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Dave Matthews Band Research Paper

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Dave Matthews Band

Formed in 1991, The Dave Matthews Band is composed of the widely varied musical interests of five musicians to create a uniquely impressive sound that combines the influences of folk, Jazz, rock, world beat, and reggae. South African David Matthews, the band's lead guitarist, began to assemble the players in 1991 to accompany him on a demo tape of original songs. Matthews, at the time was a bartender at a Charlottesville, Va. Jazz venue, called Millers. Matthews decided to approach the area musicians he most respected, and invite them to listen to his musical ideas. He approached Leroi Moore and Carter Beauford first, two musicians that he respected greatly. After listening to a few songs he had …show more content…

After he failed to make it into the Arsenio band,
Carter landed a job on pianist Ramsey Lewis's BET Jazz show, "Bet on Jazz.” In January of 1991, Carter moved back to Charlottesville, playing random gigs and taping the BET show. When Matthews heard Carter was back in Virginia, he decided to approach him about making the demo tape. Matthews, Beauford, and Moore then approached Stefan
Lessard, who at 16, was already an accomplished upright bass player The trio asked
Stefan to play electric bass guitar for the newly forming band. Lessard was already a very well respected bass player in the Jazz circles of Virginia. He converted to the electric bass for the band. The bass is really the only non “acoustic” instrument in the band. Sometimes, though, Lessard uses the upright. Stefan considers revolutionary bass player Jaco
Pastorius to be his greatest musical influence. While recording the demo one of the tunes seemed to need a supporting violin, the group then sought out Boyd Tinsely who was a classical violinist until 1985, when he switched over to rock and roll. Before joining Dave, Carter, Leroi, and Stefan, Boyd played with a few local outfits. He had his Boyd Tinsley Band, which he continued to play with until 93, and he played with Down Boy Down, an acoustic duo that played fraternity parties and college bars around Charlottesville. After playing with the new band on the demo tape, Tinsley approached Dave and Carter and asked to join. Now for

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