The Music Beat: Dave Matthews Band Nominated for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

A native son of Charlottesville is vying to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

A local barman urged Dave Matthews, who was working as a barman at Miller’s, a restaurant on Charlottesville’s

Downtown Mall, to record some of his original tunes. John D’earth, a music professor at the University of Virginia

and a skilled jazz trumpeter himself, suggested bassist Stefan Lassard to Matthews, who enlisted other players to join

his ensemble. The band formed in 1991 and performed frequently at Eastern Standard and Trax, two local

nightclubs.

Despite their continuous affiliation with Charlottesville, the band achieved national fame by 1997. Matthews

performed at the Class of 2020’s virtual graduation, and the band has performed in John Paul Jones Arena. In the

wake of the horrific 2017 “Unite the Right” protest, Matthews was a key organiser of A Concert For Charlottesville,

which was held in UVA’s Scott Stadium. The group’s Bama Works Foundation has also donated to other local

charities.

Among the five nominees who have previously appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot is the Dave Matthews Band.

Cher, Mariah Carey, and Kool & The Gang—the latter of whom performed at UVA in the 1980s—are among the other

nominees this year.

In a statement, John Sykes, chair of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said, “This outstanding list of

nominees reflects the diverse artists and music that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honours and celebrates.”

The 39th induction ceremony is scheduled for this autumn in Cleveland, the location of the Rock Hall museum, and

the new hall-of-famers will be announced in April.