June 6th, 2008
By BRIAN McCOLLUM
The 15-year mark is a crucial point in the life of a rock act.
It's the stage when a veteran band can slip into contentedly running through the motions, or decide it's going to stay on its toes and keep challenging itself.
For the Dave Matthews Band, says bassist Stefan Lessard, opting for the latter is a no-brainer.
It was spring 1993 when the Southern college band settled into its permanent lineup, preparing to issue its first record as it began the wild journey into national fame and eventual status as one of the world's top touring draws. Fifteen years later, it's all still electric for Lessard, drummer Carter Beauford, violinist Boyd Tinsley, sax man LeRoi Moore and the band's singer-songwriter namesake.
"This band is kind of a living, breathing organism," says Lessard in advance of the band's Monday show at DTE Energy Music Theatre. "We're constantly morphing into different shapes and sounds. We don't really aim to sound one particular way or have one particular type of show. We just let it happen as it happens. It's very much in the moment."
The ever-evolving DMB story has entered a new chapter: Back on the road with the band is guest guitarist Tim Reynolds, a close confederate of Matthews who played with the band during the late '90s. Most notably, the group inaugurated a recording partnership last year with producer Rob Cavallo, best known for his work with Green Day and My Chemical Romance. Sessions have begun for the follow-up to 2005's "Stand Up," the band's latest chart-topping, pop-savvy fusion of rock, funk, jazz and world music.
As other '90s bands have fluttered off to the fringes -- back to playing small venues or linking up for retro package tours -- DMB remains vital and relevant. The group sold more than 831,000 tickets in the United States last year, according to Pollstar magazine, placing it behind only the Police, Kenny Chesney and Justin Timberlake. That's a standard sort of feat for the group: Dave Matthews Band is widely regarded in the concert industry as the contemporary act with the most dependable box-office draw.
May 16, 2008
The Dave Matthews Band is emphasizing the "band" part of its equation on the group's next album. "It literally was a collaborative effort from beginning to end," violinist Boyd Tinsley tells Billboard.com. "Every song was written by everybody at the same time -- we've never really done that before."
"We all got together and played and got these ideas, and we'd all work through building these songs all together," he continues. "Everybody's just really excited about it. That's why I say it sounds very much like DMB. It couldn't be more purely DMB than what it is."
But the album, DMB's first since 2005's chart-topping "Stand Up," is a long way from done. The group, along with guitarist Tim Reynolds and producer Rob Cavallo, got together early in the year in Charlottesville, Va., to start working on ideas, then in March continued in Seattle to be closer to Matthews' home.
Tinsley says the songs have been composed and are now waiting for Matthews to write lyrics, with a plan to return to the studio after the group comes off the road in early September.
December 31st, 2007
By Helen Herimbi
Hollywood film releases are not something you'd associate with Dave Matthews. The 40-year-old South African native is rather better known for his musical exploits - enjoying the not-to-be-sniffed-at status of being the lead singer of America's biggest touring act.
Yes, that's right. More people attend his Grammy Award-winning band's concerts every year than say, a slick Justin Timberlake, rap mogul Jay Z, or even, heaven forbid, the newly reformed Spice Girls.
Together with Jonathan Dorfman and a few friends, his latest exploit is as a movie producer for the psychological thriller Joshua. Matthews was in Joburg last week to promote the film.
Joshua, which according to Matthews "was the first film where all the pieces just fell together", follows the life of a precocious 9-year-old whose world is shattered when a new child enters the household. His jealousy takes sibling rivalry to a new level as a series of fatal events raise unanswered questions and leave a dark cloud over the family. On top of being one of the producers, Matthews contributed a poignant ditty to the film.
In high spirits, Matthews - who was born and attended St Stithians High School in Johannesburg - explains that in the original script there was meant to be a song in the final scene where the boy would reveal that he is he puppet master of the whole thing.
