Thank You Dude Guy & DMB

[garagebrothers]

This will probably be a long and a strange post to many, but I needed to put this out there. As I've posted before, I've followed this band for 22 years and there is hardly a day that goes by that I am not listening to their music; however,I listen to it for several reasons. I'm 41 years old now and I've suffered from horrendous OCD and GAD since I was 4, a very long time and it's affected my life in more ways than I could ever count.

I've had a few breakdowns because of it, been hospitalized several times for it, spent two months at an OCD clinic, worked with some of the top OCD docs in the world, been involved in studies, and had doctors write papers about my brain, because it's something that they've never seen before and haven't been able to figure out a way to treat it using the regular types of therapy that are normally effective. I always say that my brain is so loud that it blocks my other senses to a degree. It always feels like I have gloves on because I can't feel things as I should because my brain is too focused on what's buzzing around in there.

My memory is terrible because I'm not in the present moment, I can't "hear" things the way I should because of how loud my head is and how much it's paying attention to what is going on inside. I'm just not present and in the moment 99.9% of the time. The best analogy that most people can relate to is this. You know when you are driving your car and then five minutes later you realize that you haven't been paying attention to the road and are like "Shit, I've been driving here and don't even remember the last few minutes!" Being lost like that is how I spend my life. I won't go into details about the few times in my life I've been able to break out of that for moments at a time, but I wanted to get to the point of this post.

I love this band and their music, hands down it's one of the things I love most in my life. Every day I listen to them for at least an hour with nothing else going on so that I can try my best to focus. Most of the time, it's just trying to listen solely to Carter's drums. Other times, it's Stefan's bass, or Roi's sax/flute, etc., and other times it's listening solely to Boyd. Tonight I listened to Busted Stuff and some live tracks, and it just clicked for the first time in my life. It wasn't just the music or trying to listen to individual instruments, the beauty of it all just made sense tonite. I could "hear" it, the amazing playing by each person, the absolute beauty of the music, and my head was quiet and focused. It was truly one of the best moments of my life, and I'm so thankful not only because I got a break from my incessantly loud brain, but because I grasped the music in a way I never have before. And part of that thanks goes to the people on here who have said that You Never Know is one of the band's best songs. I truly never really enjoyed it, before tonite.

After reading Dude Guy's thread the other nite, I watched some of his videos and thought that I would watch his YNK drumming video. First, he's a great drummer and I love his videos, but it made me appreciate Carter, and what he does, that much more. It made listening to their music all that more meaningful, and it brought me to an understanding of their music that I've never had before. So thank you to every one here for reading this long, rambling post. Thank you for the kind conversations about what songs you truly enjoy, thank you to those who got me to give YNK a real shot, thank you to Dude Guy for the video and his amazing drumming, and thank you to the band for such amazing music. It has given me more peace than anything else ever has in my life. Lastly, thank you for this board for being able to find others that love the band as much as I do, and for giving me a place to spill out all of this drivel!

[dontdrink36]

Paragraphs, man! Paragraphs!

[ExistenceNow]

Very touching post. Thanks for sharing that.

[dmbetc]

I broke up your post a little, hope you don't mind.

Amazing story!

[420th jimi]

Great story and I wish you all the best!

[garagebrothers]

Originally Posted by dontdrink36

Paragraphs, man! Paragraphs!

Sorry, my apologies for that.

[garagebrothers]

Originally Posted by ExistenceNow

Very touching post. Thanks for sharing that.

Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to read it.

[garagebrothers]

Originally Posted by dmbetc

I broke up your post a little, hope you don't mind.

Amazing story!

Not at all, I probably should have done that when I wrote it. Thank you for taking the time to read it and to edit it, I greatly appreciate it.

[garagebrothers]

Originally Posted by 420th jimi

Great story and I wish you all the best!

Thank you for reading and for the well wishes, that's very kind of you. Much appreciated!

[ToySoldier#34]

I like OP, and DMB, and Dude Guy

[garagebrothers]

Originally Posted by ToySoldier#34

I like OP, and DMB, and Dude Guy

Much appreciated, thank you.

[Melted]

Thank you for your story. We're all big DMB dorks here and we come from all walks of life. Peace be with you and rock on!

[Bellissimo]

Originally Posted by garagebrothers

This will probably be a long and a strange post to many, but I needed to put this out there. As I've posted before, I've followed this band for 22 years and there is hardly a day that goes by that I am not listening to their music; however,I listen to it for several reasons. I'm 41 years old now and I've suffered from horrendous OCD and GAD since I was 4, a very long time and it's affected my life in more ways than I could ever count.

I've had a few breakdowns because of it, been hospitalized several times for it, spent two months at an OCD clinic, worked with some of the top OCD docs in the world, been involved in studies, and had doctors write papers about my brain, because it's something that they've never seen before and haven't been able to figure out a way to treat it using the regular types of therapy that are normally effective. I always say that my brain is so loud that it blocks my other senses to a degree. It always feels like I have gloves on because I can't feel things as I should because my brain is too focused on what's buzzing around in there.

