Stefan Lessard

Band: Dave Matthews Band
Gear: SVT-810AV, SVT-VR
Website: www.dmband.com

Bassist Stefan Lessard was sixteen years old when he joined the Dave Matthews Band in the late ’80s. Too young to get into the clubs DMB played in, Lessard had to sneak in through the back doors. Later accepted at the Virginia Commonwealth University to study jazz, he was forced to drop out due to the band’s rapidly growing popularity. Millions of albums sold and twelve Grammys later, the Dave Matthews Band is one of top five biggest draws on the world concert circuit.

The propulsion behind DMB’s unique commune of horns, drums, percussion, keys, violins and acoustic guitars is Lessard’s style-interchangeable bass lines, incorporating world beat, jazz, pop and folk rock. The live forum is where Lessard is better able to accommodate his engaging amalgam of music genres and improvisational skills. Pick any one of DMB’s fourteen live albums as an example.