When The Dave Matthews Band comes to mind, so should their music, the jazzy pop rock that has drawn many of us to become fans. With a team of jazz musicians as well as classically trained ones, the music that they make has a unique sound that had not been heard before the days of Dave Matthews. It is not hard to say that the band has had a big impact on many people's lives. Their first week sales of their latest album sold nearly three-quarters-of-a-million albums. But few people know about the true background of the Dave Matthews Band. Dave himself was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on January 9, 1967 to a family of four children. His family moved to New York several years after Dave was born. His father died when he was 10 and his family moved back to South Africa. So Dave has had his fair share of adversity. At age 19 he moved back to the states and worked for IBM in Virginia. This is where he became part of the local music community and hatched the idea for his own band. He recruited a handful of musicians to form his band. Jazz drummer Carter Beauford, jazz bassist Stefan Lessard, classical violinist Boyd Tinsley, and jazz guitarist Leroi Moore. From the start these five band members had so much chemistry and over time they have grown together to create the sound we hear today.
The Dave Matthews Band since then has released over ten full albums as well as numerous other singles and some cover songs. The band has come a long way from Dave taking guitar lessons at age 9 to having jam sessions in a garage outside Charlottesville Virginia to selling 750,000 copies in the first week of their latest album, Everyday. Dave says that his music comes from his band members, his diverse cultural background and things that have happened to him in his life. For instance, his older sister Anne, was murdered by her husband who then killed himself. Anne was close to Dave as she often comforted him after the tragic loss of their father.