Carter Beauford
A drummer of breathtaking technical fluency and joyous energy, whose polyrhythmic grooves are the dynamic engine of the Dave Matthews Band.
Born 1957 (age 69)·American drummer·Birthday: November 2·Baby Boomers
Biography
Carter Beauford's drumming is a spectacle of controlled chaos. From his first kit, a gift from his father at age three, he developed an ambidextrous, open-handed style that allows his limbs to operate with orchestral independence. This technique became the foundation for the Dave Matthews Band's sound, where he seamlessly blends jazz fusion complexity with pop sensibility and world music rhythms. Behind the kit, he is a picture of focused exuberance, often wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a beaming smile as he navigates intricate time signatures. More than just a timekeeper, Beauford is a melodic conversationalist, his fills and accents dancing in the spaces between Matthews' vocals and the band's improvisations, making him one of the most distinctive and influential drummers in modern rock.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Carter was born in 1957, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Carter Was Born
The biggest hits of 1957
#1 Movie
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Best Picture
The Bridge on the River Kwai
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Carter's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1957Born
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1962Started school
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1970Became a teenager
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1973Could drive
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1975Could vote
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1978Turned 21
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1987Turned 30
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 40
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 50
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 60
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 69 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Co-founded the Dave Matthews Band, one of the most commercially successful and enduring live acts in American history.
- Pioneered an influential open-handed, ambidextrous drumming technique that allows for greater rhythmic complexity.
- Was ranked number 10 in a 2010 Rolling Stone reader's poll of the greatest drummers of all time.
Did You Know?
He is left-handed but plays a right-handed drum kit setup, a key to his unique ambidextrous style.
Before joining DMB, he played in a wedding band with future bandmate LeRoi Moore.
He is an avid fan of martial arts and has studied various disciplines.
“I play the way I play because I'm left-handed and I play on a right-handed kit. That's the only reason.”
