The oldest member of the Dave Matthews Band at 38, Carter Beauford has been playing jazz drums since his childhood. His father played trumpet in a jazz band, and it seemed only natural to play music. After playing the drums in college, Carter abandoned his first love for his second love, teaching history. But he soon went back to music. he signed on with a fusion band called the Secrets. The band lasted from 1984 to 1990. After the band broke up, Carter went to California to try out for the Arsenio Hall show. When he failed to land the spot, Carter came back to the east coast and landed a job on pianist Ramsey Lewis's BET show, "Bet on jazz". in January of 1991, Carter moved back to Charlottesville, playing random gigs and driving to Washington to tape the BET show. When Matthews heard Carter was back in Virginia, he decided to approach him about making the demo tape he had been dreaming about.