48 Fun Facts About Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band formed in 1991 in which city?

Charlottesville, Virginia, home of the University of Virginia, is where Matthews assembled the band in 1991; the city's club scene hosted its early weekly shows before the major-label deal.

What was Dave Matthews doing for a living in 1990 when a lawyer friend persuaded him to record a demo?

Bartending at Miller's, a bar with live jazz near the university, put Matthews beside the players he served whiskey to; his friend Ross Hoffman, a lawyer, pressed him to record his own songs.

Which drummer, then playing on a BET jazz show, was the first musician Matthews approached?

Carter Beauford, a local jazz drummer then in the house band of a BET jazz show, was the first player Matthews recruited, before the saxophonist and the rest of the line-up.

Which instrument did founding member LeRoi Moore play?

Saxophone was LeRoi Moore's instrument; a local jazz player with the John D'earth Quintet, he was the second founding recruit, after the drummer, and arranged many of the band's early horn parts.

Boyd Tinsley was originally brought in just to add fiddle to which one song?

"Tripping Billies" was the one song Tinsley was asked to add fiddle to; the band had no plans for a violinist, but the fit was immediate and he became a full member, staying until 2018.

The band's first keyboardist, who left in March 1993, was a waiter at Miller's named what?

Peter Griesar, a Miller's co-worker of Matthews, played keyboards and harmonica in the early line-up and quit in March 1993, leaving the group a five-piece for its first records.

The band considered calling itself 'Dumwelah', a Tswana word meaning what?

'Hello' is the meaning of the Tswana greeting behind 'Dumwelah'; nobody liked it, and the group became Dave Matthews Band when someone wrote 'band' after Matthews's name on a booking.

Which Charlottesville club hosted the band's regular Tuesday-night shows, widely traded on tape?

Trax, a club near the university, gave the band a standing Tuesday-night slot in its first years; fans' tapes of those shows spread its name along the East Coast.

The band's long-time manager, Coran Capshaw, first knew them as owner of which Richmond venue?

The Flood Zone, Capshaw's club in Richmond, gave the band a weekly slot in its first years; Capshaw became its manager and later founded Red Light Management.

The band's first official release, Remember Two Things (1993), came out on which of their own labels?

Bama Rags Records, the label the band created for its own releases, issued Remember Two Things in late 1993, a mix of live and studio tracks; RCA reissued it after the band signed with the major.

The 1994 major-label debut Under the Table and Dreaming was dedicated to whom?

Matthews's sister Anne, his older sibling, was killed by her husband in a murder-suicide in January 1994, eight months before the album's release that September.

Which Blues Traveler frontman plays harmonica on 'What Would You Say'?

John Popper, Blues Traveler's singer and harmonica player, plays the harmonica solo on 'What Would You Say', the 1994 lead single from Under the Table and Dreaming and the band's first radio hit.

Which song won the band's 1997 Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group?

'So Much to Say', from the 1996 album Crash, took Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 39th Grammy Awards in February 1997, the band's first Grammy.

The band's first full-length live album, released in 1997, was recorded at which venue?

Red Rocks Amphitheatre, carved into the rock outside Denver, hosted the 15 August 1995 concert issued in October 1997 as Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95, the band's first full-length live album.

Which singer guests on Before These Crowded Streets alongside Béla Fleck and the Kronos Quartet?

Alanis Morissette sings on two tracks of Before These Crowded Streets, including the closer 'Spoon'; the album, released in April 1998, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

What was the lead single from Before These Crowded Streets?

'Don't Drink the Water', released in March 1998 ahead of the album, was its lead single; 'Stay (Wasting Time)' and 'Crush' followed it to radio later that year.

The live album Listener Supported was recorded in September 1999 for a special on which broadcaster?

PBS aired the 11 September 1999 concert at East Rutherford, New Jersey as a pledge-drive special, hence the title Listener Supported; the album and a video of the show followed that November.

Everyday (2001) was written and produced with which collaborator known for Jagged Little Pill?

Glen Ballard co-wrote all of Everyday with Matthews in a few weeks in Los Angeles and produced it; its short pop-rock songs and electric guitar split the fan base.

Which guitar legend guested on the Everyday sessions in Los Angeles?

Carlos Santana plays guitar on 'Mother Father', a track from Everyday cut in Los Angeles in late 2000; the album came out in February 2001.

The abandoned 2000 recordings that leaked online in March 2001 are known to fans as what?

The Lillywhite Sessions, recorded in Virginia in 2000 and shelved as too dark, spread through file-sharing after the March 2001 leak; the band re-recorded most of the songs for Busted Stuff in 2002.

The Busted Stuff single 'Where Are You Going' was used in which 2002 Adam Sandler film?

The album was produced by Stephen Harris, Lillywhite's former engineer.

In August 2004, a band's tour bus dumped waste off a bridge onto a tour boat in which city?

Chicago's Kinzie Street Bridge was where the driver emptied the bus's septic tank onto an architecture tour boat on the Chicago River; the driver pleaded guilty and the band paid $200,000 to settle the state's lawsuit.

Which actress and long-time fan appears in the video for 'Dreamgirl' from Stand Up?

Julia Roberts, a fan who had seen the band many times, stars in the 'Dreamgirl' video; Stand Up, the 2005 album the song came from, debuted at No. 1.

The Gorge Amphitheatre, home of the band's Labor Day weekend runs, is in which US state?

