Snowden is a surname, and may refer to the following:

People[link]

• B. J. Snowden
• A. Loudon Snowden, U.S. ambassador to Spain 1892–1893
• Cal Snowden, former American football player
• Dave Snowden, knowledge management consultant and researcher
• Elmer Snowden
• Ethel Snowden
• George Holburn Snowden, sculptor
• George Snowden
• Snowden, a fictional character from the novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• James Ross Snowden Treasurer and Director of the U.S. Mint
• Jane Snowden
• John M. Snowden, Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1825–1828
• Kade Snowden, Australian rugby league footballer
• M.L. Snowden, sculptor
• Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden

Songs[link]

• "Snowden", a song by English band Doves featured on their 2005 album Some Cities.

Music[link]

• Snowden is also the name of an indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
• The Snowden Family Band, a 19th-century singing group from Knox County, Ohio, USA.

Other uses[link]

• Snowden Crags, a prehistoric archaeological site in North Yorkshire, England.
• The Snowden potato, a type of potato commonly used to make potato chips.
• Snowden was a Christmas character developed by the Target Corporation that included an annual signature stuffed toy, a one-time claymation special that aired on CBS, and 2 Christmas specials: Snowden on Ice in 1997, and Snowden's Raggedy Ann, and Andy Holiday Show in 1998.

See also[link]

• Snowdon (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Dave Matthews
Matthews at Virginia Tech in 2007
Background information
Birth name	David John Matthews
Born	(1967-01-09) January 9, 1967 (age 45) Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Origin	Charlottesville, Virginia, US
Genres	Rock, alternative rock, blues rock, roots rock, adult contemporary music
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1989–present
Labels	RCA, Sony BMG
Associated acts	Tribe of Heaven, Dave Matthews Band, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, Dave Matthews & Friends
Website	DaveMatthewsBand.com
Notable instruments
Taylor Acoustic Guitars Martin Acoustic Guitars Gibson Acoustic Guitars Lakewood Guitars

David John "Dave" Matthews (born January 9, 1967)^[1] is a South African-American musician and actor,^[2] best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band. He performs mainly with acoustic guitar and favors rhythm rather than solos in his playing.

Early life[link]

David John Matthews was born 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.^[3]

In 1974, the family moved to Cambridge, England, for a year before returning to New York, where his father died from lung cancer in 1977. Biographer Nevin Martell argues that Dave's father's death may be an impetus for his "carpe diem" lyrics.^[4] At some point while residing in New York, Matthews attended his first concert, when his mother took him to a performance by Pete Seeger.^[5] The family moved back to Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1977.^[6]

Upon Matthews' graduation from St Stithians College high school in 1985, he was faced with conscription into the South African military just as civil disobedience to the practice was becoming widespread.^[7] A Quaker (and consequently pacifist), Matthews left South Africa to avoid service.^[8]

Matthews moved to New York in 1986 where he worked for IBM for a short time,^[6] then joined his mother in Charlottesville, Virginia, the same year, a town Matthews' family had lived in before he was born.^[6] In Charlottesville, he became part of the local music community.^[8] Pursuing various interests, Matthews acted in various local productions.^{[citation needed]} Although Matthews had started playing the guitar at the age of 9, it was only in Charlottesville that he started performing publicly.^[6] From time to time, local star (and future collaborator) Tim Reynolds had Dave join him on stage and another friend, Ross Hoffman, persuaded Matthews to record some of his own songs.^[6][9] This led to his first professional musical gig at a modern dance performance by the Miki Liszt Dance Company, based at McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville, singing "Meaningful Love", composed by John D'earth and Dawn Thompson.^[10] In 1991, he hatched the idea to form his own band.^[6]

Dave had originally envisioned someone else singing his songs but decided to use his own vocals.^{[citation needed]} After writing his first few songs, including "I'll Back You Up", "The Song that Jane Likes" and "Recently", he began to consider starting his own band.^{[citation needed]} Matthews formed Dave Matthews Band in early 1991 with LeRoi Moore, Carter Beauford, Stefan Lessard, Peter Griesar (who left the band in 1993), and Boyd Tinsley while working at Miller's. The band's first show was on March 14, 1991, as part of a benefit for the Middle East Children's Alliance at Trax Nightclub in Charlottesville.^[11]

