Drummers - Carter Beauford (Dave Matthews Band)
Carter Beauford (born November 2, 1957 in
Charlottesville, Virginia) is a drummer and founding member of the Dave
Matthews Band (DMB). He is known for his ability to mix together
countless percussion styles, and is highly regarded for his open hand
drumming style, where his left hand leads on the hi-hat and ride cymbal
in a conventional right-handed drumset set-up.
Background
Beauford was exposed to drumming at the age of three. At the time, his
father had bought tickets to a Buddy Rich concert and could not find
someone to watch his son, so he took young Carter along to the show.
After that show, Carter's father bought his son a tin set with paper
heads since Carter showed much interest in learning the instrument. He
began playing his first professional gigs when he was nine.
Secrets, DMB
Eventually, he joined Secrets, a Richmond-based band. Other members
include saxophonist LeRoi Moore, trumpeter John D'Earth, vocalist Dawn
Thompson, keyboardist Butch Taylor, and guitarist Tim Reynolds. Secrets
would perform throughout Virginia, often at Miller's, the bar in
Charlottesville where Dave Matthews worked as a bartender. Carter also
played in Blue Indigo with LeRoi Moore, Sal Soghoian, and George Melvin.
A driving Jazz band, Blue Indigo performed regularly at Tokyo Rose and
Millers, and was featured at the Delaware Water Gap Jazz Festival.
Eventually, Dave approached both Carter and Leroi regarding some music
he had written that he wished to record. Upon listening, Beauford
agreed, thus establishing his permanent status as DMB drummer.
Other collaboration
Beauford has also contributed to other artists on side projects
including work with Vertical Horizon, Carlos Santana, John Popper (Blues
Traveler), and bass virtuoso Victor Wooten (Bela Fleck and the
Flecktones).
Trivia
* Carter Beauford is a student pilot. He discusses this briefly on The
Gorge DVD in the special features section, during which the band flies
in a helicopter over the Gorge Ampitheater.
* Carter explains his unique playing style in his instructional video
"Under The Table & Drumming", attributing his use of left-hand-lead on a
right-handed kit to playing his own kit in front of a mirror as a child
in an attempt to emulate his favorite drummers like Buddy Rich. Young
Carter unknowingly set up his drums in reverse of whichever performer &
set he had in mind in an attempt to make the mirrored image of himself
match that of the audience perspetive, as he had seen it on stage & tv.
This helped him to become completely ambidextrious at a very early age,
albeit by accident.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter_Beauford
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