  The Dave Matthews Band was
formed in 1991 in Virginia by vocalist and
guitarist Dave Matthews. The other band
members include Stefan Lessard, Leroi Moor,
Boyd Tinsley, and Carter Beauford. The band's
mix of rock, jazz, folk, and world music
allowed them great local success in Virginia
and eventual success when touring around the
U.S. mostly at clubs and colleges. The band's
love of the musical form is apparent in their
enthusiasm to play. The group's mix of rock
music and worldbeat sensibility have made
them one of the most refreshing and
intelligent new music successes of the 90s.
Dave Matthews, whose musical background is
heavily influenced by South African rhythms,
began to assemble musicians to accompany him
on a demo tape. Leroi Moore and Carter
Beauford, both seasoned jazz players, were
the first to help out. Eventually a 16 year
old Stefan Lessard and violinist Boyd Tinsley
were brought aboard and a band was formed.
Dave Matthews musical expertise is mostly
self-taught. After growing up in South
Africa, Matthews now draws from many of the
folk traditions of world cultures for his
complex rhythms and vocals. Although Matthews
was only a bartender when he decided to form
a band and record a demo, it didn't stop him
from approaching who he considered the best
in the business. Leroi Moore played jazz
around Virginia before joining Matthews. His
talents with the saxophone and classical
training made him a top contender to help
Matthews with his demo. Carter Beauford has
been playing jazz drums since he was a kid.
After a stint with teaching history, Beauford
returned to the jazz circuit in the 80s and
worked with a fusion band called Secrets
until 1990. While playing the jazz circuit in
Virginia, Beauford found a big fan in the
form of Dave Matthews, which eventually led
to the two working together. Stefan Lessard
was already a well respected bass player in
jazz circuits around Virginia when was
approached by Matthews. His musical efforts
for the band have him playing electric bass.
Boyd Tinsley was a classical violinist until
the mid-80s when he ventured into rock music.
Tinsley quit his band, the Boyd
Tinsley Band to join forces with the Dave
Matthews Band. An additional member of the
Dave Matthews Band, Peter Griedar, was the
original keyboardist and harmonica player
until leaving the group in 1993. Tim Reynolds
plays guitar on many of the band's LPs and
sometimes tours with the group when he isn't
with his own band, the TR3. The Dave Matthews
Band played locally around Charlottesville,
Virginia and occasionally as far as New York,
Massachusetts, and Georgia.
 The band built up a loyal local
following and eventually released an
independent LP, Remember
Two Things. The live recording was mostly
taken from the Flood Zone in Richmond,
Virginia, Trax in Charlottesville, and the
Muse in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Two
additional songs were recorded in the studio
("Seek Up" and
"Minarets"). The LP brought the
band notice by the major labels. Claims that
the band were Grateful
Dead wannabes were dispelled by
noticing the differences between the two
bands and the developing sound the Dave
Matthews Band could claim as their own.
 The Dave Matthews Band released
their first major-label LP, Under
The Table And Dreaming.
 # 30
Singles Artist of the Year
Under
The Table And Dreaming was a hit on rock and
pop radio and video channels with their first
hit: "What Would You Say." The LP produced
additional singles such as
"Satellite" and the band's live
staple, "Ants Marching." The LP was
dedicated to Matthews' eldest sister, Anne,
who was murdered by her husband in South
Africa.
Under
The Table And Dreaming and Remember
Two Things were certified gold.
 The Dave Matthews Band hit the
Top 40 with "What Would You Say."
Under
The Table And Dreaming was certified
platinum.
The Dave Matthews Band hit the Top 10 with "What Would You Say."
Under
The Table And Dreaming was certified 2x
platinum.
 The Dave
Matthews Band hit the Top 40 with "Ants Marching."
 # 31
Singles Artist of the Year
Under
The Table And Dreaming was certified 3x
platinum.
 The Dave Matthews Band were
nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a
Duo or Group and Best Music Video, Short Form ("What Would You Say").
