a) Jaye started out on the road to being a classical saxophone professor. Such a thing exists.
Along the way he studied classical guitar and composition. These last two things met up to give
Jaye some purpose. He became a singer-songwriter. On the Long Island singer-songwriter scene,
Jaye met Alli Collis, who is an amazing example of our species. Alli and David toured together until
all the money was gone. Then they married and started law school in Chicago. Though rarely now,
the pair can be seen out and about spreading their music. The music is about feeling: not about
attraction but about the twinge it stirs in the gut; not about injustice but the reactive grinding of
teeth; not about love but the lover's headlong plunge into the sea. It's damn near kinesthetic.
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b) My folks had some business in Germany, so I spent a bit of my childhood there. Not to
generalize, but German kids learn to play the recorder. So did I.
Back in the states, kids learn to play different instruments. Starting in 5th grade in NY, I played
saxophone. I chose saxophone because the Camel in the cigarette billboards played saxophone.
My grandpa left me his classical guitar. I took up the study of that instrument.
During high school I played solo singer-songwriter stuff and with bands. Who's Yo Daddy was a
pretty good ska band I was in. That was neat. Kids danced. I got to talk on the radio.
I went to school to learn to play saxophone very skillfully. Northwestern University is good for that.
So I went there. The football team had a good year while I was there. I played in a saxophone
quartet that won some competitions. The quartet members were in the final years of their respective
degree programs. We agreed to meet up in a year in order to take a government-sponsored
residency. The residency would have us teach and perform in a rural area of the U.S. Sounds cool,
right?
During the intervening year I picked up a masters degree at the University of Florida. I thought they
had a pretty good football team, but the other students disagreed. The coach was fired a couple
years later.
Also during the intervening year the U.S. adminstration decided the rural arts residency was not a
cool idea.
Since the quartet idea was over, I tried to join one of the military bands stationed in the D.C. area.
The Army band liked my saxophone playing. I'm allergic to walnuts, though, so I can't join the army.
Some say, "just as well."
I put everything into being a singer-songwriter. That was nice. I met Alli Collis on the music scene.
We moved to a farmhouse in Virginia and toured around from there. We met many nice and
talented people. We released records. My grand-uncle, who used to be a significant figure in the
music industry, tried to help me out with getting the record into the hands of arbiters of success. I
didn't gain traction. Perhaps my name was a hindrance. I was calling myself what my parents called
me: David Matthews. Visitors to Dave Matthews Band message boards called me several other
names. That's fine, though. Some of them also bought my record. In the end, Alli and I were not
good businesspersons. We ran out of money and decided to go to law school.
I attend law school at Northwestern University. I liked the football team when I was there as an
undergrad, so why not?