ARTIST

Dave Matthews Band

Just as the hippies had their Grateful Dead and the punks had their Anti-Nowhere League and GBH, so do baseball-capped fraternity boys have the Dave Matthews Band. Matthews himself was raised in South Africa and moved to New York and then Charlottesville, Virginia to start what has been one of the '90s most successful bands.

Primarily a live act that worked up an enormous following without the aid of a major record company, DMB released their first album, Remember Two Things, on their own Bama Rags label. Eight of the 10 tracks were recorded live, and the band spent a bit of their time jamming, showcasing the rather unusual lineup of Leroi Moore's saxophone and Boyd Tinsley's violin on top of the standard jazz-inflected rhythm section. Steve Lillywhite came in for the major label debut, Under The Table And Dreaming, and the jump in sound was immediately noticeable. The grooves were tight, the jamming curtailed but not expunged, and the songwriting vaguely sharper, with Matthews's thin, whiny voice carrying a bit more melody. The album featured two hits, "What Would You Say" and "Ants Marching" (re-recorded from the previous album).

The band continued on undisturbed for Crash. Again produced by Lillywhite, Crash featured additional diversity with the incorporation of baritone sax, flute and six-string bass. These days the band continues to wow the fraternity set, and while many bands in the 1990s have found their audiences bidding them adieu after a single record, the DMB's fans have remained loyal and will perhaps make them one of the largest cult bands of the future. That future looks pretty bright for DMB as their latest platter, Before These Crowded Streets, debuted on the Billboard album chart at number one, finally doing the seemingly impossible: knocking the Titanic soundtrack out of the top spot.

In proving that everything he touches turns to gold (or platinum), in early 1999 Matthews released a live acoustic album with Tim Reynolds, Live At Luther College, that became an instant hit with barely any promotional effort. 2001's long-awaited Everyday was also a huge hit, though some fans were disappointed by its glossy Glen Ballard production. A year later, Busted Stuff, featuring the original, scrapped Steve Lillywhite sessions that didn't make it onto Everyday, was released, much to the delight of such diehards. That same year, Matthews released another live album (this one with his entire band) titled Live At Folsom Field Boulder Colorado.

Written by Rob O'Connor