Washington is home to the Gorge Amphitheatre, on the Columbia River at George; the band's Labor Day weekend stands there became a tradition, captured on the 2004 live set The Gorge.

Which guests featured at the band's September 2007 free concert for Virginia Tech?

John Mayer, Phil Vassar and Nas joined the band at Lane Stadium on 6 September 2007 for the free Concert for Virginia Tech, five months after the campus shooting; Nas's booking drew protests.

The band's saxophonist died in August 2008 from complications of what?

An ATV accident on his farm in Virginia on 30 June 2008 left him with serious injuries; he died of complications on 19 August 2008, the night the band played the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

In the title of the 2009 album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, who is said to be 'the King'?

The band's late saxophonist, whose nickname was GrooGrux, is the King of the title; the 2009 album, cut partly in New Orleans, was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2010 Grammys.

Which saxophonist, from Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, took over after the founding sax player's death?

Jeff Coffin, the saxophonist of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, stepped in for the summer 2008 tour and stayed on as a permanent member, sharing horn duties with trumpeter Rashawn Ross.

Which guitarist, a longtime collaborator, became a permanent member of the band in 2008?

Tim Reynolds, who played on the band's studio albums from 1994 and toured with Matthews as an acoustic duo, became a full-time member in 2008 on electric guitar.

Why did the band not tour in 2011?

It was a planned year off for their 20th anniversary: the band skipped a full tour for the first time but staged four multi-day Caravan festivals, the Atlantic City one issued as Live in Atlantic City.

Which song opens the 1994 album Under the Table and Dreaming?

'The Best of What's Around' opens Under the Table and Dreaming, released in September 1994; the song had been a live staple since the band's first year, and the album ends with the hidden instrumental '#34'.

Dave Matthews was born in which country?

South Africa is Matthews's birthplace: born in Johannesburg on 9 January 1967, he spent parts of his childhood in New York and England and moved to Virginia in 1986.

The band's fall 2015 European tour opened with its first-ever show in which city?

The tour also brought the band's first show in Poland.

Boyd Tinsley left the band in 2018 after which event?

A former bandmate accused him of sexual harassment: James Frost-Winn, a trumpeter from Tinsley's side project Crystal Garden, filed a lawsuit in May 2018, and the band said Tinsley was no longer a member.

Come Tomorrow (2018) made DMB the first band with how many consecutive studio albums debuting at No. 1?

Seven straight No. 1 debuts, from Before These Crowded Streets in 1998 to Come Tomorrow in 2018, made the group the first band to manage it; Come Tomorrow opened with 292,000 units.

When Beauford and Lessard tested positive for COVID-19 before the 2021 Gorge run, who moved to drums?

The weekend became a rotating jam with guests including Mavis Staples and Robert Randolph.

The band's tenth studio album, released in May 2023, is titled what?

Walk Around the Moon, the band's tenth studio album, came out on 19 May 2023, its first since Come Tomorrow; 'Madman's Eyes', played live from 2021, was the lead single.

In what year was Dave Matthews Band selected for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

2024 was the year of the band's selection: named in April and inducted that October at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in Cleveland, in the same class as Cher and Ozzy Osbourne.

What is the band's official fan club, whose members got tickets to the 2008 Madison Square Garden benefit, called?

Warehouse, named after the song from Under the Table and Dreaming, is the fan association the band set up in 1998; its members had first call on tickets for the 2008 Madison Square Garden benefit.

The DMB Drive-In, launched during the 2020 pandemic, was what?

Weekly livestreams of past concerts on YouTube made up the DMB Drive-In, launched in spring 2020 after the tour was cancelled and used to raise money for relief charities.

Which northern Virginia venue supplied live tracks for the band's 1994 EP Recently?

The Birchmere, the Alexandria listening room where the band drew early crowds from the capital region, supplied live tracks for Recently, the 1994 EP whose title song was cut in the studio.

Under the Table and Dreaming was eventually certified platinum how many times?

Six times platinum is the RIAA certification Under the Table and Dreaming reached, six million US shipments, on the strength of 'What Would You Say', 'Satellite' and 'Ants Marching'.

Before These Crowded Streets ended which soundtrack's 16-week run at No. 1 in May 1998?

Titanic's soundtrack had held No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for 16 straight weeks when Before These Crowded Streets debuted at the top in May 1998, the band's first chart-topping album.

Which famous 1999 festival did the band play the summer before releasing Listener Supported?

Woodstock '99, held on a former air base at Rome, New York in July 1999, had the band on its Saturday bill; Listener Supported was recorded that September.

Until 1995 the band offered tapers what unusual access at concerts?

A direct patch to the soundboard let tapers record clean copies of the shows; the band withdrew it in 1995 after soundboard tapes were being sold by bootleggers, though audience taping stayed allowed.

By 2018 the band had sold roughly how many concert tickets?

The New York Times later compared its devoted travelling fans to Deadheads in a 2023 feature.

What is the band's own charity, founded in 1999 for the Charlottesville area, called?

Bama Works Fund, set up in 1999 through the local community foundation, channels the band's giving to schools, environmental and social causes in its home region, and has funded thousands of local projects.

The 2017 'Concert for Charlottesville' raised money for victims of what?

The Unite the Right rally attack of 12 August 2017, in which a car driven into counter-protesters killed Heather Heyer, prompted the free Scott Stadium show that September; Justin Timberlake, Ariana Grande and Stevie Wonder guested.