lived in before he was born. It was in Charlottesville that he became part of the local music community.[3] Pursuing various interests, Matthews tried his hand on stage, acting in various local productions.[citation needed] 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 musicians and largely shied away from performing publicly.[citation needed] 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.[4] 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. [citation needed] In 1990 he hatched the idea to form his own band. [citation needed]

In 1994, Matthews' older sister, Anne, who lived in South Africa, was murdered by her husband, who subsequently committed suicide on or around January 27 of that year.[5] The event that had a drastic effect on Matthews' outlook on life.[6] Immediately following her death, Matthews was forced to return to the United States from South Africa, due to professional obligations. On January 29, 1994, he performed with Tim Reynolds at Wetlands in New York where he dedicated that performance "to her memory". Dave Matthews Band's "Under the Table and Dreaming" would be dedicated to her.[7] Anne Matthews was survived by her two children who, upon her death, traveled to America, where Dave and his younger sister Jane took responsibility for their upbringing.[8]

Formation of Dave Matthews Band

Matthews had originally envisioned someone else singing his songs, but instead decided to use his own vocals. [citation needed] After writing his first few songs, including "The Song that Jane Likes" and "Recently", he began to consider starting his own band. [citation needed] Matthews formed 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 working as a bartender at Miller's, in Charlottesville. The band's first show was on April 20 1991, at the Earth Day Festival in Charlottesville, Virginia.[9]

Music

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds during an acoustic show in Amherst, MA in 2007.

Though originally trained on piano, Matthews was able to transfer his musical skills to the guitar.

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.

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.

Matthews appeared solo and sang "Everyday" on the post-September 11,2001, worldwide televised telethon, "America: A Tribute to Heroes".

Matthews recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for "Live from Abbey Road" on the 14th May 2006.

Acting

Before he was known as a musician, Matthews was an amateur actor, appearing onstage in several productions at Charlottesville's Live Arts theater in the early 1990s; the role for which he is best remembered is as a used car salesman.[citation needed] Dave Matthews has also acted in four feature films. He played Will Coleman in the 2003 adaptation of the novel "Where the Red Fern Grows."[10] In the 2005 film "Because of Winn-Dixie" (based on the novel of the same name), Matthews portrayed the character of Otis, a timid pet-shop employee.[11] In 2007, Matthews appeared briefly in the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, where he plays a homosexual salesman.[12] In 2008, he appeared in another Adam Sandler movie, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, as a racist character named James.[13] His next film is Lake City with Sissy Spacek and Troy Garity, in which he portrays the character "Red."[14]

In 2007, Matthews guest starred in the FOX drama series House in the episode "Half-Wit." He played a piano-playing musical savant 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.[15] Matthews had a piano double for the complex pieces but played the simpler pieces.[citation needed]

Business

Since 2000, Matthews has been one of the board members of Farm Aid along with Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young.[16] Matthews owns 542 hectares (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.[17] He also has a 1.6 hectare (4 acre) wine-growing operation, Blenheim Vineyards, which utilizes gravity flow and other gentle winemaking techniques.[18]

Matthews is one of the principles of ATO Records, founded in 2000.[19]

Personal life

Matthews married his long time girlfriend, Ashley Harper, a naturopathic doctor, on August 10, 2000. The couple have twin daughters, Stella Busina and Grace Anne, born on August 15, 2001, and a son, August Oliver, born on June 19, 2007. They currently reside in Seattle, Washington.[20][21]

Charity

Matthews has been very active in charity work, both personally and with his bandmates. He has performed several benefit concerts for music education, Hurricane Katrina victims, and most recently victims of the Virginia Tech shooting. At the Virginia Tech concert, on September 6, 2007, they were joined by John Mayer, Phil Vassar, and Nas.[22] The whole concert lasted 6 hours and more than 52,000 people attended. The band's charitable organization, the Bama Works Fund is administered by the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, benefiting charitable programs in the region.[23]

In 2008 he participated in a music album called Songs for Tibet, together with a number of other celebrities as an initiative to support Tibet and the current Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso.[24]

Politics

Matthews openly supported the 2008 presidential campaign for Barack Obama, both in the primaries and in the general election.[25] On April 6, 2008, he and Tim Reynolds played a concert titled "Change Rocks" to encourage students in Indiana to register to vote. The tickets were distributed by the Obama campaign.[26] Even though he was recently bereaved by the loss of band co-founder and saxophonist, LeRoi Moore, he and Tim Reynolds played for DNC delegates on Sunday, August 24 at Red Rocks.[27]

Past and present equipment

Discography

See also: Dave Matthews Band discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles

Awards

Grammys

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

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

Honorary degrees

  • Dave Matthews was awarded D.Ma honoris causa by Haverford College on May 15, 2005, and was invited to speak at Commencement.[29]

Guitar

  • 2002: Orville Gibson Award for Best Acoustic Guitarist

References

  1. ^ Nevin Martell, The Dave Matthews Band: Music for the People (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004), 3-4
  2. ^ Nevin Martell, The Dave Matthews Band: Music for the People (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004), 5
  3. ^ a b Whitefield, Fredricka (2005). "Profiles of U2 and The Dave Matthews Band" CNN.com (accessed May 3, 2006)
  4. ^ "Driven: Dave Matthews - About the Episode" VH1.com (accessed May 4, 2006)
  5. ^ [1]Dave Matthews Band: Music for the People - Retrieved on February 8, 2008.
  6. ^ [2]Time Pacific Magazine - "And the band plays on..." Retrieved on September 15, 2007.
  7. ^ [3]Dave Matthews Band: Music for the People - Retrieved on February 8, 2008.
  8. ^ [4]Dave Matthews Band: Music for the People - Retrieved on February 8, 2008.
  9. ^ "04.20.1991 Meade Park, Charlottesville, Virginia (Earth Day Festival)". DMBAlmanac.com. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  10. ^ "Where the Red Fern Grows". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  11. ^ "Because of Winn-Dixie". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  12. ^ "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  13. ^ "You Don't Mess with the Zohan". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  14. ^ "Lake City". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  15. ^ ""House M.D." Half-Wit". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  16. ^ "Board and Staff". Farm Aid. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  17. ^ Food & Wine, October 2005, [5]
  18. ^ Welcome to Blenheim Vineyards!
  19. ^ "About Us". ATO Records. Retrieved 20081012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  20. ^ The Official Dave Matthews Band Website :: News
  21. ^ Dave Matthews Goes Green with Eco-Friendly Diapers - Birth, Dave Matthews : People.com
  22. ^ [6] A Concert For Virginia Tech. Retrieved on August 1, 2007.
  23. ^ The Official Dave Matthews Band Website :: Charity
  24. ^ E-Online (July 22, 2008) Sting, Matthews, Mayer Gamer for Tibet Than Beijing
  25. ^ Bates, Eric (2008-04-17). "Dave Matthews Speaks Out for Barack Obama". RollingStone. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
  26. ^ http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/indavematthews
  27. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/rockymountainnews/20080825/pl_rockymountainnews/davematthewsconnectswiththednc_0
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Gear". Dave Matthews Band. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  29. ^ Haverford College News

External links

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