Dave Matthews fans know guitar virtuoso Tim Reynolds from the live CDs “Live at Luther College” and “Live at Radio City.” Several thousand saw the dynamic duo headline a concert in honor of the Dalai Lama last April at KeyArena.

But Saturday (Feb. 21), Reynolds will bring his main band, TR3, to Jazzbones. And recently I caught up with him to talk about Tibetan Buddhism, songs from TR3's new “Radiance” disc, and his roots in Charlottesville, Va., where he met Matthews and helped push him toward arena rockin' glory. Here are a few clips from that interview.

Part 1: The music he'll play this weekend with TR3

Part 2: Tibetan Buddhism and how he got involved with the Dalai Lama show

Part 3: Dave Matthews' early acting career, his role in getting him to start the Dave Matthews Band

Part 4: Touring and recording with the DMB this year, missing LeRoi Moore

Dave Matthews Band just announced summer tour dates, which include a three-night stand at (wait for it, wait it) the Gorge Amphitheatre. That would be the band's traditional Labor Day weekend concerts, which will take place on Sept. 4, 5 and 6 this year with G. Love & Special Sauce and the Yonder Mountain String Band opening up.

The tour will kick off on April 14 at New York's Madison Square Garden and wind down Oct. 2 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to the announcement. Other supporting bands recruited for this go around include the Hold Steady, Femi Kuti & the Positive Force, Umphrey's McGee, Old Crow Medicine Show, Jason Mraz, Donovan Earl Keen, Donavon Frankenreiter, Switchfoot and Robert Randolph & the Family Band.

Learn more about the tour and pre-sale info here. Meanwhile, DMB fans can also check out guitar virtuoso Tim Reynolds -- who will be joining the band on the road and in the studio for a new album this year -- on Saturday night (Feb. 21) at Jazzbones. Plus, I'll have some audio from my interview with Tim posted in the next couple of days.

The Dave Matthews Band will return with its first studio album in four years on April 14, the band's publicist announced today. The as yet untitled follow-up to 2005's "Stand Up" will be produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance), according to a related press release.

The band will also take the new songs on the road next spring. The band -- Matthews, drummer Carter Beauford, bassist Stefan Lessard, and violinist Boyd Tinsley -- will have support on the road from Tim Reynolds on guitar, Rashawn Ross on trumpet and Jeff Coffin, filling on saxophone for the late LeRoi Moore, who died last summer.

Here are the tour dates, with no local ones to speak of yet. But, hmmmm, wonder where the DMB will be spend next Labor Day Weekend? Haven't the foggiest.

Dave Matthews spring 2008 tour

April 14: New York (Madison Square Garden) with Roots
April 15: East Rutherford, New Jersey (Izod Center) with the Roots
April 17: Charlottesville, Virginia (John Paul Jones Arena) with Old Crow Medicine Show
April 18: Charlottesville, Virginia (John Paul Jones Arena) with Old Crow Medicine Show
April 20: Pelham, Alabama (Verizon Wireless Music Center) with Old Crow Medicine Show
April 22: Raleigh, North Carolina (Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion) with the Avett Brothers
April 24: Raleigh, North Carolina (Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion) with the Avett Brothers
April 25: Nashville, Tennessee (Vanderbilt Stadium) support to TBA
April 26: New Orleans, Louisiana (New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival)
April 28: Alpharetta, Georgia (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre At Encore Park) with the Avett Brothers
April 29: Alpharetta, Georgia (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre At Encore Park) with the Avett Brothers
May 1: The Woodlands, Texas (The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion) with the Avett Brothers
May 2: Dallas, Texas (Superpages.com Center) with the Avett Brothers
May 5: Albuquerque, New Mexico (Journal Pavilion) with the Avett Brothers
May 6: Phoenix, Arizona (Cricket Wireless Pavilion) with the Avett Brothers
May 8: Las Vegas, Nevada (MGM Grand Garden Arena) with Jason Mraz
May 9: Las Vegas, Nevada (MGM Grand Garden Arena) with Jason Mraz

Keep posted here.

