Tonight’s review is in honor of my son, Andrew, who
is a champ when the chips are down. He, like myself, is a lover of Dave
Matthews, so appropriately, I present to you the music of Dave Matthews. He was born January 9, 1967 in
Johannesburg, South Africa, the third of four children of parents John and
Valerie Matthews. At two years old, Matthews' family moved to Yorktown Heights
in Westchester County, New York, where his father, a physicist, started working
for IBM. In 1974, the family moved to Cambridge, England, for a year before
returning to New York, where in 1977, his father died from lung cancer.
Upon
Matthews' graduation from St. Stithians high school in 1985, he was faced with
conscription into the South African military. A Quaker and pacifist, Matthews left
South Africa and moved
to New York in 1986 where he worked for IBM for a short time, then joined his
mother in Charlottes-ville, Virginia. In 1994, Matthews' older sister, Anne, who
lived in South Africa, was murdered by her husband, who subsequently committed
suicide, on or around January 27 of that year. The event had a drastic effect
on Matthews' outlook on life and was referenced in a few of his songs such as
"Shotgun".
Although
Matthews started playing the guitar at the age of 9, it was only in
Charlottesville that he started performing publicly. From time to time, local
star (and future collaborator) Tim Reynolds invited Dave to join him on stage
and another friend, Ross Hoffman, persuaded Matthews to record some of his own
songs. From
there, the rest is history.
He
uses a lot of closed chords with monster hand spans making his songs difficult
to play. I hope you enjoy the more than 3 hours of music.
You and Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD9CrZODlNA
Grace is gone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmC3kpM3C_k
Stay or leave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28gGWpx-xyM&feature=related
So damn lucky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZrxPzzxrYA&feature=related
Ants Marching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNgJBIx-hK8
The space in between: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H67uEgRZs2Y
Gravedigger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7wSefU2H9Q
Watchtower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yam6mrCCvD4
So
tonight, I’m going controversial and reviewing a wine that’s bound to have
readers wondering what drugs I’ve been taking. Charles Shaw Sauvignon Blanc,
alias 3-buck Chuck, will bring the criticism rolling in. Mention it in front of
a wine snob and he or she is bound to start panting and holding their hand over
their heart while begging you to call for an ambulance. But hey, it’s summer, I
need something decent to quaff, and Dave Matthews’ music doesn’t call for
Chateaux Lafite Rothschild.
The
wine is pale yellow with a bouquet that is sort of reminiscent of a New Zealand
Sauv Blanc with aromas of citrus and grapefruit. The palate follows the nose
with subtle grapefruit and citrus with a bit of acidity to balance it out. I
promise it won’t have your nose hairs falling out like some low priced ghetto
wines. It doesn’t taste like poverty, in fact, I rather like it and will go
back for more. Hey, at $3.00 a bottle, or less than a bottle of fancy mineral
water, how can you go wrong.
Cheers!
1 comment:
My wife and I saw Dave Matthews last summer on his Caravan tour. He puts on an incredible live show. His band is such a dense concentration of talent, they grab you immediately and keep you cheering.
My favorite song of his is Grey Street. It's a sad song, but the imagery in the lyrics is so strongly poetic and effective it gives me goosebumps.
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