PLAYING TO HIS STRENGTHS SINGER DAVE MATTHEWS REKINDLES A LOVE OF ACTING WITH ROLE IN 'WINN-DIXIE'.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer

``I did my clawing on the other side.''

Dave Matthews isn't making any apologies for the easy way he landed a part in the charming family film ``Because of Winn-Dixie,'' which opened nationwide on Friday. The way he figures it, he paid his dues - and then some - driving around in vans with his band, playing his distinctive blend of funk-rock-jazz-fusion in clubs and colleges for years until he won a record deal.

In fact, when Matthews was beginning what was to be a phenomenally successful career in music, he was also acting, performing in plays in the beatnik Southern college town of Charlottesville, Va., where his family had moved from South Africa. He was also attending (sporadically) classes at Charlottesville Community College, where his main interests were philosophy and partying - passions that would serve him well in his eventual profession.

``I'm not sure if I would have pursued acting if music hadn't worked out,'' Matthews muses. ``At the time, I enjoyed it. But the band thing became concrete right away. It didn't take us long to have this repertoire and take it out. It's something you have and you repeat it and repeat it. It was a matter of getting in a car, driving somewhere and doing it. Once it started and the response began, it was a no-brainer.''

Fourteen albums and hundreds of sold-out stadium shows later, Matthews is making his movie debut and, to paraphrase Ringo Starr's number on the Beatles' ``Help,'' all he has to do is act naturally.

In ``Winn-Dixie,'' Matthews plays a soft-spoken, serious-minded man who finds a release from life's troubles in playing music. In person, Matthews is a soft-spoken, serious man, shy about looking you in the eye, somewhat meandering in his thoughts. His sense of humor runs to the dry side. Talking about working with the film's animals (Matthews' character is a clerk in a pet store), Matthews notes that ``the parrot was well-trained. It played the part of a parrot very well.''

That's about as funny as he gets, at least until he knows you. Among friends, Matthews has the reputation of being a practical joker. And like a lot of quiet people who make their living as performers, he's transformed once he steps on stage. But in day-to-day life, Matthews is thoroughly low-key, a father of twin 3-year-old girls who calls his wife and daughters the ``luckiest part of my life.''

``He has an enigmatic quality, soulful, someone who's more comfortable singing than talking,'' says ``Winn-Dixie'' producer Trevor Albert. ``As charismatic as he is on stage, he's a shy guy.''

Matthews' introversion, his sensibility and his love for family all drew him to ``Winn-Dixie.'' The movie is based on the award-winning children's novel about a girl and her stray dog who bring the lonely people of a Florida town together.

``It's kind of a quiet, calm story in an environment nowadays that's filled with fast editing and high volume,'' Matthews says. ``There's not too much moral pounding over the head, but there are things in it that are beautiful lessons about not judging people and that loneliness isn't necessarily uncommon. It deals with things that a lot of kids are afraid of. Kids want to belong. It's the most natural thing in the world.''

For Matthews, the biggest relief in acting was the lack of responsibility. Director Wayne Wang had to make all the decisions. He didn't have to deal with anything but his part.

``Not that I think music is work - it's a hell of a lucky job to be in - but it often feels that way,'' Matthews says. ``I'm at the helm. The responsibility falls on my shoulders.''

Matthews and his long-time band are putting the finishing touches on a new album, still untitled, that he says will be released in May, and likely a U.S. tour will follow. (If you want to keep tabs on the progress of the disc, check out www.dmbnewstudioalbum.com.)

Though unheard, the record is generating heated debate among Matthews' hard-core fans, largely due to the presence of a new producer, Mark Batson, who has worked with artists including Eminem, 50 Cent, Gwen Stefani, Sting and Seal.

The prevailing fear among fans, who, according to All Music Guide senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine, are among the most passionate and possessive in rock music, is that Matthews is changing his sound to increase sales.

``He has been around for about 10 years now and has had considerable success, and it's always hard for someone going into that second decade to keep the hits coming,'' Erlewine says. ``Personally, I find the music he has made in the last couple of years more interesting. But it's not as commercial. Working with Mark Batson suggests that he does have an eye on not losing any more of his audience.''

Matthews repeatedly calls the new music ``very different,'' and says he's ``sure there are going to be some people who don't like it.'' But he downplays any comparisons between the new direction and the fan revolt in the wake of the band's 2001 slick collaboration with producer Glen Ballard, ``Everyday.'' That album went triple-platinum but true believers hated it, preferring a bootlegged album of the sessions that Matthews discarded before working with Ballard.

`` 'Everyday' was a very different record,'' Matthews says. ``It was easily one of our best, but it didn't in some ways ... although it was us, in some ways the process made it seem like we were being somebody else. Whereas this album is not that at all. This album is very much us. There's a looseness that comes with a growing confidence, and a lot of that comes from Mark, who's a wonderful producer.''

``The sound is more aggressive in many ways,'' Matthews continues. ``It's more spare. There's a lot of space in it. Everybody shines very specifically. Every single person in the band solos beautifully at some moment and not in the same way we've necessarily done it in the past.''

Circling back to his family, Matthews says that the ``preciousness of being a father has absolutely seeped into my songwriting, with this album, more than anything.''

``My wife (Jennifer, whom he married in August 2000) ... if she's not the direct inspiration for the lyrical content, she's the person I want to impress,'' Matthews says. ``She's a very great inspiration for me. The women in my life ... my mother and my sister are also great inspirations. I value their judgment above pretty much anyone else's. Family has always been important, but now that I'm raising another generation, it's even more so.''

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) A NEW STAGE

Dave Matthews on acting in `Because of Winn-Dixie' and his upcoming album

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(2) Anna Sophia Robb and Dave Matthews in ``Because of Winn-Dixie''

(3) - Dave Matthews, on ``Because of Winn-Dixie''