Dave Matthews Band

When their breakout, hook-bait single "What Would You Say" plastered the airwaves in 1995, the Dave Matthews Band became a household name, at least among those households with a yen for jam-band grooves with a worldbeat flourish and tight pop polish. But while the single was new, the band had already spent years touring the country and carving out their sound — a work ethic they never gave up. Our Dave Matthews Band Basics brings you the best of the group's dedicated outpourings, from a free-flowing "Ants Marching" to a moody "The Space Between" to the textured rock edge of "American Baby."

Follow the Dave Matthews Band into Next Steps.

There are some bands who work better in the studio, some who live for the stage, and some — like the Dave Matthews Band — who have a crucial understanding of how the two work together to bring out the music's best. So while studio tracks, like the intimate ballad "Steady As We Go" and the jazzy tale "Rapunzel," offer snapshots of a time and place in the group's evolution, live tracks, like a soaring "The Idea of You" and a jamtastic "Granny," open a window onto the combo's more free-flowing creative instincts.

Nearly two decades' worth of playing, touring, and recording means nearly two decades' worth of great Dave Matthews Band music. It also means one loaded Deep Cuts playlist, packed with unjustly overlooked album tracks (the swirling strings of "So Right," a tempo-twisting "Hello Again"), and visitations from the band's indie past (a live version of "The Song That Jane Likes"). That's not to mention the organic, live interplay of cuts like "Help Myself," twice-as-nice collaborations — a wry "Sing Along" with Blue Man Group, a gorgeous "Iwoya" with Angélique Kidjo — and even some Christmas music, with a sweet seasonal "Christmas Song."

Singer and guitarist Dave Matthews was born in South Africa, but he and the Dave Matthews Band were bred for stardom on the stages of the States, steadfastly touring and recording to refine a sound that shook together world rhythms with homegrown grooves and smooth pop hooks. The indie celebration "One Sweet World" reveals a band already well into its own sonic bag — by the time the group found major-label success in the mid-'90s, they were ready and rarin' to go. Not much has changed since then, as the Dave Matthews Band continues to grow with their tunes, exploring everything from the fine and mellow come-on of "Crash Into Me" to the Celtic-flavored dance command "Two Step" to the hip-hop shaker "Work It Out" with Jurassic 5. We're right along with them, with an Essentials playlist that packs the best of their years into one serious set.