Just read an update on the Dave Matthews Band's site about a LeRoi Moore memorial fund being set up to benefit charities the band's recently deceased sax player was passionate about. Click on the link for details.

Moore died Tuesday from injuries sustained in an ATV accident, in case you missed the news. DMB's tour, which will make its usual three-day stand at the Gorge on Labor Day weekend, is going on with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones saxophonist Jeff Coffin, according to a Rolling Stone report, which you can read here.

I've finally gotten a chance to start pulling clips out of my latest interview with Death Cab for Cutie guitarist, keyboard player and producer Chris Walla. And while our first exchange had little to do with the band's actual music, there were some funny bits related to playing with Dave Matthews and seeing the Dalai Lama at the Seeds of Compassion concert last month at KeyArena. Something about a "trained monkey" ruining his backstage experience.

Click here to listen. And check back later this week to hear what Chris had to say about "Narrow Stairs."

Tibet’s exiled religious leader, the Dalai Lama, was in Seattle preaching a message of compassion today, and some of the biggest names in rock royalty showed up for support.

The sold out crowd already knew that Dave Matthews and long-time collaborator Tim Reynolds would headline tonight’s benefit concert for Seeds of Compassion. And there had been mention of special guests, which turned out to be fellow local superstars Death Cab for Cutie.

But before that surprise addition was announced, the evening began with a Q & A session with Matthews and ”Dateline NBC” host Ann Curry interviewing the Dalai Lama onstage. The religious leader had a translator at his side, but language barriers still sometimes made the discussion difficult to follow. But the audience responded positively as the Dalai Lama spoke of the transcendent powers of art, the role media plays in fostering compassion and women leaders, among other topics.

The media plays an important role in either fostering positive change or worsening hostility, the Dalai Lama said at one point. “Intelligence and knowledge must combine with a sense of responsibility and a sense of morality,” he said. “Media is very important (to) the promotion of these values.”

His underlying theme was that individuals could change society by fostering forgiveness and compassion within first. “We can change our attitude (with) compassion through training,” he said. “If you have an enemy, if you treat (him or her) with compassion, there is a chance that one day that enemy will be your best friend.”

Later he said, “Forgiveness does not mean forget what happens. Remember what they have done (but) if you keep negative thoughts of them, that is the opposite of forgiveness.”

The crowd may have cheered loudest as the Dalai Lama discussed what he considered to be women’s greater aptitude for “compassion work,” adding that it was time for more women to assume leadership roles.

Matthews – one of the most unassuming and likeable superstars in rock -- copped to feeling a bit awkward later on during his acoustic performance with Reynolds.

“Earlier on, I hope you couldn’t tell, but I was a little bit nervous,” he said, in characteristic mumbly drawl. “Everyone was telling me to be myself, but myself was nervous.”

He also told a (possibly apocryphal) story of finding out he’d even be involved in the Q & A after fans who had read about it approached him at a co-op grocery and asked him if he was excited to talk to the holy leader. “I guess it was good that it was too late to back out of it,” he said, spawning laugher.

The set itself was pretty inspired. I’ve seen Matthews several times in solo acoustic mode; and Reynolds – with whom he has recorded two concert album’s, 1999’s “Live at Luther College” and last year’s “Live at Radio City” – significantly raised the ante. Reynolds reeled off intricate, crowd pleasing licks, occasionally punctuating them by banging on his guitar to add rhythm or by adding trippy pedal effects to the mix (most notably when he played the number “Betrayal” alone.)

Fans especially responded to a stretch of songs toward the end of the set, beginning with the poignant “Sister” (with Matthews remarking that his sister was actually somewhere in the arena) followed by the southern fried stomp of “Cornbread” and the melancholy blues of “Some Devil.” By the time the duo delivered the brassy, optimistic “Everyday,” clusters of fans were on their feet clapping and singing along.

I was actually more enamored with Death Cab for Cutie’s set, which was disappointingly short at about half an hour. The band played semi-unplugged (bassist and Puyallup native Nick Harmer was still electrified.) And an unplugged album is hopefully in their near future. Fan favorites, which included “405,” “Photobooth” and “Title and Registration” (see the full list below) lent themselves to acoustic treatment, with leader Ben Gibbard’s vocals sounding all the more crisp and cherubic.

