Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer | ||
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 Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Oregon, US | |
| Genre(s) | Folk Singer-songwriter |
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| Years active | 1998 - 2002 | |
| Label(s) | Signature Sounds | |
| Associated acts |
Dave Carter Tracy Grammer |
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| Website | daveandtracy.globalhosting.com/ | |
Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer were an American folk duo who released three albums from 1998-2001, and additional posthumous material. The duo was composed of Dave Carter, who wrote the music and originally sang lead on most of the tracks, but steadily turned singing duties over to his partner, Tracy Grammer, who also did instrumental work (violin, mandolin, and guitar).
Their work dealt with a number of themes, particularly ones involving Buddhist theology, Arthurian legend (and mythic themes in general), and the American west, often juxtaposed together in one song. One example of this style is the closing lines of "Happytown," the first track from the album, Tanglewood Tree:
- parceval and valentino, ridin' winged palominos
- willie in his el camino, on the run
- here in the shining city, here in the endless summer
- here in the cave of wonder, number ninety-two
- the gods will lounge around until the show is through
- but it's all right, it's all right with me if it's all right with you
Musically, their work often straddled both bluegrass and Celtic influences, as with the track "I Go Like the Raven" from their third album, which contains the line "down in the meadow, deep in the holler/ bullfrog sing to the bug-eye crawler/ slide to the rake, hop to the caller/ reel with the willow waivin." The song is driven by a strong fiddle line provided by Grammer that also straddles the line between Celtic and bluegrass.
Their first album, When I Go, was actually released as a Dave Carter album "with Tracy Grammer" and Carter sang the lead vocals on all but one of the tracks, "Kate and the Ghost of Lost Love," which was a duet. Their second album, Tanglewood Tree, featured a more even split of singing duties, and was the first to actually be labeled as by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer. The album was described by Dave Carter in an interview as "the world's first Buddhist country album." Their third and final album, Drum Hat Buddha, was an even split between the two on lead vocals. This album was met with considerable critical success, and the pair was considered to be one of the most promising new folk acts.
The group came to an end in 2002, when Dave Carter died of a massive heart attack while on tour. The impact on the folk community was considerable, and a substantial shrine was erected by fans at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival shortly after, where Tracy Grammer chose to perform anyway. Following his death, a tribute song was written and recorded by Richard Shindell, and Lucy Kaplansky put a recording of "Cowboy Singer" from Tanglewood Tree, on her next album.
Following Carter's death, Grammer went on to release a solo album, Flower of Avalon, of previously unreleased songs by Carter. The album was produced by John Jennings and Tracy was joined by Mary Chapin Carpenter on many of the tracks - another testament to Carter's influence on folk music.
In 2006, Grammer released the album Seven is the Number. The album was mostly Carter/Grammer re-recordings of the songs Carter had recorded on his out-of-print solo project Snake-Handlin Man, with two previously unreleased songs. These recordings were done in Grammer's home studio before Carter's death.