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.^[12] The event had a drastic effect on Matthews' outlook on life and was referenced in a few of his songs (such as "Shotgun").^[13] On January 29, 1994, he performed with Tim Reynolds at The Wetlands in New York where he dedicated that performance "to her memory". Dave Matthews Band's Under the Table and Dreaming, released later that year, was dedicated to her.^[12] Anne Matthews was survived by her two children who, upon her death, traveled to America, where Dave and his younger sister Jane took responsibility for their upbringing (his sister is the namesake of DMB's song, "The Song that Jane Likes.").^[12]

Music[link]

Matthews and Tim Reynolds in an acoustic show in Amherst, MA 2007

Dave focused primarily on his work with Dave Matthews Band from 1990 to 2003. Since that period, he has occasionally ventured outside the band in various solo performances and records. Matthews sang on the track "Sing Along" on Blue Man Group's second album The Complex in 2003.^[14] Later that year he released a solo album, "Some Devil", which went platinum; its single, "Gravedigger", won a Grammy Award in 2004.^[15] To support the album, Matthews toured with a group of musicians (most of whom performed on "Some Devil") under the name Dave Matthews & Friends.^[16]

Dave is also a close friend of Béla Fleck.^{[citation needed]} Matthews appears as a guest vocalist on Béla Fleck and the Flecktones' 1998 release Left of Cool and both Fleck and Flecktones bassist Victor Wooten have made numerous appearances both live and studio with DMB (e.g. Wooten soloed in the second part of The Maker, and also in #41 on the 1998 live album Live in Chicago). The Flecktones also opened for DMB on several tours.^[17] Matthews performed a duet with Emmylou Harris on "My Antonia" on her 2000 album, Red Dirt Girl.^[18] They also appeared together on the musical television show CMT Crossroads,^[19] where the two performed Matthews' "Gravedigger" and the folk song "Long Black Veil".^{[citation needed]}

Matthews performed a cover of Neil Young's song, "The Needle and the Damage Done" at the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year tribute honoring Young on January 29, 2010. Matthews also joined The Rolling Stones on their Bridges to Babylon Tour-1997-1998, and sang "Wild Horses", and "Memory Motel" alongside vocalist Mick Jagger after The Dave Matthews Band opened for the Rolling Stones.

Acting[link]

Before he was known as a musician, Dave Matthews was an amateur actor, appearing onstage in several productions at Charlottesville's Offstage Theatre and Live Arts theater^{[citation needed]} in the early 1990s; the role for which he is best remembered is as a used car salesman in Offstage Theatre's "Just Say No," directed by John Quinn, co-starring Kylie Sicher.^[20] He played Will Coleman in the 2003 adaptation of the novel Where the Red Fern Grows.^[21] In 2005 he played in Because of Winn-Dixie as Otis, a man who works at a pet store and plays guitar. In 2007, Matthews appeared briefly in the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, where he plays a homosexual salesman.^[22] In 2008, he appeared in another Adam Sandler movie, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, as a racist redneck character named James.^[23] He also had a significant role in Lake City with Sissy Spacek and Troy Garity, in which he portrays the character "Red."^[24] He was also in three 2011 movies, The Other Side with Giovanni Ribisi and Jason Lee, In The Woods, starring Debra Winger and Terrence Howard, and the Adam Sandler comedy Just Go With It. He was also in Deuce Bigalow.

In 2007, Matthews guest starred in the Fox drama series House in the episode "Half-Wit". He played a piano-playing musical savant who ended up having half of his brain removed in order to recover from his epilepsy, but at the expense of his musical abilities. Dave had a piano double for the complex pieces, but played the simpler pieces himself.^[25] In the Season One episode of "House" -"Love Hurts"- the song "Some Devil" can be heard playing at the end. In another episode, one of the tracks from Stand Up, "You Might Die Trying" was played ("House M.D", Season Five, "Not Cancer").^[26]

The fifth time Matthews appeared as musical guest on Saturday Night Live in November 2009 (which was also the fourth time the Dave Matthews Band appeared on the show), he made an appearance as Ozzy Osbourne in a skit called "The Mellow Show." Bill Hader impersonated Matthews in the same skit. With 5 official guest appearances on SNL, Matthews is officially a member of the "Five-Timers Club".

Matthews was also a cast member and performer in the popular music documentary Before the Music Dies.^[27]

Other activities[link]

This section requires expansion.

