In the wake of the racially charged violence in Charlottesville, VA last weekend, countless artists and public figures have spoken up to voice their opposition to the hateful alt-right agenda at the center of the conflict. One of the most vocal groups has, appropriately, been Dave Matthews Band, who have called the Virgina college town home for decades. The local heroes issued an official statement via the Dave Matthews Band’s Facebook page condemning the hateful violence. You can read the full statement below:
“Dave Matthews Band is heartbroken and disgusted by the acts of racism, violence, and domestic terrorism in our hometown this weekend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families of these hateful acts. This is not the Charlottesville we know and love; we will work hard, hand-in-hand with our community to help us all heal from this sickening display of hate. Hate speech disguised as free speech is cowardly and shameful. Such speech gives permission to the hateful acts we witnessed today; there is nothing pure or acceptable, or philosophical about Nazism and racism masked as heritage or cultural purity. The multicultural tapestry of America need to come together, acknowledge our difficult history and set out to move directly away from it toward an inclusive, kinder, more intelligent future.”
Yesterday, amid the frustration with President Trump’s apparent hesitation to entirely condemn White Supremacy and Nazism, DMB violinist Boyd Tinsley appeared on CNN to discuss his reactions to the unsettling situation and affirm that such hateful behavior is not what Charlottesville, VA is truly about. You can read some excerpts from Boyd’s CNN spot below:
On the true, diverse, tolerant nature of Charlottesville:
 “I have been upset, like, since it happened. I was coming back to Charlottesville, and I was at the airport, and just watching it going on, on TV, I was in absolute shock, you know? So, I wanted to say something to my Twitter followers, but I said I just had to digest this thing before I can even write anything about it. But I can’t believe it. I have never seen anything like this before, and this is like the most, I mean, unlikely places to have something like this, because Charlottesville’s such a diverse community. People here just love each other. I mean, everywhere you go, people are waving at you, saying hello. There’s so much going on in this city that, to see all this ugliness and hatred, like right here in the middle of my town, was like, you know — that really that really got me. And that just — it got me angry, and it’s gotten everybody in this community angry, and I think around the nation and probably even around the world.”
On his surprise at such a show of hate in his hometown:
“I honestly had no idea that that were that many of them, so I don’t think anybody had that idea that there would be so many of them. I mean, they sort of had four or three demonstrations in the past…They came to this park in the dead of night one time holding torches in this sort of–I don’t know what they call it–‘protest.’ And then they came back again for a Klan rally, which, you know, wasn’t as huge as this but still a traumatic thing on this city. And then they went to the University of Virginia last Friday night, you know, my alma mater, and they’re walking around there spreading hate, and then they come here to this park on Saturday. I don’t think anybody expected…that amount of hatred. We don’t believe in this. And all the people that came down to this, they were not from here. None of those people were from here. And, you know, so this is not Charlottesville. This is not what we’re about…This is a close-knit community here, and people…look out for each other. And to see something like this, people are compelled to come down and say, no, you cannot be here. This is our city.”
You can watch Boyd Tinsley’s entire conversation with CNN’s Brooke Baldwin below, via YouTube user Regina Rizzo:
[h/t – CNN]
While Dave Matthews Band continues their temporary live hiatus, fans can still catch Dave with guitarist Tim Reynolds at Dave and Tim Riviera Maya, an all-inclusive Mexican resort destination event set to take place  January 12-14, 2018 in Riviera Maya, MX. The three concerts will take place at the Barceló Maya Beach Resort, sitting on a mile-long stretch of white sandy beach that features breathtaking landscapes and pools scattered throughout the property.
For more information, or to purchase tickets, head to the event website.