"The scriptwriters hadn't written the song. So they asked if I knew anyone who would do it . So I said 'well, give me a chance'.
October 25th, 2007
By Alexa James
West Point — "Go Army! Beat Navy!" It's the unofficial mantra of the U.S. Military Academy, and it extends to all things on post.
When cadets walk by officers, they salute and murmur, "Go Army," and officers bark back, "Beat Navy."
There are four flower boxes on the superintendent's front porch. "Go Army," says one pair. The other pair? You guessed it.
At the nation's bastion for Army excellence, young men and women are trained to win wars and football games.
So when West Point Cadet Jeff Caslen heard about a contest for the "World's Loudest Pep Rally," he knew what to do:
"Stick it to the other academies!" he said.
The competition, sponsored by AT&T, challenged 120 NCAA schools, including West Point and the Naval and Air Force academies, to vote online to win a free, live concerts by the Dave Matthews Band.
October 16th, 2007
Aimee Rawlins, N.Y.
July's worldwide Live Earth concerts will be encapsulated as a 1-CD/2-DVD package due Nov. 20 via Warner Bros.
"Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis" includes performances by Madonna, Foo Fighters, Kelly Clarkson, Keith Urban, Beastie Boys and Rihanna, among many others. The first single from the release will be Linkin Park's "Bleed It Out," which was performed at Maduhari Messe in Japan.
The digital version of the album will be available Nov. 6, and John Mayer's version of "Waiting on the World To Change" will serve as an exclusive track for those who pre-order from iTunes.
The event, organized by Al Gore and Kevin Wall, brought together more than 150 artists in New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Rio de Janiro, Johannesburg, and Hamburg to raise awareness for the climate crisis. An estimated 2 billion people tuned in to the live broadcast.
Proceeds from the CD/DVD will benefit the Alliance for Climate Protection, which works to persuade the public of the urgency of developing solutions for the climate crisis.
Track Lists for CD and DVD:
September 24th, 2007
Dave Caolo
When the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at Starbucks launches in New York and Seattle on Tuesday, October 2nd, the coffee giant will be armed with promotions.
First of all, they'll distribute 1.5 million "Song of the day" cards across 10,000 locations. Each card will provide a free single from artists like Bob Dylan (Of course - Steve loves Dylan. In fact, Dylan's "Joker Man" will be the first giveaway), Paul McCartney and Dave Matthews via iTunes (US). They'll be valid until the end of 2007.
Also, select Starbucks locations will sell "iTunes Digital Release Cards," which allow customers to download music and bonus materials (like music videos and digital booklets) from artists like KT Tunstall and Eddie Vedder. These must be activated at Starbucks before use in the iTunes Store (US).
Finally, they'll also be selling the "Starbucks Card Plus Two"; a re-chargable coffee card that includes two free downloads from iTunes (US).
September 20th, 2007
by Mark Manley,
Intricate, eclectic and smooth, the latest Dave Matthews album, "Live at Radio City Music Hall," could be one of the best albums you buy this year.
Matthews pairs up again with Tim Reynolds in his latest solo release for a very distinctive listen. Reynolds accounts for much of this undeniably different touch through his virtuoso guitar accompaniment and rambling forays into ambient sounds.
He sometimes strays from the bounds of the typical tonal music that most people are accustomed to and enters into a strange experimental zone - leaving the listener a little perplexed and uncomfortable. Thankfully these moments don't last long, but they leave a lasting impression.
The great chemistry between Matthews and Reynolds is impressive. Matthews gives a great vocal performance, nailing both falsettos and screams in well-known songs like "Crash Into Me" and "Don't Drink the Water." Meanwhile, Reynolds keeps up a subtle, ornate background - an accompaniment that pleases but does not distract.
