www.davidcarter.com
VIRGINIA
BEACH SUN NEWSPAPER
(FRONT PAGE ARTICLE)
"Strumming With A
Local Legend"
written by: Jaqueline Ross, 1/6/95
For more than a decade, David Carter
has been sharing his music with the people of Hampton Roads. As a result, he has
fostered a loyal following of area residents, and follow him they do. From Virginia
Beach to Norfolk to Hampton to Williamsburg to Richmond. Carter's unique blend of
singing, song writing, humor and tiptoe-style presentation charms audiences time and time
again.
Tonight is no exception. Carter arrives a little before 9 p.m., knapsack in one
hand, a guitar in the other. "I've gotten a guitar of some sort every Christmas
since I was two years old," Carter said a few days earlier at his Virginia Beach
home. "I really didn't start taking it seriously, though until the seventh
grade." It was during this year that Carter saw Joe Nelson in the Virginia
Beach Junior High School Talent Show. The ninth grader played "Father and
Son" by Cat Stevens. The performance had a genuine impact on the left-handed
Carter, who had taken only three uncomfortable guitar lessons during which instructors
pressed him to play right-handed.
By the 10th grade, Carter was playing professionally in Horizon, a seven-member band
composed mostly of friends and schoolmates. This time it was Carter on stage
impressing audiences at The King's Head Inn, Bull Feathers and the Peppermint Beach Club
The youthful and talented band was even asked to play for the Navy's 200th
anniversary celebration and for the second annual Virginia Beach Neptune Festival.
Tonight, however, Carter is very much a solo performer. He pauses after his first
selection to welcome the steadily growing crowd, mentioning several people by name.
Carefully, he adjusts a harmonica holder his parents gave him 18 years ago.
Amazingly, he juggles harmonica, guitar and voice with ease. The sound is a unique
blend of Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Jonathon Edwards. Carter gently sheds the
harmonica and is now singing "Carolina In My Mind" by James Taylor, an artist he
recognizes as his greatest influence. "I remember when I first heard 'Fire and
Rain' by James Taylor," he recalled. "That song had so much power and
emotion. It just overwhelmed me. It was then that I realized how much the
guitar would allow me to express myself."
Other influences apparent in Carter's music run the gamut from Van Morrison to Jim Croce
to R.E.M., and of course to Jimmy Buffett. It was the summer of his freshman year at
Elon College when Carter first became a true "Parrot Head." He was life
guarding on the Virginia Beach oceanfront for the first of four years with a friend and a
cassette player. "We sat on the stand and just listened to Jimmy Buffett tapes
all day long," Carter said. "I'm a Buffett fanatic, and a lot of my
performance style is due to the impact his music had on me. "
Carter also started playing at Doc Watson's that summer, the 21st Street restaurant
featured an open-air, rooftop deck. Carter described as predecessor to the Island
Republic where he now spends his Summertime Saturday nights.
After graduation from college and a few short-lived associations with other bands and
players, Carter went into the insurance business. Having been raised in a
conservative family, he never could accept the idea of being a full-time musician, so he
did the next best thing. He sold insurance by day, sang songs by night and was soon
met with one of the biggest struggles of his life. Something had to give.
"To me, it was like little babies learning to walk," Carter said. "I
mean it really was hard for me to let go of that daytime job because there is so much
perceived insecurity in the music business, and I was having a hard time dealing with
that. I mean my father was 30-year IBM man. That was security."
Carter walked out of the insurance business and into the Hello Delly. It was here,
at this little restaurant on 32nd and Oceanfront that things started to happen for him.
He started his mailing list, founded his company North Shore Productions, was named
best "acoustic musician" and "male vocalist" in a Hampton Roads top
musicians poll, and turned the once-quiet Hello Delly into one of the loudest,
most-populated nightspots on the beach. "We rocked," Carter said with a
smile full of some of his fondest memories. "I'd get them singing along so loud
that the hotels next door would be calling and complaining about us."
Carter played the Hello Delly five nights a week. The crowd grew, and his name began
to take shape. He knew just about everyone in the audience, and those he didn't know
he quickly befriended. It's a performance philosophy from which he has never
strayed. "A lot of people consider their followers as fans," Carter said.
"I consider my followers friends."
From the Hello Delly, Carter went to O'Sullivan's' Wharf in Norfolk. At first, it
was a far cry from his oceanfront success story. Then, a friend from Old Dominion
University stopped by and gave Carter his expert diagnosis. The place was dead.
He told Carter he'd be right back, hopped in his pickup truck and drove up and down
the streets of ODU collecting a proper audience for his friend. It worked. In
the ensuing months, the crowds and restaurant sales quadrupled. Carter is now
celebrating his 10th year at O'Sullivan's. It's an association that's had a big
impact on his career.
"O'Sullivan's was a key from me because of its proximity to ODU," Carter said.
"So many people have come to see me, having been students at ODU, who are now
members of our community. Conceivably 20,000 students a year for the past 10 years
could have seen me just from that one little place." It wasn't long after
Carter started playing O'Sullivan's that other restaurants noticed his ability to draw a
crowd. Over the years, he's gained a solid reputation for helping new clubs who want
him. He's played just about everywhere there is to play in Hampton Roads, and his
following of friends continues to grow.
"He was the first person to play here," said Ted Quinn, owner of Rooney's in
Hampton. "He's been packing them in on this side of the water for the past four
years. This is all David does, and it makes a difference in the crowds that come to
see him." Todd Sherman, owner of O'Leary's in Virginia Beach has a similar
story to tell. "David's been our most consistent performer," he said.
