Carter Beauford

Carter Beauford is a truly ambidextrous drummer who plays left-hand lead on a right-handed kit à la Billy Cobham. He’s famous for his distinctively intricate hi-hat patterns, yet, like Cobham, he can groove, and like Dennis Chambers he has a great ‘pocket’. And what’s more, he’s a pretty mean vocalist as well!

Carter Beauford has been the drummer with the Dave Matthews Band since the band was formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The DMB has an improbable line-up which includes violin and saxophone alongside acoustic guitar and vocals and draws on influences as far afield as jazz and classical, funk and bluegrass. But by virtue of talent and determination, the band managed to buck the system, going from local favourites to one of the hottest tickets in America. Their popularity grew by word of mouth, with audiences knocked out by the sheer brilliance of their shows.

The band recorded their first album, ‘Remember Two Things’, live in 1993 and it was a surprise success, first on the college circuit and then nationally. A year later, the hit single ‘What Would You Say’, from the band’s first major label four million selling album, ‘Under The Table And Dreaming’ brought Carter to the attention of a much broader spectrum of drumming fans. Since then the band has gone from strength to strength to become a major stadium attraction.

Carter was brought up on jazz – his father was a jazz trumpeter. He did his first gig when he was just nine years old, playing jazz standards and Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock tunes. He was such a hit he performed regularly from then on. In his early career he played in a successful local fusion band called Secrets and later with the legendary pianist Ramsey Lewis. Then came the Matthews band. Carter’s blazing technique, lightning fast single stroke rolls, blistering double pedals and flashy cross-hand patterns nightly wow the fans. And the truly remarkable thing is, because the band achieved success on their own terms, Carter’s brilliance is there for all to hear on platinum selling records. A remarkable drummer and a remarkable band.