Love makes us do crazy things — run through airports, hold up boomboxes, and sometimes even willingly hang out on Long Island. This time, love has me attempting to explain to a random retail worker that Carter Beauford, legendary drummer and percussionist, is the best musician in Dave Matthews Band and possibly one of the best in the world. I’ve stooped pretty low for my romantic partners before, but this has gotta be a new record.
Two years ago, if you had told me I would be spending a perfectly good Saturday afternoon arguing with a 22 year old unshowered grunge record store kid that drumming is one of the most technically difficult instruments to master, I would have asked you to take me out right then and there. And I’m also asking you now. Please save me from myself. Nick is a great guy, but this has gone too far.
You see, I have a new beau, a handsome drummer with dark eyes and curly hair with whom I am completely smitten. But this time I think it goes beyond smitten, because I find myself increasingly holding up vinyl records in order to read the very tiny fine print on the back of the jacket in order to determine who played drums on this EP from 1994. I read contracts with small print like this for my job, I think. What is my job? Is it being a paralegal? I don’t remember anything except being in this record store, right here and right now.
And another reason why Carter is a better musician than Boyd Tinsley — Wait, how did I get here? How long have I been talking like this? Who am I? I feel like Mallory in “Born Killers. Actually.” Did you know Juliette Lewis is a musician herself? She had a band, Juliette and The Licks, and get this, the drummer was Patty Schemel from Hole. Cool right? Hole was coming up at the same time as DMB, in different scenes obviously.
Have you ever seen Carter Beauford play live? I’ve been watching their video album Live at Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado and his hand work on that specifically… where’s Nick? He explains it better than I do.
Nick’s not even here? What do you mean he’s not here? You mean I came to this store all by myself? I wasn’t even dragged here by my boyfriend during an otherwise lovely day out and obliged out of dutiful girlfriend reasons?
That’s it. I love this guy, but I’ve got to stop living his life and go on living my own. I’m going to go back to hanging out with my friends, doing what I love, and listening to the kind of music I want to. Just as soon as I finish explaining that Mickey Curry is one of the most underrated touring drummers of all time.