In 2011, Matthews collaborated with wine maker Steve Reeder in creating the Dreaming Tree Wines.^[28][29][30]

In April 2012, Matthews was credited as producer on a major documentary, "Last Call at the Oasis", directed by Jessica Yu. Ref: "ATO Pictures to Distribute Must-See Doc ‘Last Call at the Oasis’". http://blog.documentarychannel.com/post/10519205084/ato-pictures-to-distribute-must-see-doc-last-call-at. 

Personal life[link]

Dave Matthews married longtime partner Jennifer Ashley Harper in 2000. The couple has twin daughters, Stella Busina and Grace Anne, born on August 15, 2001, and a son, August Oliver, born on June 19, 2007. They reside in Seattle, Washington.^[31] In a 2001 interview, Matthews stated that he was agnostic.^[32]

In 2000 Reuters reported that a cancer hoax chain letter was being circulated online that promised that anyone who forwarded the chain letter would be rewarded by being sent Matthews's AOL screen name.^[33]

Politics[link]

Matthews published an Internet video prior to the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, urging viewers to vote without advocating any candidate. He mentioned only Ralph Nader by name, and updated fans about the recording sessions for Everyday. Although his music often explores political and social issues, Matthews refrained from public campaigning for Presidential candidates until 2004. He cast his support strongly with Democratic nominee John Kerry, performing at political events including the Vote for Change tour.

Matthews also supported Barack Obama for President in 2008, both in the primaries and in the general election.^[34] On April 6, 2008, he and Tim Reynolds played a concert titled "Change Rocks"^[35] at Indiana University to encourage students to register to vote. The tickets were distributed by the Obama campaign.^[36] Questions regarding his citizenship were answered by advertisements and videos on YouTube, where he says he is a "real American" and a "real Virginian," stating that "real Virginians get out and vote."^[37] Even though he was recently bereaved by the loss of band co-founder and saxophonist, LeRoi Moore on August 19, 2008, he and Tim Reynolds played for the Democratic National Convention delegates on Sunday, August 24 at Red Rocks,^[38] and again with Reynolds at the Virginia Commonwealth University, on October 26, 2008,^[39] among other places. Matthews has often supported environmental initiatives, such as biofuel availability and the fight against global climate change.^{[citation needed]}

On September 21, 2009, Matthews stated that some of President Barack Obama's harsher critics were motivated by his race, and stated that he "sees it [racism] everywhere" in the United States.^[40]

Matthews is also a strong supporter of Gay Rights and participated in "Love Unites Shepard Fairey Equality Project", a gay marriage advocacy project.^[41]

On May 10th, 2012, Matthews entertained a sellout crowd at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Washington, where President Obama was hosting a campaign fundraiser.

Past and present equipment[link]

Matthews performing in 2009

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2008)

Past Equipment

• Martin DM3MD Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar serial numbers 1, 2 and 3
• Martin HD-28V Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar
• Martin D-35 Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar
• Martin D12-28 Steel 12-String Acoustic Guitar
• Taylor 714 Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar^[42]
• Taylor 512C Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar^[42]
• Taylor Custom Baritone Jumbo Guitar (Based on LKSM6)
• Yamaha Country Jumbo CJ-818SB 6 String Guitar
• Gibson J-150 6 String Guitar
• Gibson Chet Atkins SST Solid Body Acoustic Guitar (not used since 2000)
• Lakewood M-32 Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar
• Jerry Jones Baritone Electric Guitar^[42]
• Santa Cruz Bob Brozman Baritone
• Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
• Shure UHE Antenna Distro^[42]
• UltraSound/BSS Audio Soundweb Custom Switcher^[42]
• Korg DTR-1 Digital Tuner^[42]
• Taylor GS8 (three songs on radio city album)

Present Equipment

• Rockbridge SJ Sunburst Acoustic Guitar (used in 2011)

(Spring/Summer 2009 DMB Tour & Summer/Fall 2010 DMB Tour)

