Get ready for a more introspective Dave Matthews
He's a few years early for a midlife crisis — that traditionally comes on with the Big Four-Oh — but how else to explain "Some Devil," his deep and surprising solo album, which is obsessed with death? The subject comes up often in the 13-song CD, his solo debut. He underscored that by releasing "Gravedigger," in which he walks through a cemetery and sees dead people, as the first single.
The album is deeply rooted in Seattle. He has lived here since the late '90s, so his wife of three years, Ashley, could attend grad school in naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University in Kenmore. Their twin daughters, Stella and Grace, were born here two years ago.
He wrote the songs in the garage of his home, which is reportedly on Queen Anne Hill, and recorded them here at Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard's Studio Litho. That's also where Matthews and his five-member tour band — including longtime collaborator Tim Reynolds and Phish's Trey Anastasio, both guitarists — rehearsed for the tour, which touches down Monday at KeyArena.
Matthews is the coverboy of the current issue of Rolling Stone, and it says in the article that he and the band rehearsed not only the songs from the solo disc but also a few Dave Matthews Band favorites and a host of cover tunes, including Little Feat's "Spanish Moon," The Band's "Up on Cripple Creek" and Paul Simon's "American Tune."
Matthews has said in several interviews that the inspiration for many of the songs on the new disc came from the birth of his daughters and his relocation to the Northwest, with our moody fog and rain, as well as our mountain and water views. An acquaintance who works in the Pike Place Market says he's seen Matthews prowling the stalls, a cup of steaming coffee in hand, or sitting off in a corner at one of the cafes, gazing out toward Puget Sound and the Olympics. The story goes that Matthews walks there and back from his home.
"These songs came out of me with a great deal of honesty," Matthews was quoted as saying in a press release about the album. "I didn't try to hide behind ambiguity as much as I often think I do. Maybe the fact that I have kids now has made me think that I don't have any more time to be unclear.
"This is the first collection of songs that I've written since my daughters were born, and I'm not surprised by the fact that I would more directly deal with mortality."
Listening to the songs on the album, you can hear why he needed to record them with musicians different from those he has worked with for a decade in the Dave Matthews Band. For the most part, the songs are not the jam-based, frat-boy rock workouts from the early '90s, which made DMB one of the most popular arena bands in the world. They're more varied, more personal and more serious.
Matthews has dealt with serious topics before, but sometimes the messages were lost in the jams. Many of his fans seem to not want to be challenged with songs about politics, mortality or social issues, which he learned from the 1998 "Before These Crowded Streets" CD, which dealt with his experiences growing up in apartheid South Africa (before moving to Virginia at age 19) and his leftist politics. Compared to his other albums, it stiffed. So he came back giving the fans what they want — simple, partylike songs like "I Did It" (about smoking pot).
True to form, "Some Devil" has fared only moderately well in the marketplace. Although it got to No. 2 on the Billboard album chart shortly after its October release, and has sold a million copies, it got little radio airplay and has steadily slipped down the list.
Some DMB fans were more interested in the November release of two-disc CDs and DVDs of the band's September show for 85,000 fans at New York's Central Park. They will not have to wait long for another fix. RCA will soon release a three-DVD, six-CD box set from the band's three-night stand last summer at the Gorge — a stint that attracted more than 43,000 paying customers and grossed $2.2 million. And later this month, the Dave Matthews Band will gather at its new studio complex in Charlottesville, Va., to begin recording its next album.
Matthews is touring with the great country singer Emmylou Harris, an inspired choice for an opener. She will be backed by her band, Spyboy. Two members of it, drummer Brady Blade and bassist Tony Hall, will also back Matthews (the fifth Matthews band member is keyboardist Ray Paczkowski).
You can hear and see a sampling of what the show here may be like by watching CMT's "Crossroads" at 9 tonight on cable TV, which features Harris and Matthews and members of both their bands.
Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com
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