Dave Matthews revealed in an interview with Rolling Stone that he is currently in the studio working on the beginnings of what will soon become the band’s ninth studio album and the follow-up to 2012’s Away From the World. The guitarist said he is currently in the studio with Rob Cavallo, producer of 2009’s Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. “I’ve been in the studio trying to get a couple of things ready for the band to go back in, having fun,” Matthews said. “I’m just trying to come up with something that doesn’t sound like the past.” The announcement of Cavallo is substantial considering the band worked with longtime producer Steve Lillywhite last year, marking the duo’s first collaboration since 1998’s Before These Crowded Streets.

As far as potential material is concerned, Matthews hinted at the possibility of older material making the new record. “There are some songs the band has been playing for a long time,” he teases. “And then whenever I start messing around in the studio, I start writing, so hopefully we can come up with something worth listening to.”

Rumors of DMB in the studio heated up back in September when guitarist Tim Reynolds cancelled some of his TR3 shows in the fall. A venue let it slip that he cancelled because he would be entering the studio with Dave Matthews Band.

In other DMB news, the band will release the 28th edition of their Live Trax series in December. Fans will be able to purchase the November 19, 2010 show from Charlottesville, VA in audio and video formats as well as a bonus disc of selections from the November 20 show. Watch highlights from the show here.

Dave Matthews Band will hit the road on November 30 for their first ever show in South Africa, Matthews’ birthplace before heading to South America for a run of shows. DMB’s first shows of 2014 will come in April when the band plays a string of festivals in Australia.

As far as new material is concerned, the band teased this quick lyrical number several times throughout the summer, a tune entitled “Kill the Preacher.” Here is one of the last performances of the song, coming at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Denver, CO.