DAVE MATTHEWS

'David John Matthews' (born January 9 1967) is a South African, now naturalized American, Grammy-winning lead vocalist and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band. He has also worked as a solo artist and with other musicians such as Josh Groban, most often with Tim Reynolds. An occasional actor, he has appeared in three feature films.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Formation of Dave Matthews Band

Music

Acting

Farming and wine

Personal life

Charity

Past and present equipment

Discography

Awards

Grammys

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

Honorary degrees

Guitar

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Dave is the third of four children born to John and Val Matthews. His siblings are an older brother, Peter, an older sister, Anne and a younger sister, Jane. 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. In the early 1970s the family again moved, to Cambridge, England, before returning to New York — where his father died in 1977. The family moved back to South Africa in 1980.
Dave was encouraged to take piano lessons as a child before he picked up the guitar at age nine. 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. Whitefield, Fredricka (2005). "Profiles of U2 and The Dave Matthews Band" CNN.com (accessed May 3, 2006)
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. 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."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 Dave Matthews Band

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 show was on April 20 1991, at the Earth Day Festival in Charlottesville, Virginia.^[1]

Music

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

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.
Matthews recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live From Abbey Road on the 14th May 2006.
Dave and Tim Reynolds recently did a three show tour performing at the Wang Theater for Performing Arts in Boston, MA, the campus of University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a much anticipated show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The dates of these shows were April 20, 21, and 22, 2007. The show at Radio City Music Hall (April 22, 2007) in New York City will be released as the first Dave and Tim CD/DVD combination set.

Acting

Dave Matthews has also acted in three feature films, with a fourth 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 for which he is caring, in the 2005 film ''Because of Winn-Dixie'', which was based on the novel of the same name. In 2007, Matthews appears briefly in the movie ''I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'' where he plays a homosexual salesman. His next film is 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 (played by Kurtwood Smith), 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. Matthews had a piano double for his complex pieces but played the simpler pieces. ''House'' star Hugh Laurie played all of his own piano parts.
Dave Matthews record label ATO also recently branched out into the film industry with the company's first feature film "Joshua". Dave Matthews also wrote and preformed a song for the ending credits of the movie called "The Fly".

Farming and wine

Since 2001, Matthews has been one of the directors of Farm Aid along with Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young. 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. ^[2] Close to the farm, Matthews maintains the 1.6 hectare (4 acre) Blenheim Vineyards which utilizes gravity flow and other gentle winemaking techniques.^[3]

Personal life

Matthews married his long time girlfriend, Ashley Harper, a naturopathic doctor, on August 10, 2000. The couple has twin daughters, Stella Busina and Grace Anne, born on August 15, 2001, and a son, August Oliver, born on June 19, 2007, at their home in Seattle, Washington.^[4][5]
Dave describes himself as an agnostic.[2][3]
"I'm glad some people have that faith. I don't have that faith. If there is a God, a caring God, then we have to figure he's done an extraordinary job of making a very cruel world."
"It would be safe to say that I'm agnostic," Matthews says. "However, I do feel as though we owe a faith to the world and to ourselves. We owe a grace and gratitude to things that have brought us here. But I think it's very ignorant to say, 'Well, for everything, God has a plan.' That's like an excuse. ... Maybe the real faithful act is to commit to something, to take action, as opposed to saying, 'Well, everything is in the hand of God.'"
Steve Morse, "Dave Matthews gets serious — and playful," Boston Globe, 4 March 2001.

Charity

Matthews performed a free concert for the Virginia Tech student body and faculty on September 6, 2007. He was joined by John Mayer, Phil Vassar, and NaS. [4] A Concert For Virginia Tech. Retrieved on August 1, 2007.
The whole concert lasted 6 hours and more than 52,000 people attended.

Past and present equipment

★ Martin DM3MD Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar model numbers 1, 2 and 3

★ Martin HD-28V Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar

★ Martin D-35 Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar

★ Martin D12-28 Steel 12-String Acoustic Guitar

★ Taylor 914C Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar

★ Taylor 714 Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar

★ Taylor W65 Steel 12-String Acoustic Guitar

★ Taylor Custom Baritone Jumbo Guitar (Based on LKSM6)

★ Yamaha Country Jumbo CJ-818SB 6 String Guitar

★ Gibson J-150 6 String Guitar

★ Gibson Chet Atkins SST Solid Body Acoustic Guitar (not used since 2000)

★ Lakewood M-32 Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar

★ Veillette Gryphon 12-String Guitar

★ Modulus Genesis Three SH

★ Jerry Jones Baritone Electric Guitar

★ Santa Cruz Bob Brozman Baritone

★ Dunlop Tortex .6mm Guitar Picks

★ D'Addario EXP15 Strings (6-String)

★ D'Addario EJ39 Strings (12-String)

★ Matchless DC-30 Amplifier

★ Shure UHF Wireless System

★ Shure UHE Antenna Distro

★ UltraSound/BSS Audio Soundweb Custom Switcher

★ Korg DTR-1 Digital Tuner

★ Taylor GS7

Discography

★ 'Live at Luther College' (1999) (With Tim Reynolds)

★ 'Some Devil' (2003)
Singles: "Gravedigger, "Save Me", "Oh"

★ 'Imagine We Were' (2005) (Tribe of Heaven)

★ 'Live at Radio City' (2007) (With Tim Reynolds)

★ 'Eh Hee' (Single) (2007)
:''See also: 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'

Honorary degrees

Dave Matthews was also awarded D.Ma ''honoris causa'' by Haverford College in May 2005 and was invited to speak at Commencement.[5]

Guitar

Orville Gibson Award For Best Acoustic Guitarist 2002

References

1. 04.20.1991 Meade Park, Charlottesville, Virginia (Earth Day Festival)
2. Food & Wine, October 2005, [1]
3. http://www.blenheimvineyards.com/
4. http://www.dmband.com/news/view/cb3b7a7e7b6d5086bee55ac0624874dd
5. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20045105,00.html

External links

★ [6]

★ ''Driven'', an episode of the VH1 show, featuring Matthews

★ Interview

★ Lollapalooza 2007 Live Performance Video

★ Official Website
The Hook weekly on the upcoming ''House, M.D.'' episode