• Taylor 914c 6-String Acoustic Guitar w/Venetian Cutaway (standard guitar used for all songs not listed below)^[42]
• Taylor 914c 6-String Acoustic Guitar w/Florentine Cutaway (Drop D Tuning) (Don't Drink The Water, Bartender, Crush, Shake Me Like A Monkey, Seven, Break Free)^[42]
• Taylor GA7 (Beach Ball, You Never Know, Sister, Oh, Write A Song)
• Gibson Custom Sunburst Acoustic (Raised B Tuning, Lying In The Hands of God, Stay or Leave)
• Taylor W65 12-string (Grey Street, Raven, Bartender, Sweet Up and Down, Kit Kat Jam, JTR, The Last Stop, Big Eyed Fish, Monkey Man)
• Jerry Jones Original Single-cutaway Baritone (Smooth Rider, Louisiana Bayou, What You Are, So Right, Break Free, Some Devil, Kill the King)
• Veillette Gryphon (Shotgun, Squirm, Baby Blue, Idea of You, Falling Of The Roof)
• National ResoLectric (Alligator Pie)
• Fender custom Stratocaster (Why I Am)
• Dunlop Tortex .6 mm Guitar Picks
• D'Addario EXP17 Strings (6-String)
• D'Addario EJ39 Strings (12-String)
• Matchless DC-30 Amplifier^[42]
• Shure UHF Wireless System^[42]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Some Devil (2003)
• Imagine We Were (2005) – as Tribe of Heaven; originally recorded in 1989

Live albums[link]

• Live at Luther College (1999) – with Tim Reynolds
• Live at Radio City (2007) – with Tim Reynolds
• Live in Las Vegas (2010) – with Tim Reynolds

Singles[link]

Other charted songs[link]

Guest singles[link]

• ^A "I'm Alive" charted as an album cut in 2008 before being released as a single in 2009

Music videos[link]

Collaborations[link]

• "Tomorrow Never Knows" (2010), off the Herbie Hancock album "The Imagine Project
• "You Should Know Me", "Oh, Bangladesh" & "And He Slayed Her" (2010) off the Liz Phair album Funstyle
• "Caveman" & "Road" (2009) off the Danny Barnes album "Pizza Box"
• "Fat Man In The Bathtub" (2008) off the Little Feat album "Little Feat & Friends: Join The Band"
• "I'm Alive" (2008) off the Kenny Chesney album Lucky Old Sun
• "Mamma Boulet" (2008) off the Dave Grant album "Bubbalon by Bass"
• "Tremendous Brunettes" (2007) off the Mike Doughty album Haughty Melodic
• "Work It Out" (2006) off the Jurassic 5 album Feedback
• "Sing Along" (2003) off the Blue Man Group album The Complex with music video
• "Love Is The Only Way" (2006) off the Robert Randolph and the Family Band album Colorblind
• "Joyful girl"(2002) off the Soulive album – Next
• "Iwoya" (2002) off the Angélique Kidjo album Black Ivory Soul
• "For You"(2002) off the We Were Soldiers soundtrack with Johnny Cash
• "My Antonia" (2000) off the Emmylou Harris studio album Red Dirt Girl, where Dave duets with Emmylou on her composition
• "Love of My Life" (1999) & "Rain Down On Me" (2010), off the Santana album Supernatural
• "Communication" & "Trouble and Strife" (1998), off the Béla Fleck and the Flecktones album Left of Cool
• "Eleanor" (1994), off the Shannon Worrell album Three Wishes
• "A Pirate Looks at Forty" (2012) with Jack Johnson and Tim Reynolds, off the live album Jack Johnson and Friends – Best of Kokua Festival
• "Walk of Shame" (2012) with Jimmy Fallon, off the comedy rock album Blow Your Pants Off
• "All the Same"(2011) off the Vieux Farka Touré album – The Secret

Awards[link]

Grammys[link]

• 1997: Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group – "So Much to Say", Dave Matthews Band
• 2004: Best Male Rock Vocal Performance – "Gravedigger", Dave Matthews

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards[link]

• Most Performed Song from a Motion Picture – "Where Are You Going" (for Mr. Deeds)

Honorary degrees[link]

• Dave Matthews was awarded D.M.A. honoris causa by Haverford College on May 15, 2005; see here for his commencement speech.^[44]

Guitar[link]

• 2002: Orville Gibson Award for Best Acoustic Guitarist

See also[link]

• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dave Matthews

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dave Matthews

• Official website
• The Warehouse: The Official Dave Matthews Band Fan Association
• Dave Matthews discography at Discogs
• Dave Matthews on Charlie Rose
• Interview
• Dave Matthews at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Dave Matthews in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Dreaming Tree Wines

Elmer Snowden (October 9, 1900 – May 14, 1973) was a banjo player of the jazz age. He also played guitar and, in the early stages of his career, all the reed instruments. He contributed greatly to jazz in its early days as both a player and a bandleader, and is responsible for launching the careers of many top musicians. However, Snowden himself has been largely overlooked in jazz history.