 The Dave Matthews Band released Crash. The LP continued the
band's mix of musical sounds with more
maturity and perfection. Tracks such as
"Crash Into Me" and "Say
Goodbye" displayed the band's ability to
create melodic ballads with a rock edge.
Also, the singles "Too Much" and "So
Much To Say" were hits on the pop and
rock charts as well as video favorites. The
LP was actually a collection of songs
recorded in the studio that the band had been
playing live for years. Only "Too Much" and "Crash
Into Me" were new songs.
The Dave Matthews Band hit the
Top 40 with "Too Much."
 Under
The Table And Dreaming was certified 4x
platinum.
Crash was certified
platinum.
 The Dave Matthews Band hit the
Top 40 with "So Much To Say."
Crash was certified 2x
platinum.
 The Dave Matthews Band hit the
Top 40 with "Crash Into Me."
 # 50
Singles Artist of the Year
The Dave Matthews Band were
nominated for an American Music
Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group.
The Dave Matthews Band won a Grammy
Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a
Duo or Group ("So Much To Say"), and were
nominated for Best Rock Song ("Too Much") and Best Rock Album (Crash).
 The Dave Matthews Band could be
found where they appear happiest: touring.
The band released an EP of live performances
called Recently. The EP includes
performances from 1994 in Virginia and
includes a cover of "All Along The
Watchtower." The Dave Matthews Band were
vocal about taping their live performances.
Like a few bands, the group
allowed fans tape their concerts for personal
use. From the band's official taping policy:
"Dave Matthews Band allows taping at
almost every live performance. There are no
soundboard feeds given, and it is therefore
the responsibility of the taper to bring
their own equipment. Selling any recording is
illegal and will jeopardize everyone else's
taping privileges." But as the band's
popularity increased they found that their
consideration to their fans was resulting in
live bootlegs being sold for profit in music
stores. The band originally attempted to find
the sources of the recordings and initiate
lawsuits but then decided against it. Instead
the band has made officially-released live
recordings available (i.e. Recently and Live
At Red Rocks 8/15/95) at retail prices
significantly lower than bootleg prices.
Crash was certified 3x
platinum.
The band returned to the Top 40
with "Crash Into Me."
The Dave Matthews Band returned
to the Top 10 with "Crash Into Me."
The Dave
Matthews Band were nominated for 2 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Group Video and Best Rock Video ("Crash Into Me").
 The Dave Matthews Band released
a double, live LP called Live
At Red Rocks 8/15/95.
Crash was certified 4x
platinum and Under
The Table And Dreaming was certified 5x
platinum.
Live
At Red Rocks 8/15/95 was certified
platinum.
 # 24
Singles Artist of the Year
The Dave Matthews Band were
nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a
Duo or Group and Best Rock Song ("Crash Into Me").
 The band's next studio LP, Before
These Crowded Streets, was released with the
first single "Don't Drink The Water" (one of 2 tracks
that Alanis
Morissette contributes vocals to).
Matthews talked about Before
These Crowded Streets to Rolling
Stone: "There's a looser feel
about the music... for us it was a little
reminiscent of when we were first playing
together... it was a great inspiration to sit
around and play the guitar in the way I had 5
years prior to that, just playing and coming
up with licks and coming up with ideas."
"I think there's definitely a darker
tone to a lot of the songs. Heavier may be a
better word for it."
 Before
These Crowded Streets was given the
distinction of knocking the Titanic soundtrack
out of the #1 spot on the Billboard 200
Albums chart after 16 consecutive weeks. The
set sold over 420,000 copies in its first
week of release in the US.
Matthews talked with the San
Francisco Chronicle about the Before
These Crowded Streets: "The songs were
all new. The other albums were sort of
collections of songs we'd already been
playing for a while. On this one, things
weren't set in stone... It's leaning toward
where, maybe for the next album, we go into a
studio with absolutely nothing and just start
jamming." And on women... "the
inspiration for most of my writing is my
concern for the women and mothers of the
world, my absolute love for them. Generally,
women being the vessel of life - they are the
inspiration." Matthews also talked with The
Los Angeles Times: "The idea is to
just play music and have the best possible
time that we can. There's a tendency for
artists to take themselves desperately
seriously, and to be dark and complaining.
