Stefan Lessard
| Stefan Lessard | |
|---|---|
Lessard performing in October 2008
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Stefan Kahil Lessard |
| Born |
June 4, 1974 Anaheim, California |
| Genres | Rock, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Bass, upright bass, acoustic bass, guitar, piano, dobro |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Labels | RCA |
| Associated acts | Dave Matthews Band, Yukon Kornelius |
| Website | davematthewsband.com |
Stefan K. Lessard (born June 4, 1974) is an American musician, most famous as the bassist for the Dave Matthews Band.
Lessard was born in Anaheim, California, to musician Ron and Jacqueline Lessard. After moving a number of times during his childhood, Lessard and his family eventually settled in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1987. They had previously lived from 1980–84 in Buckingham County, Virginia and in Richmond, Virginia from 1984–86.
After moving back to Charlottesville from Madison, Wi. in 1987, he enrolled in the Tandem School, where he studied music under trumpeter John D'earth and bassist Peter Spaar. D'earth and Spaar recommended Lessard to Dave Matthews for inclusion in his new band, which was looking for a bassist. Lessard joined Dave Matthews Band just as it was forming, when he was sixteen years old. Due to his age, he sometimes had to sneak in the back door of the clubs where the band was playing.
Lessard completed his junior year of high school then took the GED (summer of '91) as he had already been accepted at Richmond's Virginia Commonwealth University in their Jazz Studies program. He left after six weeks, when it became evident that he could not be a full-time college student & a member of a band, already rising in popularity. In 2006, Lessard began maintaining a MySpace page called LowenDude. He also owns and maintains a blog at izstyle.com. During the 2007 European Tour, Lessard also began a video blog on YouTube.
On January 9, 2008, Lessard performed with members of Guster and Barenaked Ladies under the name Yukon Kornelius in a benefit concert sponsored by Okemo Mountain Resort, a ski resort in Vermont. Later that year, he co-wrote the original music for Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk.
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