My memory is terrible because I'm not in the present moment, I can't "hear" things the way I should because of how loud my head is and how much it's paying attention to what is going on inside. I'm just not present and in the moment 99.9% of the time. The best analogy that most people can relate to is this. You know when you are driving your car and then five minutes later you realize that you haven't been paying attention to the road and are like "Shit, I've been driving here and don't even remember the last few minutes!" Being lost like that is how I spend my life. I won't go into details about the few times in my life I've been able to break out of that for moments at a time, but I wanted to get to the point of this post.

I love this band and their music, hands down it's one of the things I love most in my life. Every day I listen to them for at least an hour with nothing else going on so that I can try my best to focus. Most of the time, it's just trying to listen solely to Carter's drums. Other times, it's Stefan's bass, or Roi's sax/flute, etc., and other times it's listening solely to Boyd. Tonight I listened to Busted Stuff and some live tracks, and it just clicked for the first time in my life. It wasn't just the music or trying to listen to individual instruments, the beauty of it all just made sense tonite. I could "hear" it, the amazing playing by each person, the absolute beauty of the music, and my head was quiet and focused. It was truly one of the best moments of my life, and I'm so thankful not only because I got a break from my incessantly loud brain, but because I grasped the music in a way I never have before. And part of that thanks goes to the people on here who have said that You Never Know is one of the band's best songs. I truly never really enjoyed it, before tonite.

After reading Dude Guy's thread the other nite, I watched some of his videos and thought that I would watch his YNK drumming video. First, he's a great drummer and I love his videos, but it made me appreciate Carter, and what he does, that much more. It made listening to their music all that more meaningful, and it brought me to an understanding of their music that I've never had before. So thank you to every one here for reading this long, rambling post. Thank you for the kind conversations about what songs you truly enjoy, thank you to those who got me to give YNK a real shot, thank you to Dude Guy for the video and his amazing drumming, and thank you to the band for such amazing music. It has given me more peace than anything else ever has in my life. Lastly, thank you for this board for being able to find others that love the band as much as I do, and for giving me a place to spill out all of this drivel!

Funny, I have had the same experiences. I'm blown away by what Carter does.. I started watching this last night https://youtu.be/OyBgXxmpwCs?t=2141

I mean we've all known he's one of the best drummers in the world, but until you can actually separate the drumming from the songs, it's difficult to tell how amazing it really is. What's even more fascinating is how well Dave & Carter mesh.

I also love this band, and this community.

[paulg83]

Thank you for posting, OP. Just when these boards start to feel overwhelmingly cynical and hyper-critical, a post like this comes along and reminds you what is really important. Reminds you that this band has done and continues to do incredible things for people. And that can never be taken away from them. Much love.

[41crush]

Nice, nice story-keep listening and you'll keep hearing things you haven't heard before!!!

[misschung]

Wonderful post. Thank you for sharing!

[garagebrothers]

Originally Posted by paulg83

Thank you for posting, OP. Just when these boards start to feel overwhelmingly cynical and hyper-critical, a post like this comes along and reminds you what is really important. Reminds you that this band has done and continues to do incredible things for people. And that can never be taken away from them. Much love.

Thank you for the response. I agree with you on things being hyper-critical sometimes with the band, I'm guilty of it myself. But this band has done absolutely incredible things in their history. I can honestly say that their music has saved me more times that I could ever number. There are days that my head is moving so fast, and that things get so painful, that I'm not sure what to do. But then I can listen for an hour to the magic that Carter or Roi produce and it moves me to a better place that I couldn't get to by myself.

[garagebrothers]

Originally Posted by 41crush

Nice, nice story-keep listening and you'll keep hearing things you haven't heard before!!!

Thanks for the response, and for the advice. That is one of the things that I love about listening to them, is that you really do always hear things that you've never heard before. That's why I think I'm going to start collecting as many shows as possible so that I can just put on something different all the time because then what I haven't heard before could literally be endless. Thanks again.

[garagebrothers]

Originally Posted by misschung

Wonderful post. Thank you for sharing!

Thank you, I appreciate that.

[mthawk07]

The YNK drumming video is super impressive.

[rkm1073]

Really good post, thank you for sharing. I am a similar age (42) and have also listened to the band obsessively, although it's only been 17 years for me, so I still feel like a newbie.

I actually got into the band by way of Dave and Tim’s ‘Live at Luther College’ album. I think I knew about the Dave Matthews Band through Crash and Ants Marching on the radio, but it didn't land on me until I heard how much emotion Dave was able to express with one voice and two guitars. I listened to that album (through a friend) a few times before I made the connection that he's the same guy in the Dave Matthews Band…and this led me to eventually discover the genius of Carter Beauford.

Dave Matthews is the soul of the Dave Matthews Band, but without Carter Beauford, they would be just a good band. With Carter, it becomes something else entirely. I'm always thinking in my head of ways to describe Carter to other people so that they might be able to hear what I hear. In the Dude interview, Stephan describes how good he is in the pocket and how he learned (after many years) to connect to him there. I've often wondered if there's a scientific instrument that can measure time where each second has 1000 parts (i.e. milliseconds). Then if we could show that Carter's beat lands exactly in the middle, to a thousandth degree of accuracy, every time.