But I can't find that in myself. I'm much too
pleased... We don't try to be clever with our
music. We just want to celebrate the fact
that we found each other, and that we can
make really nice sounds together. It's really
important to us that the music sounds honest.
I think people can hear that, and it's that
spirit that I think is kind of
contagious."
The band hit the Top 40 with
"Don't Drink The Water."
 Before
These Crowded Streets was certified
platinum.
The band hit the Top 40 with
"Stay (Wasting Time)."
Matthews talked with the Washington
Post about possibly doing some acting:
"I read a lot of scripts and I hope to
do something, however minor... right now,
it's fun to see all the scripts and then a
year later, see the films... then I shoot
myself because I would like to have at least
tried some of these things... but I'll try
and do it quietly... and do it well."
Before
These Crowded Streets was certified 2x
platinum.
 The video for "Don't Drink The Water" was nominated
for 2 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Rock Video and Best Cinematography (Dean Karr).
The band hit the Top 40 with
"Crush."
A concert performance in Mexico
was cancelled when Beauford's mother died.
 # 147
Singles Artist of the Year
 Dave Matthews begin touring with
Tim Reynolds and released Live
At Luther College (a live
recording of Matthews and Reynolds from '96).
The Dave Matthews Band were
nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or
Group with Vocal ("Crush") and Best Rock Album (Before
These Crowded Streets).
Live
At Red Rocks 8/15/95 was certified 2x
platinum.
The Dave Matthews Band performed
at Woodstock
'99 in
New York.
 The Dave Matthews Band performed
at Farm Aid.
More than 40 people were
arrested in Connecticut at 2 of their
concerts after several clashes with police
and violent, riot-like behaviors.
The band offered 4 live tracks
available for download with proceeds going to
charity (VH1's Save The Music foundation).
The tracks were part of the band's September
11th concert in New Jersey which was featured
on a PBS special and will not be on their
next live LP release, Listener
Supported (of the same concert).
Before
These Crowded Streets was certified 3x
platinum.
 The Dave Matthews band released
another live LP, Listener
Supported.
 # 177
Singles Artist of the Year
Listener
Supported was certified 2x platinum.
Dave Matthews was nominated for
a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with
Vocals
("Love
Of My Life" with Santana).
Dave Matthews and his manager
launched their own independent record label -
A.T.O. (According To Our) Records.
 Crash was certified 5x
platinum and Under
The Table And Dreaming was certified 6x
platinum.
The Dave Matthews Band began
touring again in Ohio.
Matthews hit the Top 40 by
helping Santana with "Love
Of My Life."
The Dave Matthews Band postponed
the release of a new LP from later this year
to early next year after deciding to change
producers (from Steve Lillywhite to Glen
Ballard) for "...a fresh start".
Matthews said of the change: "We weren't
displeased (with Steve Lillywhite)... It's
been a great relationship and still is a
great relationship. We were just kind of a
little lazy and the music had a sort of
sleepiness to it. We still love it but we
came up with a new album we love just as
much."
The Dave Matthews Band performed
at the Bridge School Benefit concert held in
California.
 The Dave Matthews Band took home
a 'My VH1' Award - Best Live Act and the
Coolest Fan Website went to Nancies.org.
 # 18
Singles Artist of the Year
The Dave Matthews Band hit the
Top 40 with "I Did It" and released Everyday.
The band appeared on Saturday
Night Live.
 The band hit the Top 40 with
"The Space Between."
Everyday topped the Billboard
200 Albums chart for 2 weeks and the Internet
Album Sales chart for 2 weeks - selling more
than 730,000 copies during its first week of
release in the U.S.
 Everyday was certified 2x
platinum.
The Dave Matthews Band released The
Videos 1994-2001.
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