GILROY
– Farther in distance than in years from his days growing up in
Alexandria, Va., 28-year-old Damien Carter vividly remembers
growing up with a gospel singer for a mother, a minister for a
father, his church St. Paul Christian Center, the strength of
spirituality and, of course, the heavenly gospel
voices.
GILROY – Farther in distance than in years from his days growing up in Alexandria, Va., 28-year-old Damien Carter vividly remembers growing up with a gospel singer for a mother, a minister for a father, his church St. Paul Christian Center, the strength of spirituality and, of course, the heavenly gospel voices.
“When we were growing up, we went to Sunday School, we had to live it. It had to be a part of our lives,” Carter remembered. “My mom was a professional gospel singer. I could see her on stage, and I could see everyone around was going crazy. I was 12. … That’s when I got the interest to sing.”
While it’s easy to tell by listening to Carter’s new CD, “Freedom,” that his talents now reach far beyond his gospel background, the sounds of his experience growing up in the black church still show in every song.
“I think it shows through the different music I sing,” he said.
Back in those days growing up in the church, Carter was into the sounds of Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross and Gospel siren Shirley Cesar.
“They call her the queen of gospel, like Aretha Franklin is the queen of soul,” Carter said. “My mom has a voice like her. I grew up with these types of singers – they’re amazing. It’s second nature for me.”
For the next several years, Carter worked with his mother, Delores Evans, on his voice, learning to his notes and sing in the style of the gospel music that was such a large part of his life.
“She worked with me and worked with me,” said Carter, who then began singing background vocals for his mother’s band at the age of 15.
And it was in that group that people started talking about Carter’s voice for the first time, even though he didn’t even think he sounded all that good.
“People began saying I would be the next Sam Cooke or Luther Vandross,” he said. “I didn’t see it. It was my mom’s group.”
It wasn’t until Carter first sat in a recording studying in Virginia that he first realized his own potential.
“I sang into the microphone, and I thought, ‘That was alright,’ ” he said. “Then they played it back and I was amazed.”
Carter sang in another group in Alexandria, but it broke up, leaving him wondering about his career in music. Instead of joining anther band, Carter decided to record a solo album based in gospel music.
That first album in 1991, titled “Jesus Will Be Right There,” immediately sold out in cassette version.
Despite his success, Carter knew that Alexandria was not going to be the place to spark a music career.
“I wanted to go some place where I could pursue music in a safe environment,” he said. “You have to be in Nashville, L.A. or New York.”
At the time, Carter was now grown up and working for a dot-com company, but people were still talking about his voice. One of those people was the son-in-law of Gilroy actress/producer Patsy vanEttinger.
“Patsy’s son-in-law worked for the same company. He kept saying, ‘You’ve got to get to California.”
VanEttinger’s son-in-law was moving back to California, and told Carter that he should come out, too, and get into the music business.
Carter was apprehensive, but when the dot-com went under, he packed up and moved to Los Angeles.
Leaving home wasn’t easy for Carter. His father, who wanted him to stay and continue singing only gospel music, resisted the move, while his mother told him to follow his heart.
“She said, ‘Go, do it,’ ” he said. “(Leaving is) like cutting off your arm.”
When he got to California, Carter found himself alone most of the time, and spent a lot of that time reading.
“I would go to the library and read about music,” said Carter, who said he found in most of the books that singers need to have original music in order to get noticed in the music industry.
“I put the book down and I prayed,” Carter said. “Within 15 minutes these words and songs came out. It was pouring like water.”
Carter put those words down on paper, and he started looking for musicians to start a band to sing his new songs of love and inspiration. It was then that vanEttinger asked Carter to move to Gilroy and use it as a base to get his career going before moving back to L.A.
“What has humbled me was to come all the way from Virginia and have Patsy open up her home and help finance the project,” he said. “In this tough business, it’s amazing to have someone believe in you and back you.”
Two years later, with the help of vanEttinger, Carter has appeared and sang for the movie “Julie and Jack,” released his new CD and he has been selected to host a new show for ACE Television called “A Star Is Born.” He also has performed at local churches, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life for the past two years and was the featured entertainment at Bonfante Gardens at the end of last season.
The album blends rhythm and blues, gospel and pop music, including the popular “Spiritual Love,” “Snake,” which is set for a younger audience, and “Full-Figured Woman,” which talks about accepting others for who they are and cherishing inner beauty.
Included on his album, which was recorded at Diversity Records in San Jose, is a host of musicians, including Dwayne Sweet, who Carter said he worked well with.
“He feels it like I feel it. He feels the emotion of the song,” Carter said. “When I saw he was on the same plane as I was, I knew we’d have a good time.”
Meanwhile, Carter, who works for Washington Mutual in San Jose, hopes the CD will help him in his search for a recording contract and focus on music full-time.
“When you love something, you don’t just want to give it up,” he said. “For me, it’s not about money, it’s about love, the singing and touching people’s lives through music.”
