Dave Matthews Band iTunes Pass Launches This Week!

The Dave Matthews Band iTunes Pass launched yesterday, April 21, on the iTunes Store. With iTunes Pass, music fans can get new and exclusive music, video, remixes, art and other content from their favorite artists over a set period of time, delivered to their iTunes library as soon as it's available.

Fans who purchase the Dave Matthews Band iTunes Pass ($19.99) beginning today will receive an instant download of the band’s latest single, “Funny the Way It Is,” and the new album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, as soon as it’s released on June 2nd. They’ll also receive plenty of additional content from now through September, including Scenes from Big Whiskey, a documentary on the making of the record, exclusive bonus music (including b-sides and live music from the band’s Spring and Summer 2009 tours), two tracks in advance of the album’s release (“Shake Me Like A Monkey” and “Lying In the Hands of God”), a download of the “Funny the Way It Is” music video, a deluxe digital booklet of the album artwork, drawn by Matthews, and more.

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, which was produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance), is the follow-up to 2005’s Stand Up, the fourth consecutive Dave Matthews Band studio album to enter The Billboard 200 at No. 1. With its celebratory spirit and lyrical ruminations on fragile mortality, Big Whiskey pays tribute to the band’s saxophonist, LeRoi Moore, and features some of his last recordings. Moore passed away in the summer of 2008 while the group was on tour and midway through making the album. The remaining founding members – Carter Beauford (drums), Stefan Lessard (bass), Dave Matthews (vocals, guitar) and Boyd Tinsley (violin) – kicked off the group’s Spring 2009 tour last week at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The group, named the top-drawing American band in the world by Billboard, will perform on NBC’s “TODAY” show on Rockefeller Plaza on June 5th.

Check out the band’s new single, “Funny The Way It Is” here.

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King hits stores on June 2nd.

Dave Matthews Band Release Free Download Of New Single

Through a “tweet” on Twitter.com DAVE MATTHEWS BAND have announced that they are giving away their new single, “Funny the Way It Is,” as a free download for one week. Dave (@davejmatthews) and bassist Stefan Lessard (@slessard) are both very active on Twitter, keeping touch with their huge fanbase and decided it was the perfect place to get the word out. The song comes off their upcoming album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, which hits stores on June 2^nd. It will be the band's first studio album since the death of saxophonist LeRoi Moore last summer. The "GrooGrux King" in the album title refers to Moore’s nickname within the group. Matthews created all of the artwork for Big Whiskey, including the richly detailed cover illustration that puts a GrooGrux spin on New Orleans’ traditional Mardi Gras parades while evoking the joy and the sorrow expressed in the album’s songs. Matthews has designed logos and other elements in the past, but this is the first time he has created the entire packaging for a Dave Matthews Band album.

Guitarist Tim Reynolds will play on the album, making it his first recording with DMB since 1998’s Before These Crowded Streets. The album was produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Goo Goo Dolls). Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King will also feature the recording debuts of Rashawn Ross who joined the band in 1996 but hadn’t played on any of their studio releases yet and Moore’s replacement, saxophonist Jeff Coffin who also is a member of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. DMB just released a trailer for the new album which can be seen below.

Dave Matthews Band kicks off its 2009 tour tonight with a show at Madison Square Garden in New York City and will be on the road through October 2^nd. Please visit http://www.davematthewsband.com for a full itinerary of the band’s spring and summer tours – and also check the website for the launch of the Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King pre-order later this week. Fans who pre-order the CD at the band’s website will receive the group’s upcoming live album, Live Trax 15, for free. Live Trax 15 captures the group’s August 9^th, 2008 show at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, WI, one of the most fan-requested shows for release from last year’s summer tour.

Download “Funny the Way It Is” for FREE here all this week: www.rcarecords.com/dmbfreedownload

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King is out June 2^nd. View Album Trailer Here