August 5th, 2007
Starbucks and XM Radio have teamed up to promote the Dave Matthews Band’s new album “Live Trax” and celebrate the newly re-launched Starbucks music channel exclusively on XM, “Starbucks XM Café” (XM 45), which will feature songs from the new album and special DMB programming on the weekday music show "The Daily Grind." From July 31 through August 31, a Starbucks in-store sweepstakes will offer customers who sign up for a free trial of XM Radio Online, the chance to win tickets, passes and a meet and greet with Dave Matthews at The Hollywood Bowl on October 2, among other prizes. Complete details will be available online (http://www.xmradio.com/dmb) beginning Tuesday, July 31.
XM Radio and Starbucks Team Up to Promote Release and Tour, Featuring In-Store Sweepstakes and Specialty Programming on Newly Re-Launched Starbucks XM Café Channel
July 28th, 2007
Rolling Stone – Issue 1032 – August 9th, 2007
The DMB Leader on partying with Dabney Coleman and Jane Goodall
By Austin Scaggs
Summer means two things in America: It’s hot, and the Dave Matthews Band is on tour. After temporarily aborting work on their next album – “Let’s not try and take a shit when we haven’t got any crap inside us,” is Matthews charming explination – DMB will strike on August 1st for two full months of amphitheater gigs across the country. Meanwhile, Matthews is prepping the CD and DVD release of Live at Radio City (culled from an April 22nd date he played with guitarist Tim Reynolds) and has joined a crusade to ensure returning GIs get their due medical benefits. And on June 19th, the Matthews family welcomed a baby boy, August Oliver. “I call him Louie,” says Matthews from his home in Seattle. “We had our baby at home, which was nice, because I knew where the beer was.”
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.
July 8th, 2007
By Erika Hayasaki and Alicia Lozano, Times Staff Writers
Critics say the concerts' goal is unfocused. Stars took the stage anyway, including Madonna, the Police and, of course, Al Gore.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Live Earth, the confederacy of musicians who performed Saturday on all seven continents to highlight the issues of global climate change, featured superstars such as Madonna and the Police entertaining crowds in packed stadiums, but also parka-wearing scientists at an Antarctic research station whose audience included wandering penguins.Live Earth used the now-familiar template of concerts-for-causes shaped largely by Live Aid, the 1985 famine relief shows. But the 24 hours of music circling the globe Saturday used the Internet and high-definition camera technologies to create a uniquely 21st century event.
Leading up to Saturday, though, Live Earth was also criticized by some for being too vague in its cause or for being a promotional tool for its cofounder, environmental activist Al Gore, the former vice president.
July 8th, 2007
By Dan DeLuca
Inquirer Music Critic
TIM LARSEN / Associated Press
Performers around the world united in song yesterday to help take the heat off the planet. Live Earth, a series of concerts designed to raise awareness of global warming, kicked off its U.S. segment at Giants Stadium in N.J., where Keith Urban and Alicia Keys performed. A2.But inside Giants Stadium yesterday at the principal American location of a global event that included climate-change consciousness-raising concerts on all seven continents - if you can call a band of scientists called Nunatak performing on an Antarctic ice floe a concert - the gospel of green was in full effect.
On a day that celebrated Gore as a prophet and his Oscar winning film An Inconvenient Truth as a holy text, an impressive array of stadium-sized acts including the Police, Dave Matthews Band, Bon Jovi and Roger Waters did their best to make recycling, using energy-efficient lightbulbs, and turning the heat down seem cool.
July 8th, 2007
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., July 8 – A concert for a cause is more and less than a concert. It’s public relations and proselytizing for the cause, while for the musicians, it’s exposure, validation and a sop to a star’s conscience. Live Earth, the biggest international rock event so far – with concerts on every continent including a small one on Antarctica – was presented as an attempt to save the human race from global warming.
Previous international concerts like Live Aid and Live 8 were about helping other people, while Live Earth, speakers insisted, was in everyone’s self-interest. There’s no need for altruism when your own survival is threatened. And in an era when pop is spectacularly self-absorbed, from the bragging of hip-hop to the whining of emo, Live Earth was perfectly pitched as an appeal to self-preservation.
