I've recently started performing as "L Carter" rather than Larry. The reason, other than having "www.LCarter.com" as my website, is that there is an excellent electric blues guitarist named Larry Carter who plays the church circuit throughout the Midwest - and he has the www.LarryCarter.com domain. There has been some confusion (I, unfortunately, am NOT the one featured in Guitar Player Magazine, so I'm trying something different.
Producer I've been producing concerts since 1988, mostly under the name Lawrence Old Guard Productions. Current productions include the weekly Tuesday Concert series at the Lawrence Arts Center, kirtan (call-response chanting & ecstatic dance) with Whole Earth Kirtan, and solo performances as The Pied Piper of Lawrence. I just completed 10 years of producing the annual Lawrence Scottish Fest.
I'm also the Executive Producer of Scots on the Kaw, a 2010 DVD documentary of Lawrence Scottish Fest that includes the following music video by internationally known Celtic singer Connie Dover.
"Tuesday Concert" - 2008As a solo pianist, I have a free-flowing, improvisational style - sort of like George Winston paying homage to Floyd Cramer. Other than my originals, my current interest is arranging traditional English fiddle tunes for piano.
I'm sponsored by the Kansas Arts Commission (assuming it still exists) to lead an afternoon Children's Theater Workshop then present an evening all-ages concert of original music and storytelling where the workshop kids joining me on stage to assist in performing my "Pied Piper: The Rest of the Story."
Children's Theater Workshop, Great Bend, Kansas, 2009
Photo by Don Shorock
Baritone Cittern is an instrument I designed and named in 1989 that combines a cittern-like tuning with the body of a 12-string Guitar. See BaritoneCittern.com for details and videos. Video is from the 2010 Kansas Fiddling & Picking Championship, which I was fortunate to win.
I've been playing guitar more and more lately. Mr Taylor and I have been partners for 33 years now. Steve Mason was right back in 1979 - they really ARE as good or better than Martins!
Concert in Great Bend, Kansas, Sept. 2009
Photo by Don Shorock
Photo courtesy KTKA Television, Topeka 6-string banjos don't get the respect they deserve! Many think it's a modern variation on 5-string banjo, but actually it's been around since the 1840s. My modifications include substituting a high E string for the low E to get that banjo-sounding drone, tuning it down to a "d" (i.e., "Dropped D" tuning, but with a high "d" down there instead of a low "d")then using a Shubb 5th String Capo to tune the drone to a complimentary note. (Favorite key - D with the drone set to a high A.) HERE is a short video clip discussing Christmas music on Topeka's "Good Morning Kansas" television program.
As an aside to any 5-string purists who might think a 6-string banjo isn't sufficiently "authentic" - please remember that, unless your banjo is made from a gourd and has gut strings, it isn't "authentic" either!
Cordelia Brown and I have been performing as "Forest Green" since 1997, sometimes as a duo and sometimes with special guests. She usually plays violin or celtic harp while I play guitar, piano, baritone cittern or recorder. Lately Clark Jamison has been sitting in with us on djembe (African drum) and tabla (India drum). We perform my original music plus Celtic fiddle tunes, Anglican hymns, songs of Robert Burns, light classical music (for weddings) and more.
Video is from the DVD "Scots on the Kaw." Cordelia had just finished singing a lovely arrangement of "My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose," then we went into this version of the traditional Scottish tune "Wild Mountain Thyme."
"Green Man Chant" - Ari Summerland
His bones are the stones.
His blood the water.
His hair the plants and trees.
Greenman - walking, talking, living godEnergetic chants and world music from everywhere. Hindu, Sufi, Native American, Pagan, Christian, Rock & Roll and original sources. Dance space always provided. As Ram Dass said, "Be open to all teachers and all teachings, and listen with your heart."
Sing-Alongs I also love leading sing-alongs at banquets, assisted living centers and other gatherings. If you remember "Mitch Miller and the Sing-along Gang," you probably have a good idea what this is all about. I usually play piano and provide lyrics to the oldtime classics - Down By The Old Mill Stream, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Blue Moon, Home on the Range, Ain't She Sweet, Red River Valley, Moonlight Bay, Shine On Harvest Moon - and so forth. Corny? Of course. Fun? You bettcha!
Mitch Miller and the Sing-along Gang
The Dancing Elephants at "Everybody Day" in South Park, 1983
Clark Jamison, Maria Anthony, Ry Brown, L CarterMusic History I've been fortunate to perform in some amazing bands over the last 27 years.
See My Musical Journey for a summary of the most important steps along my path.
