DMB 101: Meet Dave

A native of South Africa, Dave Matthews was born in Johannesburg on January 9, 1967. His mother, Val, was artist and his father, John, was a physicist. When Dave was two, the family left South Africa, including Dave's siblings, a younger sister Jane, and older sister Anne and one brother named Peter. Dave's family didn't agree with apartheid and that's part of why they left.

When Dave was 10, his father died of lung cancer. Dave has mentioned in several interviews that he thinks he's father may have developed the disease as a result of his work. Tragedy would strike in his family again when his sister would be killed in a shooting that Dave rarely speaks of. To this day, I am unclear as to whether or not she was murdered or if it was a murder-suicide. There have even been rumors that her death was the result of domestic violence, which is particularly sad. Since her death Dave and his other sister have been parents to their neice and nephew.

But, let's rewind a little bit and return to the time before Dave's father's death. The family lived in the States just outside of New York City and then later they moved to England. Later, they returned to South Africa, where Dave really started getting into local music. Dave moved with his family again in 1986, this time to Charlottesville, Virginia. Yet another strong reason made them move -- he was about to be old enough to have to participate in the compulsory military service in South Africa, something he and his family believed against strongly. Dave briefly attended Charlottesville Community College and toyed with the idea of going to art school. Instead... he ended up at Miller's.

It was as a result of his job as a bartender at Miller's that Dave got to see and hear the best local musicans. Charlottesville is a college town and it is well known that great musicians are all around. In the meantime, Dave had begun writing some songs. He had already played guitar and sung, but he was also torn between his other two talents, which are art and acting. Finally, he decided he was going to make a demo tape. It took him a while to work up the courage, but one by one he approached the local musicians who would become the rest of Dave Matthews Band.

Urban legend has it that the name came about out of sheer desperation. When the guy at the recording studio wanted to put a name on the tape, Dave blurted out "Dave Matthews Band" even though at the time the group had no intentions of actually being a full-fledged band. They were just a group of guys working together to make a demo tape! How very glad all of us DMB fans are that Dave decided to work up a demo tape and that he got over his shyness and approached the others!

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