He may be the namesake of the Dave Matthews Band, but the South African-born singer/songwriter is really a singular talent. Matthews proved as much with the long-awaited release of his solo debut, Some Devil, in September 2003.

When Matthews finally decided to stand on his own without the aid of his long-time band, he had already clearly established himself as one of the most successful artists to emerge from the '90s rock scene.

Matthews and company first gained noticed in the early '90s by playing an accessible mix that drew on influences ranging from the world-beat stylings of Sting and Paul Simon to the jam-band ethos of the Grateful Dead. Road warriors from the beginning, DMB was a constant fixture on the college circuit in the early '90s, spreading sufficient word-of-mouth among young fans to make the band's self-released 1993 debut, Remember Two Things, an underground hit. It wasn't long before the major labels came knocking. The band ultimately signed with RCA, which reissued its debut, and released Under The Table And Dreaming in 1994. The album proved that the band's early success was no fluke, spawning the hit single "What Would You Say" and going on to multi-platinum sales heights. The single also earned the group a Grammy Award for best rock group vocal performance.

Matthews and company became even more popular with the release of Crash in 1996. The album debuted at No. 2 on the charts and soon ringed up multi-platinum sales thanks to the seductive single "Crash Into Me" and the band's near-constant touring. The band's rabid fan base created a market for bootleg recordings, which Matthews and his management attempted to squelch with aid of the federal government. DMB also tried to beat the bootleggers at their own game with the release of 1997's Live At Red Rocks 8.15.95, the first in a series of official live albums released on the band's own Bama Rags imprint.

When Matthews and company released their next studio album, Before These Crowded Streets, in 1998, some saw it as an attempt by the band to capture the improvisatory nature of the group's live set. As a result, it was the band's least commercial-sounding releases to date. Nonetheless, it became DMB's first No. 1 album, debuting on top of the sales chart.

For his next release, Matthews took a step back, issuing Live At Luther College, recorded in 1996 not with the band, but with friend and session guitarist Tim Reynolds. The two-CD set featured Matthews's songs stripped bare, giving fans an early glimpse into how a Matthews solo disc would sound.

The Dave Matthews Band later regrouped for 2001's Everyday and 2002's Busted Stuff and some more official live recordings. However, by the fall of 2003 and the release of Some Devil--which features Matthews backed by Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and longtime collaborator Reynolds--some fans may have found new meaning to his 2002 hit "Where Are You Going?"

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