Dave Matthews Band has responded to allegations that longtime violinist Boyd Tinsley used his industry clout to sexually assault, harass, and groom a young musician. Originally published by Consequence of Sound on Thursday, the allegations were leveled by James Frost-Winn, a 28-year-old Seattle-based trumpet player who formerly worked with Tinsley in the band Crystal Garden in 2015 and 2016. Frost-Winn filed a lawsuit against Tinsley in Washington State on May 17th seeking $9 million in damages and alleging that Tinsley created a “hostile work environment” in which sex-based demands were intertwined with the band’s success.
Responding Thursday’s news, Dave Matthews Band told Consequence of Sound that Tinsley is “no longer a member of the band”. They added that they were “shocked by these disturbing allegations and we were not previously aware of them.”
Thursday’s report detailed Frost-Winn’s disturbing accusations, which go as far back as 2009. The story describes Tinsley’s attempts to groom Frost-Winn over many years by developing a friendship and working relationship with the young trumpeter. Frost-Winn also detailed numerous instances in which Tinsley sent him sexually suggestive and explicit text messages as well as one instance in which Frost-Winn allegedly woke up to find Tinsley masturbating next to him while grabbing his butt. (You can read the full report here).
As previously reported, Tinsley announced a hiatus from Dave Matthews Band on February 2nd of this year (which turns out to be the same day that Frost-Winn issued his first demand letter to settle his assault and harassment claims against Tinsley outside of court). At the time, the 54-year-old violinist tweeted, “I need to take a break from the band & touring 2 focus on my family & my health 4 a while”.
Dave Matthews first commented on Boyd Tinsley’s departure earlier this week—before the sexual assault and harassment allegations came to light—in an interview with Vulture. The Dave Matthews Band frontman explained, “I have a deep love for Boyd, and he has to deal with his stuff. In many ways I’m sure it would’ve been a lot easier for him to just say, ‘I’m good. Let’s go play.’ But you can’t just throw yourself away, your wellness away, because you play violin in a band. It doesn’t make any sense to do that.” Matthews also added that he didn’t know if Tinsley would be rejoining the lineup at a later date, though it now appears that the violinist has been officially removed from the band.