My Dave Matthews Letter

If you didn't know the story, I thought I would share this letter we sent to Dave Matthews:

I am one of many millions of Dave Matthews Band and Friends along with my husband Jon. We attended our 1st concert together at Brown’s Island back in ’94 and have attended many since then from Dave & Tim at VT’s Burress Hall, Crash Debut party at Traks in Charlottesville, concerts at Duke & Roanoke College and many concerts at Walnut Creek & Nissan Pavilion. The music has been something we have shared together since we were high school sweethearts and have loved throughout the years.

Not only have I enjoyed the music, I’ve always been rather proud to love a band that was involved in such important causes as fighting global warming, showing support for the victims/survivors of the Virginia Tech shootings and most recently Dave’s commitment to supporting a Presidential Candidate. When we heard Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds were playing a benefit concert for Barack Obama at the Siegel Center in Richmond, we knew that we wanted to attend despite the fact I was 34 weeks pregnant with twins. We were both excited for the opportunity to hear Dave & Tim, but also to hear what Dave had to say about Obama.
As we were sitting in the audience, my twins started moving with the beat of the music, and I felt as excited as I was listening to the music and laughing along with Dave’s comments. I too believed that the “screams of celebration” from around the world would be “audible without microphones” should Obama be elected. That night, I was truly inspired by Dave’s commitment to be apart of the larger cause and to so willingly offer his time in support of a great cause. During the evening, listening to Dave, I thought of what I could offer in support of the world and felt very thankful for the night.

Later that evening (thankfully at home), my water broke. Within 5 hrs of the concert, my twin boys arrived. I’d like to think that they too were thrilled with the excitement in the air and decided to make an early debut. Since my firstborn’s name is Charles “David,” we felt it fitting that we captured some of the evening with Dave & Tim when naming our twins. On Monday, Oct. 27th, we welcomed both William Patrick and Matthew Bradshaw to the world.

Thanks again to Dave Matthews, Tim Reynolds and the whole band for many great memories over the years and inspiring us all to be more.

Sally Nystrom