With the Dave Matthews [ tickets ] Band on sabbatical following the completion of one of the summer's top-grossing tours, the group's namesake is preparing to make his big screen debut.

Matthews has agreed to take on a part in ''Where The Red Fern Grows,'' based on the Wilson Rawls children's novel. He'll play the father to Billy Colman (Joseph Ashton) in the Legacy Entertainment film, which is being directed by Lyman D. Dayton.

The story, set in Eastern Oklahoma during the depression, tracks the life of a boy as he roams the Ozarks with his hound.

''I fell in love with the story, and became even more excited about the picture after meeting Dayton and the production crew,'' Matthews said in a statement.

The film is currently in pre-production in Tahlequah, Okla., according to a press release issued by Legacy Entertainment. The cast includes Dabney Coleman, Renee Faia and Ned Beatty. A spring 2000 release is expected.

In other Matthews news, the Dave Matthews Band has contributed a track to a benefit CD for The Shelter for Help in Emergency, a temporary home for abused women and children in the band's hometown of Charlottesville, Va. The band's contribution will be the studio version of ''#41'' from their 1996 album ''Crash.''

The album -- which also features contributions from such Charlottesville artists as Terri Allard [ tickets ], John McCutcheon [ tickets ], Shannon Worrell [ tickets ] and Baaba Set -- will be unveiled at an Oct. 29 release party in Charlottesville. More information is available from the Shelter CD website.

Matthews and band are expected to enter the studio in January to begin work on a follow-up to 1998's ''Before These Crowded Streets.''

According to trade magazine Amusement Business, the average Matthews Band concert this summer attracted a crowd of nearly 23,000 fans and took in about $750,000 in ticket sales.