CBS News Sunday Morning features Dave Matthews Band: May 31st

Dave Matthews Band will be featured on CBS News Sunday Morning, this Sunday, May 31st at (9:00-10:30 AM, EST). Anchored by Charles Osgood, the Dave Matthews Band makes its morning television debut, opening up to correspondent Anthony Mason about the sudden death of saxophonist LeRoi Moore and why the group almost broke up.

This is the first of a few interviews coming up within the next week as DMB promotes their new album "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King", which is in stores June 2nd.

UPDATE: 05/31/09 - Watch the Broadcast

CBS News reports:

In the candid interview, the often press-shy Matthews tells Mason, “[LeRoi] was a real difficult person. He was maybe my most difficult friend because he loved and hated with such a passion. But from the first time I heard him [play] it froze me...I wish I could’ve told him.”

“I probably had the biggest breakdown I ever had about this...he wasn’t there,” says violinist Boyd Tinsley about returning to the studio after Moore’s death.

“I think his life wasn’t something to be quiet about. And I believe that what we do every night, in the studio and on stage, is we are shouting about his life,” adds bassist Stefan Lessard.

A magnetic mix of folk, jazz, and funk, many of the band’s songs address mortality. “I don’t know if I’ve dealt with my father’s death – I should probably talk to an analyst – and my sister’s death properly,” says Matthews. “I can’t write about how crappy my parents were ‘cause they were really awesome. [So] I do write about death a lot.”

Despite being one of the most popular touring acts in rock, playing sold-out concerts around the world and selling millions of albums, Matthews admits that he was almost ready to call it quits a few years ago.

“I wasn’t healthy inside the band,” he says. “It just wasn’t fun. Everyone was sort of bitter...[I] sent everybody a letter, which was the very opposite of being a leader, and said, ‘I can’t handle it anymore’.”

Now, with the release of “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King,” – their first album in four years – and a 2009 summer tour, band members say they're glad that they are still together. “We weren’t ready to get a divorce...you think about it [and] then you remember how great it really is,” says Lessard.