In memory of the Groogrux King.

Dave Matthews Band finally announced the title of their upcoming album. It’s Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King. I love it! Love it how they managed to use a word previously unheard of in it. “Grux” was a nickname of their late saxophonist LeRoi Moore, so “the Groogrux King” is obviously a reference to him. It’s fantastic that they managed to honor LeRoi in the title in such a shrewd manner.

Earlier this week, the band announced three non-festival shows for Europe in July. I ended up buying tickets to the shows in Paris and Amsterdam! First I thought just to catch the Amsterdam show and maybe a festival date, but noticing that the Paris show is in the famous l’Olympia, which is a very small venue for DMB to play, I just couldn’t miss it. So this year I’m blowing lots of cash by traveling to concerts, but right now it feels just what I want to do.

DMB fans may not have the best reputation in the States, but so far all the European ones I’ve met have been really nice. It’s so rarely when we get to see the band that we are genuinely happy about it when we do. Two years ago I managed to catch an acoustic show by Dave and Tim Reynolds, but not the full band. Now I’m very excited it’s finally happening, and I’m already looking forward to meeting up with other people going to the shows.

This week we also got the first glimpse of the new album. In this video Boyd Tinsley is playing the violin in the studio while Dave is lying on the couch. That sounds like good old style DMB to me, very promising for the new record!

During the years 1999 and 2000, Dave Matthews Band was recording a follow-up album to Before These Crowded Streets, which is regarded as their best work by many. These recordings were never officially released, and an album in a whole another style – Everyday – came to be their next studio album. However, after the release of Everyday, the material recorded was leaked to the Internet and is known by the name The Lillywhite Sessions. The unfinished record is highly regarded by many fans. This is one of my favorites of those songs, called Sweet Up And Down.