Matthews's older sister Anne, who lived in South Africa, was murdered by her husband in early 1994. The murder of his sister had a profound effect on Matthews's outlook on life and is referenced in some of his songs. Anne Matthews was survived by her two children, and they traveled to the United States following her death. Matthews and his younger sister Jane (after whom the Dave Matthews Band song "The Song That Jane Likes" is named) took responsibility for the children's upbringing. They reside in
Seattle. In a 2001 interview, Matthews stated that he was
agnostic. He joined the
Farm Aid board of directors in 2001, to serve alongside fellow musicians
Willie Nelson,
John Mellencamp and
Neil Young to raise money for family farmers in the United States.
Political activism Matthews supported
Barack Obama for president in 2008, both in the primaries and in the general election. On April 6, 2008, he and Tim Reynolds played a concert titled "Change Rocks" at Indiana University to encourage students to register to vote. The tickets were distributed by the Obama campaign. Questions regarding his citizenship were answered by advertisements and videos on YouTube, where he says he is a "real American" and a "real Virginian," stating that "real Virginians get out and vote." Although bereaved by the loss of band co-founder and saxophonist
LeRoi Moore on August 19, 2008, he and
Tim Reynolds played for the
Democratic National Convention delegates on Sunday, August 24 at Red Rocks. On September 21, 2009, Matthews stated that some of Obama's harsher critics were motivated by racism, and stated that he "sees it [racism] everywhere" in the United States. On May 10, 2012, Matthews entertained a sellout crowd at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle where Obama was hosting a campaign fundraiser. In a September 28, 2015, interview with
Rolling Stone, Matthews said that "when I hear someone like
Bernie Sanders talking, I think there's a hope." Matthews performed at a San Francisco rally for Sanders during the 2016 presidential primaries and later, during the general election campaign. He was a major donor to the 2017 gubernatorial campaign of progressive Charlottesville politician
Tom Perriello. On October 30, 2021, Matthews performed at a Democratic get out the vote event in
Charlottesville, Virginia with gubernatorial candidate
Terry McAuliffe. During the 2022 election campaign, Matthews performed at campaign events for Democratic candidates
Tim Ryan in Ohio and
John Fetterman in Pennsylvania. ==Awards and accolades==