Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is an American jam band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. Founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist ^{bass guitar} Stefan Lessard, violinist Boyd Tinsley, drummer ^{drum kit} Carter Beauford, and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. In August 2008, LeRoi Moore died due to complications from an ATV ^{All-terrain vehicle} accident. Grammy Award-winner Jeff Coffin The band's newest album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King debuted at number one on Billboard 200, giving the band their fifth consecutive number one debut.

The band has won one Grammy Award, and was awarded the NAACP Chairman's Award ^{NAACP Image Awards} . According to Julian Bond, "they sell out the largest arenas on Earth, but frequently give their music away."

  Songwriter David John Matthews, working in Charlottesville ^{Charlottesville, Virginia} Virginia as a bartender at Miller's bar in November 1990, made friends with a lawyer ^{Attorney at law (United States)} named Ross Hoffman. Hoffman convinced Matthews, usually reserved and reluctant to play 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 Matthews to approach Carter Beauford, a local drummer ^{Drum kit} on the Charlottesville music scene. Beauford had been in several bands and was then playing on a jazz show on BET ^{Black Entertainment Television} . After hearing the demo, Carter agreed to spend some time playing the drums, both inside and outside the studio. Matthews also approached LeRoi Moore, another local jazz musician who often performed with the John D'earth Quintet to join them. 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. Matthews recollects that, "...the reason I went to Carter was not because I needed a drummer, but because I thought he was the baddest thing I'd ever seen and Leroi, it wasn't because I desperately wanted a saxophone, it was because this guy just blew my mind. At this jazz place I used to bartend at [Miller's], I would just sit back and watch him. I would be serving the musicians fat whiskeys and they'd be getting more and more hosed, but no matter how much, he used to still blow my mind. And it was the sense that everyone played from their heart. And when we got together and they asked, 'What do you want the music to sound like?' I said, 'I know this is a song I wrote and I like what you guys play, so I want you to play the way you react to my song.' There was a lot of breaking of our inhibitions."

Matthews later said in an interview with Michael Krugman, Tim Reynolds, Rashawn Ross and Jeff Coffin are scheduled to perform with the band on both the spring and the summer tours.

The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, achieving platinum status. To date, three singles have been released, "Funny The Way It Is", "Why I Am", and "You and Me ^{You and Me (Dave Matthews Band song)} ".

The album was nominated for two 2010 Grammy Awards: Best Rock Album and Best Album. During the awards telecast, the band played "You and Me ^{You and Me (Dave Matthews Band song)} " with teenager singers, percussionists, horn players, a string section from the Grammy in the Schools program.Dave Matthews Band allows audience members to record most live shows and permits non-profit trading of the recordings. The band cites college students trading these tapes in the early 1990s as a key reason for their current fame. Up until February 23, 1995 the band allowed tapers ^{Taper (concert)} to plug directly into the soundboard at shows but after profiteering on these often high quality tapings, the taping policy was changed to only include microphones. As microphones and recording equipment have become more inexpensive and of higher quality, the quality of tapings has improved.In an effort to promote fan interaction, the official fan association for DMB, Warehouse, was opened December 4, 1998. Warehouse gives fans early access to concert tickets, exclusive CDs and merchandise to its members. Warehouse Fan Association (also known as "The Warehouse") pioneered the internet-based ticket sales used by many artists today. The fan site also offers interactive chat rooms and message boards for fans to completely demean and ridicule one another. Haystack is probably the funniest on there. DMB Manager Coran Capshaw founded and ran Musictoday, a company which runs Warehouse and other online fan clubs. In August, 2006, it was acquired by major concert promoter Live Nation, a spinoff of Clear Channel. -->
Studio albums
According to the band's website, since 1999 the band has contributed $4 million to the BAMA Works Fund. The BAMA Works Fund supports projects addressing the needs of disadvantaged youth, needs of the disabled, protection of the environment, and the arts and humanities. This foundation only operates in the Charlottesville, Virginia area.