Boyd Tinsley
| Boyd Tinsley | |
|---|---|
Tinsley playing an electric violin in July 2008
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| Background information | |
| Born |
May 16, 1964 Charlottesville, Virginia, United States |
| Genres | Rock, Classical music, Alternative rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, athlete, poet |
| Instruments | Violin Electric Violin Viola Mandolin Vocals Guitar |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Labels | RCA |
| Associated acts |
Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews & Friends Alanis Morissette Bela Fleck and the Flecktones |
| Website | davematthewsband.com |
Boyd Calvin Tinsley (born May 16, 1964) is an American violinist and mandolinist who performs as a member of the Dave Matthews Band. Within the band, Tinsley has collaborated in writing songs, harmonizing, and singing backing vocals.
Tinsley was raised in a musical family. His father was a choir director and his uncle a bassist who also played the trumpet for local bands. He grew up in the same neighborhood as future Dave Matthews Band drummer Carter Beauford and their late saxophonist, LeRoi Moore. He was not an avid music lover or player. He learned violin by accidentally signing up for a middle school orchestra class, under the impression that guitar would be taught. The idea of learning the violin, however, was interesting enough for him that he stuck with it.
As a teenager, he took part in forming the Charlottesville-Albemarle Youth Orchestra, in which future Dave Matthews Band member and bassist Stefan Lessard also took part several years later. He studied under Isidor Saslav, concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Saslav offered him the chance to move to Baltimore to work with him more closely. Tinsley was 16 at the time, and declined the offer. Tinsley's interest began to transfer from orchestral music to popular music, listening to other musicians who performed rock, blues, and jazz.
He attended the University of Virginia, where he became a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. While there, he started participating in regular musical jam sessions. In the early 1990s, he formed the Boyd Tinsley Trio, which lasted only a couple of years.
In 1991 Dave Matthews asked him to play violin on the song "Tripping Billies" with his band for their demo tape. Tinsley eventually joined the band, abandoning the Boyd Tinsley Trio, and has remained with them to date.
Tinsley has a small side career of endorsing products including Twix,JanSport, and Tommy Hilfiger.
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