LeRoi

As many of you know, one of my favorite bands on the planet is Dave Matthews Band. Well, considering I follow them very closely and have gotten to know the band very well over the past few years, I have to say it struck a chord in me when I found out that founding member and saxophonist LeRoi Moore died Tuesday afternoon in LA. In most circumstances anyone would cancel the show they had scheduled for the upcoming evening, but in a suprising move, DMB did not. They took the stage at the Staples Center at 8:00, just like they always do, seeking the ultimate healing in what they love, music.



For those of you that don't know, the band was formed in 1991 in Charlottesville, VA. If this was me, and my brother, because let's face it, in a band, you are a family, that I had spent the last 17 years of my life died, I don't know if I could take the stage for a long time after, much less the NIGHT of his passing. I already have tremendous respect for DMB as musicians, but I'm in awe that they could go on after losing a brother like that.



The main thing I mourn is Leroi's eternal future. As far as I can tell, the members of DMB are not Christians. Dave Matthews is an agnostic, and the other 5 members do not give anyone reason to think that they are Christians. Everyone in DMB has been blessed by God with the ability to perform musically, and to think that people who play such beautiful music could end up enternally separated from God kills me inside.



It doesn't have to be this way. Christians are called to be a voice to the lost, and it hurts me so much to see someone so blessed and so well off, fail to acknowledge where it has all come from. Leroi's death has put it into perspective for me that we should not put off witnessing to others. Leroi was 46, too young to go. Granted his death stemmed from an ATV accident suffered in June, but nevertheless. God calls us to be witnesses TODAY, because those souls that are out there to be won may not be there tomorrow. We cannot be apathetic, because when we are, that is when souls are lost.



Listening to LeRoi play the sax showed me what real music sounds like, and it is very distant from the mainstream stuff out there today. I can only pray to my Father in heaven that he's jamming on the sax with the Heavenly host right now.



If anyone has never heard of DMB, I strongly recommend checking them out. I've seen them three times live, and quite frankly, no one can touch them when it comes to live performance. These men are real musicians, and have been around for a long time, and are a far cry from some mainstream junk, in my opinion. They are truly in an elite group when it comes to music.



Anyway, I guess the real point of this is that someone I looked up to as a musician is gone, and though I never even met the man, I know that he was loved by many, and I hurt for them. I know to some people, I may just seem like a big fanboy ranting, but all this is just something on my mind at the moment. We are called to be witnesses, even to the rich and famous, and just the thought of someone as classy as LeRoi ending up in somewhere other than heaven is really hard to think about. The music he left me with is something I will treasure for a long time. I strongly recommend anyone reading to check out LeRoi's work. It really is something special.



RIP Leroi, you will be missed.