July 5th, 2007
NEW YORK: Although Dave Matthews' face is never seen in the new movie "Joshua," he plays a crucial role in the spooky film, writing the song the demented child character croons as the film draws to a close.
"I wanted it to be delivered in a sweet way by the boy, but I also wanted it to be really horrifying," the singer told The Associated Press.
"Joshua," which opens in limited release Friday and expands to wider release later this month, is about a musical child whose family life dramatically alters once his baby sister is born. Quickly, the family starts to fall apart, and Joshua seems to be at the center of its downfall.
The leader of the Dave Matthews Band is part of the company, ATO Pictures, that produced "Joshua," starring Sam Rockwell. Matthews says he was involved in finding the film project, but was not very involved in the production (one exception — urging that Rockwell be one of the actors).
However, he always knew he wanted to try to write the song planned for the crucial final scene.
July 1st, 2007
By Ray Waddell
NASHVILLE (Billboard)
From the humble beginnings of drummer Carter Beauford's mother's basement and a crucial Tuesday-night residency at Trax in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Dave Matthews Band has become the biggest touring success story to emerge from the 1990s.
Riding and then surpassing a wave of success from a rejuvenated post-Grateful Dead jam band scene, DMB has become, quite simply, the top-drawing American band in the world. In fact, only one act -- the Rolling Stones -- sold more tickets than DMB did in the preceding decade.
Band founder Dave Matthews was a reluctant frontman as he made the switch from Charlottesville bartender. The band has not been dependent on radio airplay (though it has enjoyed some) or platinum record sales (which it has enjoyed as well). DMB is a touring band, one of the most successful that has ever hit the highway, and its connection with its fans is via the live-performance conduit from stage to audience.
May 3rd, 2007
Scott Casey
The Dave Matthews Band (DMB) returns to Brisbane tomorrow – only the second time the world’s most successful jam band has played its unique brand of grassroots rock for Australian audiences.
It has been 15 years since DMB began playing at frat parties, schools, debutants and pubs – but they still pack a punch, as a packed crowd at the Brisbane Entertainment and Convention Centre will find out tomorrow night.
However, their style has gone through a considerable transformation over the past 15 years, with its funky, raw garage sound gradually from the ’90s now almost verging on pop.
brisbanetimes.com.au entertainment reporter Scott Casey speaks with bassist Stefan Lessard about the band’s Australian tour.
May 3rd, 2007
SAM KELTON
A full house at the Festival Theatrer gathered to witness the Dave Matthews and his elite backing band in their first visit to Adelaide.
Xavier Rudd and his workshop of bells and whistles warmed the crowd nicely, but there was one man the crowd were waiting for.
From the moment the tiny Matthews walked on stage the vocal crowd were on their feet, even shouting requests before the show had begun.
With the crowd still getting over their anxiety of seeing the U.S. singer/songwriter he jumped right into arguably his most romantic and popular hit Crash Into Me.
With extended jams on every track the band played, the concert lingered on close to three hours, giving the Adelaide crowd even more to be excited about.
April 22nd, 2007
By Lauren Carter
Blame it on the date.
On Friday night, which just happened to read 4/20 on the calendar, Dave Matthews showed up at the Citi Performing Arts Center’s Wang Theatre with a “fever” that put his mind state into question.
Luckily, Matthews’ condition didn’t affect his performance skills, and fans who are in college, recently graduated or wished they were still there got a three-hour dose of acoustic Matthews backed only by longtime collaborator Tim Reynolds.
There was little randomness during the long set. Reynolds would pluck and thrash masterfully on the guitar, Matthews would strum and look pained while singing, the music would generally sound good, and the audience would stand and roar at key points.
In between songs, Matthews would thank Reynolds profusely, apologize for his “fever” and tell stories about smashing pus-filled sacs with a Bible.