"He's got a following, and he gets the same people in every week. You'd think
that, after a year, they'd get tired of coming in, but they don't. Perhaps that's
because every performance is unique. Carter has cultivated a talent for judging the
atmosphere, gauging the mood and going with it. His song selection is dictated by
who has come to hear him play, and on nights like this one, that means standing room only.
After playing for over an hour, he takes his first break. He mills through the
crowd, very much in his element, shaking hands and talking with people. Everywhere
he looks there's a friend he's happy to see. Gradually, he makes his way to the
other side of the room where he spends a few moments with Kristin Barton. Barton, a
Virginia Beach resident has been listening to Carter since she was 16. She's now 26.
"One thing that's always impressed me about David is after he meets someone
once, he always remembers their name," Barton said.
It's true that Carter rarely forgets a name or a face, but there's reason for that.
"Everyone who comes to see me play is important to me, and that's why I remember
their names," he said. "If someone thinks enough about you to take their
only Friday or Saturday night of that whole week to spend with you, that's pretty special
from where I come from." Carter's friends have been known to take more than a
Friday or Saturday to see him. Many have been following him throughout Hampton Roads
for years. Some even ventured as far as Key West, Florida. Just for a glimpse of
their favorite musician.
"I was supposed to play O'Sullivan's one night in January, and I called in and said,
'I'm going to Key West. I'm getting out of here," Carter explained.
"So I'm down in Key West getting away from everybody, and I'm riding my bike down
Duvall Street, and all of a sudden I hear these guys say, 'There's Dave,' and I'm like,
'Oh my God.' Turns out there were four guys who had gone into O'Sullivan's Wharf
that Thursday night to hear me play, and when they heard I was in Key West, they went out,
got in their car, a two seater Nissan Pulsar, drove straight to Key West and found
me. They were wearing ski jackets in Key West."
As devoted as Carter's friends are to him, his is just as devoted to them. He has
been labeled a workaholic and the title is well deserved. In 1992 and 1993, he
played 348 and 335 jobs respectively, sometimes playing as many as 10 In one week.
This year he took some time for himself and his writing. He now has Sundays off, but
schedule aside, Carter has never been one to let an audience down. He loves what he
does, and nothing can keep him from his friends and his music. There have been
nights when he was on stage sick with the flu, instead of home in bed.
For now, Carter appears in perfect health as he retakes the stage. Someone shouts
out a request, and he launches into Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic." The
crowd's energy level has risen since the night began an so has Carter's. Halfway
through the song he's on his tiptoes, a phenomenon that's become one of his performance
trademarks. It's not uncommon for Carter to fit in a "hello" or two
between verses and between songs. He's even been known to hand a sweater to someone
who looks like they could use one.
It's this sincerity and caring that creates a certain intimacy between Carter and his
audience. The line that separates him from the crowd is a fine one, making many feel
as though he's singing just for them. "It's kind of like having someone come
into your living room and play all the stuff you want to hear," said Dr. Jessie
Broome of Virginia Beach. Carter's list of performance locations never has included
Dr. Broome's living room, but last summer that changed.
In July, he released his first truly solo recording on compact disc entitled, "A Warm
Summer Night." All of the songs were performed live on the rooftop deck of the
Island Republic. A digital audio tape recorder that Carter adjusted with his toes
captured the evening. Now his friends really can take him home, and judging by the
sales, many of them have. Somehow though, it's not quite the same. "I'm
finding through the sale of this CD that a lot of the aspects of what people really like
about me performance are me," Carter said.
It might also make them wish for a warm summer night -- literally. Carter has long
been associated with summer in Hampton Roads and has become as much a part of this area as
the sea gulls and the surf. His days on the lifeguard stand and his nights playing
music in the salt air have touched their recording like a soft ocean breeze. The
collection of songs features several Carter originals. "I had always told
myself that when I got to the point with my writing. Where I was really happy with
what I was doing and felt like I had something a little more unique. I would know
it, and I wouldn't try to break into the industry until I felt like I was there with that
maturity level," Carter said. "This summer I reached it."
Like many musicians, Carter gets most of his song writing brainstorms in the car, but he's
also been know to write a verse or two on the back of a restaurant place mat.
Regardless of origin, all his songs are bound by a common thread -- him. Carter
plans to include several of his most requested originals on his next recording, due out in
April. By then, he may have made some changes to his performances. He's been
toying with the idea of adding a percussionist and a fretless bass guitar player.
These decisions are far from his mind, however, as he sings for his friends this evening.
The crowd joins in shouting a distinctive "where" during Joe Jackson's,
"Is She Really going Out With Him?" They continue to back Carter up as he
sings "Come Monday" by Jimmy Buffett. It's one of several Buffett songs he
sang during he Hurricane Andrew Parrot Head Relief Benefit which raised money for the
victims of the devastating storm. Carter was co-director of the benefit, but this is
far from his only Charitable endeavor. He's given his time to the community as a
little league, T-Ball coach and has performed for the Children's Aids Network, as well as
for the annual Gourmet Gala.
It's late. Carter wishes everyone a good evening from the stage and lifts his guitar
strap from his shoulder. Four hours after he began singing, he puts the guitar away.
He looks around the room before stepping into the now much smaller crowd.
He's tired, but confident that he had given his friends a night to remember. He had
given them a night of Counting Crows, Don Henley and Steve Miller. He had given them
a night of laughter and song and fun. He had given them all he possibly could.
He had given the a night with David Carter.
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