Dave Mathews was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in
1967. Two years later him and his family move to Westchester Count, NY. His dad,
who worked for IBM died in 1977. They moved back to South Africa in 1980. There
he got more wise about the evils of government. The key move for Dave fans
is when he relocated in 1986 to Charlottesville. Where Mathews who took
piano lessons as a child before picking up the guitar at age. He is still
"amazed" he could get four superior performers as he did.
Boyd Tinsley may be the member of the band that is not
surprised by his success. "When I first heard the songs played by these
musicians, it was the most powerful stuff I've heard in a while." He
says he stumbled into playing the violin. He first wanted to play the guitar.
Tinsley says he plans to record a solo album some day, but his chief extra-band
activity is modeling. " I just like clothes." he said, "Put some
clothes on me and take a picture? Hey, why not."
Leroi Moore's main influence is jazz. Him and Carter
Beauford have been jazz compatriots for years, playing together at playing gigs
and informal jam sessions. At his stage, he does not consider himself a jazz
musician. For him, DMB remains a challenge because there is room to explore, to
respond to the expressions of other four players. "I have plenty of space
to improvise, to try new ideas," Dave says "It's almost better than
jazz gig."
Steffan Lessard is the youngest member of the band by a
good 7 years. He was just 16 years old when they pulled him out of high school
to join them. "Yeah there were a couple of times when they rushed me out
the back door because the COPS." Steffan played the piano and violin before
moving on to the guitar. He claimed age was never a problem with the band.
He started playing jazz in local clubs and coffee houses. Dave Mathews first
heard him, because he was a friend of his music teacher. Dave invited Stefan to
join the band, he happily accepted. He wanted to change back to electric bass,
but the band was a little iffy. They said he could, and now they are a very
successful band.
Carter
Beauford started his music at age 3. Then, his father
could not find a baby sitter so he took the toddler drummer-to-be to see the
legendary Buddy Rich, which Carter says "Put the icing on the cake."
Carter, who plays the drums, had his first gig at age 9 with a jazz- fusion
outfit. Eventually, he wound up in a Richmond, VA based group called
Secrets, which a young Dave Mathews used to watch before approaching Beauford
and the group's saxophonist, Leroi Moore, to help him work on some material he
was developing. After playing for Dave, Carter has played for
