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Band History | Dave Matthews | Boyd Tinsley | Carter Beauford | LeRoi Moore | Stefan Lessard
The youngest member of Dave Matthews Band, Stefan Kahil Lessard, was born in Southern Califorinia on June 4th, 1974 and would be the oldest of the three children of Ron and Janaki Lessard. Stefan grew up with two very musically talented parents. His father, also a bass player, has a BA in music composition from Berklee College of Music, and still performs today. His mother had a recording career in Spain in the 1960s as a singer. Stefan spent many of his early years moving from place to place with his family. Some of that time was spent living in a mobile home but despite what is often suggested of the Lessards' parents, they were not "hippie potheads." Actually, the family embraced a healthy lifestyle with yoga and vegetarianism.
In 1984, the Lessard family moved a bit outside of Charolettesville, Virginia. It was there Stefan began playing music and soon developed a passion for it. Later that year, the family moved again. This time the trek was to Richmond, Virginia where they stayed for 3 years. Later they traveled to Madison, Wisconsin where Ron Lessard ran a huge music store. They stayed in Madison for a couple years and then headed back to the Charlottesville area in 1989. There Stefan enrolled in the Tandem School, where he could go to school for music. There he met up with his teacher John D'earth, who later would be responsible for recommending Stefan to Dave Matthews as the much needed bass player for the band.
At Tandem, the class formed a band named the Yabanci Jazzites. However, the next year, most of the students in the class dropped out and Stefan continued with a class of beginners. D'Earth recalls that Stefan was extremely encouraging to the other students and he marveled at the wisdom and spirit Stefan posessed at such a young age.
After joining teaming up with Dave Matthews in late 1990, he started playing more and more gigs with the band, and as their popularity grew, it became difficult to keep going to classes. Stefan dropped out of Tandem in his Senior year. He did actaully get his G.E.D. and was also accepted into the music program at the Virginia Commonwealth University for jazz performance. However, he only went to school for 10 days in 1991 before he decided to leave school to stick with the band.
Stefan plays with a seriousness and maturity far beyond his age. He adds a touch of youth to the group and helps expose the rest of the band to musical influences they would, most likely, have not otherwise encountered. Because you hear so little about this amazing bassist, it's hard to comprehend how much more than playing Stefan adds to the music of DMB.
Bio written by Jim Powell
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