See what I mean, I can't even describe that well. I just know that when I focus in on Carter, I can sense the perfection. And by being perfect, all the time, it allows the rest of the band to exist and to create. And it's not even like he just plays every song the same way every time (though he's capable of it). Instead, if another band member expresses a musical idea, he's right there beneath them.

Boyd recently said that he will have a thought and go off in a certain musical direction and he'll realize that Carter knew what he was going to do before he started doing it. Can you imagine being in a personal relationship with someone who connects to you that well? I'm just grateful that we know that this level of connectedness is even possible.

I had the luxury of sitting in the 7th row and about 10 seats in from the left side of the stage at West Palm a few weeks ago. I therefore had a perfect view of Carter. I spent almost the entire show just watching him in awe. Of course his playing was perfect, but he is also so joyful. He's always smiling and he's always directly positive energy to Dave and the rest of the band both during and in between songs.

This is really the Carter Beauford band featuring Dave Matthews.

One side note - I still miss LeRoi. LeRoi and Carter had a special relationship that predates Dave. Jeff is awesome, but Carter and LeRoi were able to create music that touched the deepest part of me.

But back to your original post, I am also OCD to some extent, although certainly not to the same degree. But whenever I'm feeling particularly anxious (pretty often), I can almost always find solace in focusing on Carter's playing.

Carter is somehow connected to the mathematical nature of the universe. God plays music through math and Carter echoes God through his precise playing and by creating the pocket. I almost never feel like I'm the pocket with anything, so again, I'm mostly happy just to know that it's possible and that we can access it by listening to the music.

I've since found discovered this level of art in other places. Now that I understand (to some degree) what to listen for, I can find other musicians (and artists in general) who create at the level of Carter. But because I learned it from him first, Carter is special.

I have kids now, a boy and a girl. You won't be surprised that the boy's name is Carter.

[RSSR]

Originally Posted by rkm1073

Really good post, thank you for sharing. I am a similar age (42) and have also listened to the band obsessively, although it's only been 17 years for me, so I still feel like a newbie.

I actually got into the band by way of Dave and Tim’s ‘Live at Luther College’ album. I think I knew about the Dave Matthews Band through Crash and Ants Marching on the radio, but it didn't land on me until I heard how much emotion Dave was able to express with one voice and two guitars. I listened to that album (through a friend) a few times before I made the connection that he's the same guy in the Dave Matthews Band…and this led me to eventually discover the genius of Carter Beauford.

Dave Matthews is the soul of the Dave Matthews Band, but without Carter Beauford, they would be just a good band. With Carter, it becomes something else entirely. I'm always thinking in my head of ways to describe Carter to other people so that they might be able to hear what I hear. In the Dude interview, Stephan describes how good he is in the pocket and how he learned (after many years) to connect to him there. I've often wondered if there's a scientific instrument that can measure time where each second has 1000 parts (i.e. milliseconds). Then if we could show that Carter's beat lands exactly in the middle, to a thousandth degree of accuracy, every time.

See what I mean, I can't even describe that well. I just know that when I focus in on Carter, I can sense the perfection. And by being perfect, all the time, it allows the rest of the band to exist and to create. And it's not even like he just plays every song the same way every time (though he's capable of it). Instead, if another band member expresses a musical idea, he's right there beneath them.

Boyd recently said that he will have a thought and go off in a certain musical direction and he'll realize that Carter knew what he was going to do before he started doing it. Can you imagine being in a personal relationship with someone who connects to you that well? I'm just grateful that we know that this level of connectedness is even possible.

I had the luxury of sitting in the 7th row and about 10 seats in from the left side of the stage at West Palm a few weeks ago. I therefore had a perfect view of Carter. I spent almost the entire show just watching him in awe. Of course his playing was perfect, but he is also so joyful. He's always smiling and he's always directly positive energy to Dave and the rest of the band both during and in between songs.

This is really the Carter Beauford band featuring Dave Matthews.

One side note - I still miss LeRoi. LeRoi and Carter had a special relationship that predates Dave. Jeff is awesome, but Carter and LeRoi were able to create music that touched the deepest part of me.

But back to your original post, I am also OCD to some extent, although certainly not to the same degree. But whenever I'm feeling particularly anxious (pretty often), I can almost always find solace in focusing on Carter's playing.

Carter is somehow connected to the mathematical nature of the universe. God plays music through math and Carter echoes God through his precise playing and by creating the pocket. I almost never feel like I'm the pocket with anything, so again, I'm mostly happy just to know that it's possible and that we can access it by listening to the music.

I've since found discovered this level of art in other places. Now that I understand (to some degree) what to listen for, I can find other musicians (and artists in general) who create at the level of Carter. But because I learned it from him first, Carter is special.

I have kids now, a boy and a girl. You won't be surprised that the boy's name is Carter.

All the people here who are serious drummers time after time express Carter's mastery/genius and have him as a tier 1 drummer in the history of rock and roll, and so I adhere to their expertise. But at times, I wonder we would have all known about him if he didn't end up meeting Dave, who I feel is a historic world class songwriter.