Their set also included “Talking Bird,” a promising new song from their forthcoming album “Narrow Stairs,” which is due in May. Local fans will next get to see them Monday at the Admiral Theatre in Bremerton, Ben Gibbard’s hometown.

Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds set list
Seattle, KeyArena
April 11, 2008

Bartender
Old Dirt Hill
So Damn Lucky
Stay or Leave
Save Me
Cry Freedom
Gravedigger
Betrayal (Reynolds solo)
The Maker
Sister
Cornbread
Some Devil
Everyday
Where Are You Going?
Eh Hee
Dancing Nancies

Encore:
Lie in Our Graves

Death Cab for Cutie set list:

405
Your Heart is an Empty Room
Photobooth
Talking Bird
Title and Registration
Brothers on a Hotel Bed

The publicist for Seattle rock heavyweight Dave Matthews released his band's summer tour dates which -- surprise, surprise -- features a big, multi-night stand at Grant County's Gorge Amphitheatre. This year the DMB will perform there on Aug. 29, 30 and 31 with jam heroes O.A.R. opening.

Other dates are posted on the band Web site.

The Dalai Llama will "open" for Dave Matthews on April 11 at KeyArena. Sort of.

Matthews and long-time collaborator Tim Reynolds will headline an acoustic show billed as A Concert for Compassion, one of several events that will center around the Dalai Lama from April 11 to 15, Matthews announced on his fan site this week. And before the actual performance, Matthews, the Dalai Lama and others will engage in an on stage discussion about the role music plays in fostering compassion and building cultural, racial and religious bridges, Matthews announced on his Web site this week.

Tickets are set at $75 and will be available through Ticketmaster beginning 10 a.m. Saturday (Feb. 16). Proceeds will benefit the group Seeds of Compassion.

The hate mail people send me often falls into one of three categories.

There's the "you don't get the band I like because you only care about corporate music" crowd – which, strangely enough, has included fans of Godsmack and Dave Matthews.

There is the "you don't know what you're talking about, you should just stick to writing about gansta rap" crowd, which has apparently found reams of columns I've written endorsing gansta rap. (Funny, I don't remember writing those.)

Then, of course, there is the "you're just part of the grand liberal media conspiracy" crowd, which is most baffling since I get paid to spout off about Pearl Jam and Lily Allen, not John McCain and Barack Obama.

The hate mail below, which showed up in my inbox this morning, loosely fits the third category. It's in response to an "American Idol" column that ran in Friday's GO section.

> You are typical of the liberal 'Nazis' in this area
> that cannot tolerate anything they don't agree
> with...It's not enough that you don't like 'American
> Idol'....In your twisted view of the world, it must
> be DESTROYED because it doesn't fit your idea of
> entertainment....Never mind the fact that some true
> talent has been discovered on that show.....But the
> bottom line is, that you can always change the channel
> if you don't like what you're watching....That by the
> way, is called 'freedom of choice' in this
> country....Maybe you and your ignorant brethren should
> reread the Bill of Rights.........

OK, it bears repeating. This is about an "American Idol" column, which you can find here if you want to put things in full context. Bizarre!

Just got back from the Stones show at Qwest Field. They changed their set quite a bit since they played KeyArena last year. They did the floating stage thing again. They had giant inflatable lips, plenty of pyro and a cameo from opener Dave Matthews. It was all that and a bag o' grits.

It'll be a few hours yet until my full review shows up on the TNT's main Web page. Meanwhile, here's the set list to whet your appetites. And if you went, feel free to leave comments regarding what you thought. Cheers!

Rolling Stones set
Jumpin' Jack Flash
It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)
Let's Spend the Night Together
She Was Hot
Let It Bleed
Streets of Love
Midnight Rambler
Tumbling Dice
You Got the Silver (Keith Richards singing)
Little T & A (Richards singing)
Under My Thumb
Oh No, Not You Again
Start Me Up
Honky Tonk Women
Sympathy for the Devil
Paint It, Black
Brown Sugar

Encore
You Can't Always Get What You Want
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction