DMB Offer Free Download

04/15/09 2:23pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Dave Matthews Band's first studio album in four years, Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King, will be released on June 2 through RCA.

The group are offering a free download of its first single, "Funny The Way It is," through their website for one week.

The follow-up to 2005's Stand Up was produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance). Singer/guitarist Dave Matthews designed the artwork for the album, which pays tribute to the band's late saxophonist LeRoi Moore, who passed away last summer while the band were recording in Charlottesville, Va. and Seattle.

"When Roi died, it shook the whole band and left us saying, 'What do we do now?' says Matthews. "We knew that first of all, we had to finish this record that he was already in love with.

"So all of us went back in with the attitude 'We can't mess around with this one, because this is an ode.'"

The band began recording again earlier this year in New Orleans and used most of the material Moore recorded during the previous sessions. Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King also features contributions from violinist Boyd Tinsley, guitarist Tim Reynolds, trumpeter Rashawn Ross, bassist Stefan Lessard and drummer Carter Beauford.

Dave Matthews Band will perform on NBC's Today show on June 5 and will tour in support of Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King through most of this year. You can see them here:

April 15 East Rutherford, NJ @ IZOD Center w/Eli "Paperboy" Reed And The True Loves
April 17-18 Charlottesville, VA @ John Paul Jones Arena w/Old Crow Medicine Show
April 20 Pelham, AL @ Verizon Wireless Music Center w/Old Crow Medicine Show
April 22 Raleigh, NC @ Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion w/The Avett Brothers
April 24 Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre w/The Avett Brothers
April 25 Nashville, TN @ Vanderbilt Stadium w/Jason Mraz and Robert Earl Keen
April 26 New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
April 28-29 Alpharetta, GA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park w/The Avett Brothers
May 1 Spring, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion w/The Avett Brothers
May 2 Dallas, TX @ Superpages.com Center w/The Avett Brothers
May 5 Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion w/The Avett Brothers
May 6 Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Wireless Pavilon w/The Avett Brothers
May 8-9 Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena w/Jason Mraz
May 27 Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center w/Robert Randolph & The Family Band
May 29-30 Boston, MA @ Fenway Park w/Willie Nelson & Family
June 5-6 Hartford, CT @ Comcast Theatre w/Femi Kuti & The Positive Force
June 9 Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre w/Femi Kuti & The Positive Force
June 10 Montreal, QC @ Parc Jean-Drapeau w/Femi Kuti & The Positive Force
June 12-13 Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center w/The Hold Steady
June 16 Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center w/The Hold Steady
June 17 Maryland Heights, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre w/The Hold Steady
June 19-20 Burgettstown, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion w/The Hold Steady
June 25-26 London, England @ O2 Academy Brixton
June 28 London, England @ Hyde Park (Hard Rock Calling)
June 29 Wolverhampton, England @ Wolverhampton Civic Hall
July 1 Paris, France @ L'Olympia
July 2 Werchter, Belgium @ Rock Werchter Festival
July 4 Montreux, Switzerland @ Montreux Jazz Festival
July 5 Lucca, Italy @ Piazza Napoleone
July 7 Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Heineken Music Hall
July 10 Bilbao, Spain @ Bilbao BBK Live
July 11 Lisbon, Portugal @ Optimus Alive! 09
July 18-19 East Troy, MI @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre w/Umphrey's McGee
July 21-22 Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater w/Old Crow Medicine Show
July 24 Hershey, PA @ Hersheypark Stadium w/Jason Mraz
July 25 Detroit Lakes, MI @ 10,000 Lakes Festival
July 28 Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre w/Old Crow Medicine Show
July 29 Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center w/Old Crow Medicine Show
July 31-Aug. 1 Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center w/Hill Country Revue
Aug. 4 Syracuse, NY @ Alliance Bank Stadium w/Donovan Frankenreiter
Aug. 5 Bethel, NY @ Bethel Woods Center For The Arts w/Donovan Frankenreiter
Aug. 7 Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater w/Donovan Frankenreiter
Aug. 8 Bristow, VA @ Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge w/Donovan Frankenreiter
Aug. 12 Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre w/Robert Earl Keen
Aug. 14-15 West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre w/Robert Earl Keen
Aug. 29 San Francisco, CA @ Golden Gate Park (Outside Lands Music And Arts Festival)
Aug. 30 Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center
Sept. 1 West Valley City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre w/Yonder Mountain Spring Band
Sept. 4-6 George, WA @ The Gorge Amphitheatre w/G. Love & Special Sauce and Yonder Mountain String Band
Sept. 12 Chula Vista, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre w/Switchfoot
Sept. 13 Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphtheatre w/Switchfoot
Sept. 19 Scranton, PA @ Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
Sept. 22-23 Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center w/Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Sept. 25 Des Moines, IA @ Principal Park w/Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Sept. 26 Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre w/Willie Nelson & Family
Sept. 29 Little Rock, ARK @ Dickey-Stephens Park w/Gregg Allman
Sept. 30 Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center w/Willie Nelson & Family
Oct. 2 Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center w/Willie Nelson & Family

Here are the songs on Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King:

"Grux"
"Shake Me Like A Monkey"
"Funny The Way It Is"
"Lying In The Hands Of God"
"Why I Am"
"Dive In"
"Spaceman"
"Squirm"
"Alligator Pie (Cockadile)"
"Seven"
"Time Bomb"
"My Baby Blue"
"You And Me"