Dean Carter

Dean Carter is a young (just) singer/songwriter who for the past eighteen months has been performing regularly on the London circuit, and as far afield as Birmingham, Lincoln and Cornwall. He has been both pleasing and puzzling audiences with his powerful and assured guitar playing, the diversity of his material, the incisiveness of his lyrics, and the intensity of his performances. With material that ranges from psychedelic/classical guitar epics, political songs, love songs, and songs which are a bit of all three, Dean's only possible pigeonhole must be that of "difficult to categorise". While this may confuse promoters or agents, critics and audiences seem grateful that somebody is extending the boundaries of singer/guitarist/songwriter territory. To give you an idea of the man's eclecticism, reviewers have so far cited as influences, among others, Bowie and Billy Bragg, Peter Hammill and The Bonzo Dog Band, Roy Harper and John Williams. 'The most interesting comparisons,' says Dean, 'are with people I've never heard in my life, like Amon Duul II and Bauhaus!' But despite such variety of approach, Dean's music is a unity in terms of purpose and vision. Anyone looking for the usual reassurances and mild melancholia of bedsitter songsterdom won't find it here.

With the electric three piece DEAN CARTER AND THE HIGH COMMISSION Dean's songs are propelled into yet another dimension, that of psychedelic rock. COLIN WAREHAM on drums and MARK HUXLEY on bass are accomplished players in their own right, so much so, in fact, that the lure of improvisation often proves too strong, and the HIGH COMMISSION set often culminates much to the delight of the punters, in a full scale psych out. From floating acoustic reverie to dayglo freakout, by way of rock, a dash of dub, a pinch of pop a full DEAN CARTER AND THE HIGH COMMISSION session ought to have some thing in it for everybody.