Simple Beginnings
I think to draw a fair picture of my infatuation with acoustic music, you have to confess when and where it took root. My dad’s business used to publish Acoustic Guitar Magazine back in the 90’s when it was the best source of media. Every month, he would plop down a warm copy of the latest issue on my bed and I would take a week to go through each page. The ads were delicious. Ani Difranco’s Alvarez Ad, Dunlop’s glass slide pictorial, Warren Haynes standing in a pile of old Gibson’s. Man, what a dream.
I remember the first one. He came in and dropped this one off after work.
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynold 1999 Acoustic Guitar Magazine
I thumbed through this casually, didn’t have a clue who Dave Matthews was or even which guy he was on the cover. It sat on my dresser for a year before I ever looked at the tabs provided for “Crash into Me”
I read through the interview with Dave and Tim, more than a few times. You get a sense of two bro’s that speak in telepathy and finish each others musical sentences, while telling fart jokes. Every 12 year old’s dream right? Over the course of a year, I would scour the notes to the song provided without having ever heard it. I got intimidated. It was far from the cowboy chords, the easy 1,4,5 round abouts of 1996. It was basically the same chord with a moving bass note but in a strum pattern that wasn’t mathing with words. Beaten, I begged to take a ride to Wal-Mart and find a CD with the song on it. They had only one disc (set) with the song. It was this one:
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynold Live at Luther College 1998
Alright, first of all. This 2 disc set is a classic still to this day. But, the real art is the intro. This introduction consists of a progressively louder crowd, rising to greet two friends about to have a close conversation with you for the next 3 hours. One Sweet World is the display of all that you didn’t expect from two guitars are a single voice. I played this over and over again trying to figure out the riffs, the timing, how to sing over it and ultimately accepting that it’s never going to sound that way without a Tim Reynolds.
Sidebar: It is straight-up NOT a good idea to embrace Dave & Tim as a first time guitar player. You’re going to listen a lot more than you play. I think I quit music 3 times during Stream. Just, visit after you’ve got the chords and stuff down. This album is about what’s possible, not learning.
Making your way to the song you came for, you’re hit with 4 others that are more intricate, perfectly executed and creates an imagination in anyone interested. You land on Crash, the entire show slows down and you accept that this is a perfect record right after the end of the first disc. The second disc is a conversation and finishes with a headshot of madness that you never truly accept as two guitars and a vocalist. This two disc set remains with me to this day and is responsible for a lifetime of chasing the opportunity to play for people.
While this story is my own, it’s not the best one or even unique to me. Everyone, and I mean the whole planet, that picked up an acoustic instrument from 1994-2005, had done so because of something these two did that night in Iowa. The idea of simplifying big bands into solo/duo arrangements has fascinated me ever since. I love the challenge of holding onto the bones of a song, figuring out which parts are critical to make it unique, which parts are just icing and what happens when your voice has to carry the team. My taste in design is buried in all of that.
I hope you all get a chance to look under the hood on this and share some of your D&T finer moments. Hit me up in the contact with your stories.
-mB