www.davidcarter.com
VIRGINIAN
PILOT NEWSPAPER, NORFOLK COMPASS SECTION
"King of
Colley Avenue cuts new CD"
written by: Sam Martinette,
6/5/97
When David Carter
strums his guitar and breaks into song tomorrow night -- first at the Omni Waterside's
Riverwalk Cafe, from 5 to 8 p.m., and later at O'Sullivan's Wharf -- there's a good chance
he'll sing one of the 20 songs he wrote and recorded on his new CD release "Two Hands
Are Enough."
The Virginia Beach native is a household name to Norfolk club patrons, having first played
in the band Horizon at the King's Head when he was only 16. I met him in 1983 as
manager of Ghent's Potpourri -- now Magnolia Steak -- when Carter was entertaining on
Saturday nights.
"I started playing at age 12, and was playing professionally by age 15," he
said. "I started the Coach House right out of college, then went to Potpourri
in the fall of '81. I first played O'Sullivan's in September of 1985, and this is my
13th season." He also played Batterson's, River's End and Colley Bay Cafe,
Phillips' Seafood Restaurant at Waterside, Fajita Flats. No wonder some call
David Carter "the King of Colley Avenue."
But it was at O'Sullivan's Wharf that Carter made his mark on Norfolk's music scene.
"That's how I found out about O'Sullivan's," recalled the restaurant's
current general manager, Joe Bamberry. "I was in college and a friend told me,
'You've gotta come down and hear this guy,' and I had to ask, 'Where is the place?'
"Dave was the first entertainer Buddy ever tried," Bamberry said, referring to
O'Sullivan's owner Buddy Caramillo, "and he just kind of exploded."
The link between Carter and O'Sullivan's is evident on the CD. "Track seven on
the CD, a song called 'Here We Go Again,' was written on the deck at O'Sullivan's' during
a break," Carter said. This weekend he'll be playing at the Colley Avenue
nightspot Friday and Saturday nights, from 9:30 p.m. on, with no cover.
Many of the 20 tunes on the CD have local roots. The first 15 tracks were recorded
live at O'Leary's Irish Bar & Beach Grill in Virginia Beach, and the Oceanfront's
Island Republic Restaurant is represented. The CD has Carter's trademark parrot on
the front, and the liner notes explain the genesis of the songs included. I played
it at home and as soon as Carter's rich, lyrical voice began, it was like a night out on
Colley Avenue, or perhaps sitting on an oceanfront deck watching the waves roll in.
Carter's sense of humor is evident in the cuts "Mother Goose" and "Santi
Claus," both of which had my three kids listening intently. The singer has kids
himself, which may partially account for the strong storytelling element in his
songwriting.
"What's different about Dave is that he relates to the crowd real well," Bambery
said. "He doesn't just play, he socializes with the crowd. He'll meet
people once and remember them and if they come in during a song he'll say 'Hey Joe, hey
Bill,' which really makes people feel good."
Norfolk physician Al Roper agreed. "What's special about Dave is the way he
relates to his audience," he said. Roper said he has followed the singer's
career for 13 years. "He has an incredible knack for reading his audience, and
he'll gear his personality and the songs he plays to get the most out of audience
response. He has his own distinctive style of rendering things we're familiar with,
from Jimmy Buffett to folk songs, and he puts in own spin on it."
I first ran into David Carter at O'Sullivan's in '83 or '84," said Tim Batterson,
whose second Batterson's location has recently opened on Colley Avenue the former Coach
House. "His voice has a very great range, and he plays happy music and always
talks to people in the crowd."
Carter said he sees the new CD, his second, as a transition stage. "My first
CD, 'A Warm Summer Night,' was old favorites, and this one is my tunes that people request
a lot and some things I've written and wanted to record so that I could move on.'
I asked what it was like being up there alone, carrying the evening. "It's like
being in my living room," he said. "It's a real honor for me when people
choose to spend their evening with me."
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