Not My Usual Post Full of Tips – A More Personal One

One of the main reasons I went to L.A. was to see a band that is very near and dear to my heart - The Dave Matthews Band who I began to follow back in 1993 when I was working in my first job in the music business at What Are Records? representing The Samples. Back then The Dave Matthews used to open for The Samples and I watched his meteoric rise up through the ranks of the music scene from the front row of dozens of shows.
 

I have gotten a lot of flack for loving this band and people really have a visceral reaction to them but that is not what I want to talk about in this post. So, for those of you who are judging me for my music taste please stop now.
 

As I was standing in the Staples Center on the first night of shows Dave Matthews came out on the stage and after playing one song seemed overly talkative and the band looked weary and tired on the big screens. Then he announced the sad news that LeRoi Moore - a founding member of the band who played Saxophone, pennywhistle and has passed away that very day.
 

There was a collective gasp from the audience and I stood there with many stunned people, and they and played the most bittersweet set that I have ever seen them play (and I have seen them many many times). Dave played all of Rois favorites.
 

What’s The Lesson?
 

Do what you love with passion - this life we have is short and sweet and you never know what a day will bring.
 

I was in the Fox Theatre in Boulder the night Dave Matthews found out that his sister had passed away and when I see them play I am reminded of my personal experience as a young person who moved to Colorado because I was totally inspired by the music scene there and because the only thing I wanted in my life was to live in that community of talented musicians.
 

Watching one of the most successful bands on the touring scene today move through their own shock and grief was moving and inspiring and sad and incredible and I am so happy I was there to cheer and to cry and to support them. And Dave spoke many times throughout that night and the next about how thankful the band was to have fans and how blessed they were to share a stage with LeRoi and I was again reminded that no musician can succeed without a community no matter how huge they get, how commercial their music is , no matter how much money they make and no matter where life takes them.
 

I’ll leave you with a moving story Dave told about Roi’s pennywhistles:
 

On a trip to South Africa, a South African musician the band was friends with gave Roi 2 of his old penny whistles to play (I imagine they must have played together) and Roi returned the favor by sending this musician a full beautiful set of brand new Pennywhistles to play.
 

That musician passed on last year but Dave received a note from their mutual friend saying that another band was using the penny whistles and the sentiment is the people who make the music may pass on but the music lives on in some form or fashion… So Rest In Peace LeRoi Moore and thank you for being a square on the quilt that makes up my life. You brought me joy at the Fox Theatre, at Red Rocks, at Madison Square Garden and at dozens of places in between. Thank you for making your music.
 

- Ariel Hyatt