Ryley Walker Finally Got To Meet Dave Matthews Band

Indie rock songwriter (and Dave Matthews enthusiast) Ryley Walker has had an incredible year. His album Deafman Glance was released to rave reviews this spring, and we called Walker’s “Spoil With The Rest” one of the best songs of the year. An excellent album and a world tour are exciting enough on their own, but Walker has capped off his massive year by living the ultimate dream and meeting his heroes. Yes, it happened — Ryley Walker hung out with the Dave Matthews Band (who may actually be good).

Walker and the jammy rock band, in Montreal for (separate) gigs, met for the first time after their shows this weekend. Walker is a dedicated DMB fan — just last month, he released a full album of covers of DMB’s The Lillywhite Sessions. They always say not to meet your heroes, but apparently Matthews is a really nice dude. Walker told Pitchfork:

“Dave and his crew are all incredibly warm and friendly people […] It was a real joy to share tour stories with Dave and to talk deep Jack DeJohnette cuts with Carter. I consider them my deepest homies!!! My head hurts!!”

Check out the meeting of legends above, and revisit Walker’s DMB fandom on Steven Hyden’s Celebration Rock.