He is a singer-songwriter, pianist, guitarist and
actor born David John Matthews in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he was
one of four children to a father who was a physicist.The family emigrated to Yorktown
Heights, New York, when he was two years old and then relocated once again
to Cambridge in England in 1974.They returned to New York after a year and then in 1980 returned to
South Africa.He studied at
Johannesburg's St. Stithian's College and then returned to the Charlottesville,
Virginia, sometime after graduation as he was unable to do carry out his
military service term due to coming from a Quaker family.Here he began taking part as an
actor in local productions and was a well-liked bartender, but although
having a great love of music, he stayed in the shadows and just enjoyed the
performances by the local artists.Tim Reynolds, who was a local celebrity and who he has worked with regularly
since, convinced him to get up on stage one night and he so captured the
audience that a while later he was singing for a performance put on by the
Miki liszt Dance Company.This
must have been his musical turning point as 1990 came along and he decided
that he wanted to put his own band together. So in 1991 the Dave Matthews
Band was born and they made their debut at the Earth Day Festival in
Charlottesville in April of that year. Tragedy struck in 1994 when his brother-in-law
murdered his sister in South Africa but because of his obligations in the
US he had to return and perform in concert within 2 days of her death.He and his sister took the two
children that were left behind and raised them in the US. Continuing to work with his Dave
Matthews band he saw further success with his Grammy Award winning "So Much
to Say" in 1997.In 2000 he
became a co-founder of ATO Records, and in 2001 he sang "Everyday" on the
telethon America: A Tribute to Heroes.2004 won a Grammy Award for his single "Gravedigger".This led to him touring as Dave
Matthews & Friends, which was a sideline during a time of the Dave
Matthews Band being in temporary hiatus.In 2006 he recorded a live album at Abbey Road Studios
and toured with Tim Reynolds with appearances at Radio City Music Hall
among other venues.During the
course of his career he has appeared with many artists such as Jimmy
Buffett, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, John Mayer and Phil Vassar.He has appeared on many albums with
a few of them including Before These Crowded Streets, Busted Stuff, Crash,
Everyday, Imagine We Were, Live from Abbey Road, Recently, Remember Two
Things, Some Devil, Stand Up and Under the Table Dreaming.With other musicians he is now a
director of Farm Aid with his co-directors John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson
and Neil Young and uses the community-supported agriculture program on his
farm in Scottsville, Virginia.He also maintains the Blenheim Vineyards, near to his farm.He also gives many charity benefit
concerts and established The Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band, which
supports charitable programs in and around Charlottesville.Aside from his success in music, he
has also taken his acting abilities to the movie and television screen and
appeared in the movies Because of Winn-Dixie, I Now Pronounce You Chuck
and Larry,Lake City,Where the Red Fern Grows and You
Don't Mess with the Zohan and in the TV series House M.D. In recent years his company, ATO, have also released the
movie Joshua, with him writing and performing the end credits.In 2005 he was awarded an honorary
D.Ma by Haverford College in Pennsylvania.He currently is found still touring and recording with
The Dave Matthews Band and living with his wife and their three children in
Seattle, Washington.