Biography[link]

Born in Baltimore, Snowden is remembered today mainly as the original leader of the Washingtonians, a group he brought to New York City from the capital in 1923. Unable to get a booking, Snowden sent for Duke Ellington, who was with the group when it recorded three test sides for Victor that remain unissued and are, presumably, lost. Ellington eventually took over leadership of the band,^[1] which contained the nucleus of what later became his famous orchestra. Snowden was a renowned band leader – Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Bubber Miley, "Tricky Sam" Nanton, Frankie Newton, Benny Carter, Rex Stewart, Roy Eldridge and Chick Webb are among the musicians who worked in his various bands.

Very active in the 1920s as an agent and musician, Snowden at one time had five bands playing under his name in New York, one of which was led by pianist Cliff Jackson. Unfortunately, most of his bands were not recorded, but a Snowden band that included Eldridge, Al Sears, Dicky Wells and Sid Catlett appeared in a 1932 film, Smash Your Baggage. Snowden also made numerous appearances as a sideman on almost every New York label from 1923 on. Unfortunately, he rarely received credit, except for two sides with Bessie Smith in 1925, and six sides with the Sepia Serenaders in 1934.

Though Snowden continued to be musically active throughout his life, after the mid 1930s he lived in relative obscurity in New York. He continued to play throughout the 30s, 40s and 50s, but was far from the limelight. After a dispute with the musicians union in New York, he moved to Philadelphia where he taught music, counting among his pupils pianist Ray Bryant, his brother, bassist Tommy Bryant, and saxophonist Sahib Shihab (Edmond Gregory).

Snowden was working as a parking lot attendant in 1959 when Chris Albertson, then a Philadelphia disc jockey, came across him. In 1960, Albertson brought Snowden and singer-guitarist Lonnie Johnson together for two Prestige albums, assembled a quartet that included Cliff Jackson for a Riverside session, Harlem Banjo, and, in 1961, a sextet session with Roy Eldridge, Bud Freeman, Jo Jones, and Ray and Tommy Bryant—it was released on the Fontana and Black Lion labels.

In 1963, his career boosted, Snowden appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival. He toured Europe in 1967 with the Newport Guitar Workshop. He moved to California to teach at the University of California, Berkeley, and played with Turk Murphy.

In 1969, Snowden moved back to Philadelphia, where he died on May 14, 1973.

Discography[link]

• Harlem Banjo (Riverside, 1960) with Cliff Jackson, Tommy Bryant, Jimmy Crawford

References[link]

Cliff Jackson at the piano in 1947. Photo by William P. Gottlieb.

Clifton Luther "Cliff" Jackson (July 19, 1902, Culpeper, Virginia - May 24, 1970, New York City) was an American jazz stride pianist.

After playing in Atlantic City, Jackson moved to New York City in 1923, where he played with Lionel Howard's Musical Aces in 1924 and recorded with Bob Fuller and Elmer Snowden. He led his own ensemble, the Krazy Kats, for recordings in 1930, and following this group's dissolution he played extensively as a solo pianist in nightclubs in New York. During this time he also accompanied singers such as Viola McCoy, Lena Wilson, Sara Martin, and Clara Smith. He recorded with Sidney Bechet in 1940-41 and recorded as a soloist or leader in 1944-45, 1961, and 1969. As house pianist at Cafe Society from 1943-51 he was a great success; he also toured with Eddie Condon in 1946. He also played with Garvin Bushell (1950), J.C. Higginbotham (1960), and Joe Thomas (1962).

He was married to singer Maxine Sullivan. He died of heart failure in 1970.

As shown by many of his 1944-1945 solo piano recordings, such as "Limehouse Blues", Cliff Jackson was certainly one of the most powerful stride piano masters. His style was also marked by a very interesting contrapuntal-like bass work. His many left hand techniques are found explained in detail in Riccardo Scivales's method Jazz Piano: The Left Hand (Bedford Hills, New York: Ekay Music, 2005).

References[link]

• Scott Yanow, Cliff Jackson at Allmusic
• Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler, The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford, 1999, p. 345.