Dave Matthews

Anyone that knows me well is very aware of my obsession with Dave Matthews. I can probably name every album and every song on the spot without any help. It’s a sickness, I know. Last time I counted I was able to play 43 Dave Matthews songs on guitar. Nevertheless, the point is… I recently found out that Dave is also a talented artist as well. I was browsing around at guitar center last week and found a signature Dave Matthews Taylor 914ce that I played for probably nearly an hour. The neck had an intricate design done by Dave in honor of Leroi Moore, who was the saxophonist for the band before he passed in 2008. Through further investigation, I found more piece of art done by Dave Matthews.

My favorite is definitely the cover art for DMB’s most recent CD, Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King. The work depicts a large festival going on in downtown New Orleans. It is very Mardi Gras-ish with the people on top of the float wearing masks and many people in the crowd wearing beads. This Mardi Gras theme is also continued with the use of much purple and green throughout the drawing. My favorite part about the piece is the gigantic face of Leroi Moore plastered right in the center with “The Groogrux King” (a nickname given to him by the band) pieced around it. If you’re a DMB nerd like myself and have caught yourself watching concerts on DVD in your bed at night, you can see the personality of Leroi coming out through this drawn face. Intense and always having a good time was the way that he spent his time on stage.

I was very surprised when I found out this unknown talent of Dave Matthews, unknown to me at least. I’ve always just thought of him as a man that puts down all his thoughts on paper and then puts on the best concerts you will ever see. It’s cool to see a second way in which he lets his emotions out. In a way, it makes me want to become an artist as well. I think I’ll pass though. I can’t urge on this obsession any further than it has already gotten. I think I’ll just stick to learning all of his songs on guitar.