Yesterday I received a text from Justin letting me know that Leroi Moore of The Dave Matthews Band had died. I was shocked. I knew he wasn't touring with the band due to an ATV accident earlier this summer, but also knew he was in rehab and seemed to be recovering well.
I became a DMB fan in junior high. I remember opening my first BMG account - you remember those? Pick out 8-12 CDs (FREE) and over the next year buy 2 or 3 for about $20 a pop. This was pre-online-anything. I remember cutting out the small CD images and sticking them to an order form that you actually snail-mailed in.
So getting my "own" music for the first time, i'm not sure why I picked Under The Table and Dreaming, but I did (and its really had a tremendous impact on me and my musical approach). I love to jam. I love experimenting with songwriting. I tend to use my voice as an instrument - not simply a melody line to embed in your skull (i.e. "love me, love me, say that you love me...")
In a time when the whole world was going grunge crazy, out comes DMB with an acoustic guitar, a weird voice, incredible percussion, a black guy playing violin, a black guy jamming the woodwinds, and a white guy on bass - something didn't make sense.
But it was that 1st album that led me to Crash, Live at Luther College, countless bootlegs, and every album since.
The unique blend of instruments made their sound perfect to my ears. Their live show however, was tough to rival. Even if you're not a fan, you have to appreciate their interplay.
So, today its hard to believe that Leroi Moore is gone at only 46 years of age.
*for more info about Leroi, visit: http://www.davematthews.com/
Grace & Peace,
RC
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