Dave Matthews Band

About Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band (also known by the acronym DMB) is a United States-based rock band, originally formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991, by singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews. Other band members include bassist Stefan Lessard, violinist Boyd Tinsley, drummer Carter Beauford, and saxophonist, LeRoi Moore (who died on August 19, 2008 from complications after an ATV accident in June 2008). From 1998 to May 2008, the band performed most of their shows with keyboardist Butch Taylor who, while not officially named a member of the band, was a fixture on stage. For 2006, 2007, and 2008 the band added trumpet player Rashawn Ross — most noted as the live trumpet player for Soulive — to the stage. It is not yet known if his presence will be permanent. Beauford, Ross, Tinsley and Moore and Taylor also perform backing vocals.

According to RIAA, Dave Matthews Band has sold over 31 million units in the US alone, putting them in the Top 100 highest selling music acts of all time.

Songwriter David John Matthews, working in Charlottesville as a bartender at Miller's bar in November 1990, made friends with a lawyer named Ross Hoffman. Hoffman convinced Matthews, usually reserved and scared of playing in front of people, to lay down a demo of the few songs he had written. Hoffman hoped Matthews could shop the songs in order to find other musicians to perform on some studio work with him. Hoffman encouraged Dave to approach Carter Beauford, a local musician on the Charlottesville music scene. Beauford had been in several bands and was currently playing on a jazz show on Black Entertainment Television (BET). After hearing the demo, Carter agreed to spend some time playing the drums, both inside and outside the studio. Dave also approached LeRoi Moore, another local jazz musician who often performed with the John D'earth Quintet to join them. Moore would be famous later for always wearing sunglasses during shows because of his stage fright. Moore skeptically listened to the demo, but liked what he heard and decided that he too would give the young South African a chance. These three began working on Matthews' songs in 1991..