Leroi

I was shocked when I found out Leroi Moore passed away yesterday. I had gone to see the Dave Matthews Band in Charleston on July 4th and from most indications it looked like he would be alright. Apparently there were complications from an accident he had and he unexpectedly died yesterday at the age of 46.

I find it sad when anyone passes away, but I actually felt very emotional towards his passing. The music he helped create is such a part of who I am today. And I know a lot of people say things like that, but I didn’t just listen to DMB music, I played it too. Just look at the walls in my room, I’m 27, and my walls are still plastered with my heros. I wanted to, and still want to be, what they are to music today. It doesn’t matter that they don’t have a lot of radio “hits”.  They don’t care. I don’t care. What I care about this band. I want them to do well because they good guys, and they care about what they give to us. I want to treat music they way they treat music . . . as a caretaker of the art. I can’t even quantify how many hours I’ve spent listening to their music. They were the first band where I listened to the entire album. I mean, if I could take five records to a desert island, three of them would probably be Dave Matthew Band records. And to think when they first came out I couldn’t stand them.

See, they care about their fans, which is evident in the thousands upon thousand of people that go to every show. Each show is different. Every solo is changed. That is how music should be. Everyone wanted to watch them experiment and hear something beautiful. Jazz with rock, rock with pop, music with soul. The sax and the violin together.  It is an amazing experience.

There has never been a member of any band that I held so dearly pass away. It is a weird feeling and I don’t know what to take away from it. I’m not his brother, or band mate, or friend.  I didn’t know him. But that is what music does to you in a way so many other arts can’t do.  It isn’t like a painting where you can’t really see the process. With music you attach your own memories to the sounds that other people make, and you take them with you through time.

So I guess what I’m saying is thank you Leroi.  Thanks for wailing on that sax. Thanks for inputing yourself and your soul into what I do. See you in another life, brother.

Josh

Tags: Dave Matthews Band, Leroi Moore