By Dan Apczynski
The stage is set at the 2009 Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco’s sprawling Golden Gate Park, but the namesake and front man of Saturday night’s headliner, the Dave Matthews Band, prefers not to think about it. “I don’t dwell too much on where we are, just try to get it right,” Matthews says. “I’ll think about it afterwards—quickly if it goes well and longer if it doesn’t.” His sincerity makes it almost too easy to accept his humble position, and the win-some/lose-some perspective makes for a fair enough assessment from someone who has had a year like Matthews—his band’s new album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, was certified platinum just over 12 months after the passing of dear friend and DMB saxophonist LeRoi Moore (the intended “king” from the album’s title).
The band’s evening set is drawing a throng of devotees who have already begun reserving their spots at the main stage by early afternoon. Backstage, Matthews picks up a beautiful Taylor acoustic (with fretboard inlay of the word “Grux” and a king’s crown illustration from the album’s liner notes) and says, “It’s funny, because I always think, ‘Why does Acoustic Guitar magazine want to talk to me? That guy is a guitar player. I just hold onto it so I have something to do with my hands.’”
When I told friends and fellow editors here at GQ that I was interviewing Dave Matthews, they chortled and snorted. Two guys broke into damning imitations of Matthews’ raspy singing voice. Another pantomimed Matthews’ bizarre, spastic, onstage version of the Charleston. A friend called the music “soft prog.” One coworker just put his head down on his desk. Okay, dudes! I get it. Dave Matthews is not cool.
But you know who doesn’t care about cool? The 31 million Americans (and counting) who have bought Dave Matthews Band albums. My many friends in high school who got to first, second, and third base for the first time on the lawn of Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta while DMB ran down “Tripping Billies” onstage. And people in towns across the U.S. who got hand-me-down Allman Brothers, Genesis, and Steely Dan albums from older brothers instead of records that put you on the shortcut to cool like Fugazi, the Clash, and the Sex Pistols.
by David Fricke
Saxophonist LeRoi Moore of the Dave Matthews Band was a famously taciturn man. Moore, who died last August at 46 of complications from injuries suffered in an off-road-vehicle accident on his farm in Virginia, never spoke onstage — not at any DMB show I saw, anyway — and declined to be interviewed for stories about the group. When I wrote about the Dave Matthews Band for a Rolling Stone cover story in 2002, Moore avoided even saying hello. A founding member of one of America's best-selling bands, he was also spectacularly successful at minding his own business.
by Clark Collis
The Dave Matthews Band’s new album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King (out June 2) is a tribute, in large part, to saxophonist LeRoi Moore, who passed away last August at the age of 46 following injuries incurred in an ATV accident. Just a couple of years ago, however, relations between the group's members became badly strained. "As far as our friendships, we’d not been in top form," admits frontman Dave Matthews. "And in the last few years we have taken the time to rediscover each other, so to speak." After the break, Matthews talks about Big Whiskey..., how the band dragged themselves back from the brink, and his fond memories of Moore’s foul-mouthed
Entertainment Weekly: "Grux" was LeRoi’s nickname. But where does the "Big Whiskey" part of the CD's title come from?
Dave Matthews: LeRoi certainly liked “big whiskey.” But that came from a drunken harmonica player walking down the streets of New Orleans when we were recording the album who would play harmonica and then announce that he needed a “big whiskey." That was his way of courting cash. We thought Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King had a sort of a grownup fairly tale-sound to it.
July 9th, 2007
By Tim Nudd
Rock star Dave Matthews's infant son, August, is getting an early lesson in environmental protection: He wears reusable cloth diapers rather than the disposable kind.
"We use cloth diapers for our new baby because I think diapers might be the No. 3 piece of garbage [in terms of environmental damage]," Matthews said at a Live Earth press conference on Saturday. "So, if you have a little cloth diaper service nearby, that's good."
August Oliver Matthews is the third child for the musician and his wife, Ashley Harper. He was born at the family's home in Seattle on June 19. August has fraternal twin sisters Stella Busina and Grace Anne, who are 5 years old.
"August Oliver joins his two twin sisters, and the entire family is doing well!" Matthews' rep said in a statement.
January 13th, 2007For John Legend, Gwen Stefani, and hundreds of other talents, Musictoday is the invisible machine keeping fans pumped and the money rolling in.
From: Issue 112 | February 2007 | Page 64 | By: Chuck Salter
If there's any musician who can make sense of the tectonic upheaval in the industry, it's John Legend. Before teaming with Kanye West and Snoop Dogg on his major-label debut, Get Lifted, the ultrasmooth R&B singer-songwriter worked as an associate consultant for the Boston Consulting Group (under his given name, John Stephens). When the recording sold north of 3 million copies worldwide--and snagged a trio of 2006 Grammys, including best new artist--John Stephens the consultant had some cautionary words for John Legend the musician: Protect your brand. It was some of the best advice he'd ever gotten.