In the early '90s, the Dave Matthews Band broke onto the national scene by touring constantly. It recently hit the road again (through September). Guitar-strumming Dave Matthews called from Detroit, where he was preparing for a concert.

Nervous about new songs?

If I was afraid, I wouldn't play a song. It's not going to get the same reaction as a song everybody knows. When the audience is sitting still and listening, it's not because they don't like it; it's because they never heard it before. So you can't really judge. We've never had people booing.

What's on your iPod?

I don't listen to my music--ever. I like the new Gomez record [How We Operate] and I've been listening to Death Cab for Cutie. I'm also listening to quite a bit of Led Zeppelin.

Some of your shows support the Midterms Matter Tour.

We should be embarrassed by the state of our government, left and right. The lack of trust between parties [is] more indicative of schoolyard gangs than leaders of the nation. Voters [need] to shake the tree and let some bad apples drop out.