Carter Albrecht

Jeffrey Carter Albrecht (23 June 1973 – 3 September 2007) was an American musician perhaps best known for his keyboard and guitar work in Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. He was shot and killed by his girlfriend's neighbor early in the morning on 3 September 2007.

Biography

Originally from Kansas and a 1995 graduate of Southern Methodist University with a degree in piano performance, Albrecht was a pianist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and taught piano in the mid-1990s.

Career

He was a member of Dallas band Sorta, playing keyboards, guitar, and providing vocals. Albrecht also fronted his own popular Dallas band, Sparrows, which included Ward Williams and Danny Balis (also of Sorta), Bryan Wakeland (Polyphonic Spree), Mike Daane (Andy Timmons Band), and later on Brant Cole and Dave Monsey (Fiona Apple). Sparrows released two critically acclaimed albums, "Rock and Roll Days" (2002) and "Snowflakes" (2004) before disbanding in 2005. Prior to Sparrows, Albrecht played guitar in another popular local band, The Limes, which also included his friend Ward Williams on bass and Joey Shanks (Slider Pines) on guitar and vocals.cite news | last =Daniel| first =Mike| title =Albrecht's death a loss to local music scene| work =WFAA.com| publisher =Dallas Morning News| date =2007-09-05| url =http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070904_mo_albrecht.a21ce989.html| accessdate =2007-10-25 ]

Albrecht made guest appearances on several albums recorded in Dallas in the last few years. He was putting the final touches on his first solo effort, "Jesus is Alive". [cite news | last =Daniel| first =Mike| title =Hundreds pay respects to Carter Albrecht| work =WFAA.com| publisher =Dallas Morning News| date =2007-09-07| url =http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070907_lj_albrecht.b0901985.html| accessdate =2007-10-25]

Death

In the pre-dawn hours of 3 September, 2007, Albrecht was shot and killed by his girlfriend's neighbor. After having some drinks with his girlfriend Ryann Rathbone at a Dallas bar, Albrecht became intoxicated. Rathbone drove him to her house, and they both took their dose of Chantix. A short while later, Albrecht began speaking incoherently, broke a drinking glass on a table, and hit Rathbone several times, something he had never done before. She ran outside, and Albrecht followed. Rathbone re-entered her home and locked the doors behind her. Albrecht yelled and pounded on her front door in an unsuccessful attempt to reenter her house.

At this point, Albrecht went into Rathbone's neighbor's backyard, and he and his wife were awakened by the loud pounding and yelling at their back door. Albrecht was told to stop, but he did not; Rathbone's neighbor then says he fired a "warning shot" through the door. The door was made of thick, opaque glass, and the porch was well-lit. The shot hit the 6' 5" Albrecht in the head, and he died at the scene. No charges were filed.cite news | title =Did Quit-Smoking Pill Lead to Man's Death?| work =abcnews.com| date =2007-09-19| url =http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=3623085&page=1| accessdate =2007-10-25 ] The autopsy report indicated Albrecht had a blood alcohol content of 0.29 g/dl (grams/deciliter), more than three times the legal driving limit in Texas of 0.08 g/dl, when he was shot.cite news| first = Tanya| last = Eiserer| url = http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/090407glalbrecht.9abfe1fe.html| title = Carter Albrecht, musician with Sorta, New Bohemians, killed| work = Dallas Morning News| date = 2007-09-05| accessdate = 2007-10-25] However, people close to Albrecht state that his actions prior to the shooting were atypical, even after having had too much to drink, and that his behavior may have been affected by his use of a prescription drug, Chantix, which he was taking to help him stop smoking.cite news| first = Michael| last = Grabell| coauthors = Eiserer, Tanya| url = http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-musiciandead_05met.ART.State.Edition2.4247864.html| title = Girlfriend of slain musician cites anti-smoking drug| work = Dallas Morning News| date = 2007-09-05| accessdate = 2007-10-25] cite news| first = Janet | last = St. James| url = http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070917_wz_chantix.e2f8cc0b.html| title = Dead musician's girlfriend warns about drug| work = WFAA.com| date = 2007-09-18| accessdate = 2007-10-25] Addiction expert Dr. Bryon Adinoff considers that the interaction of Chantix with the alcohol he consumed that evening might have been a factor.cite news
url = http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/04/people.musicianshot.ap/index.html
title = New Bohemians band member shot dead
work = CNN.com/entertainment
publisher = CNN
date = September 4, 2007
accessdate = 2007-09-19] cite news
first = Tanya
last = Eiserer
url = http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/090407glalbrecht.9abfe1fe.html
title = Carter Albrecht, musician with Sorta, New Bohemians, killed
work = dallasnews.com
publisher = Dallas Morning News
date = September 5, 2007
accessdate = 2007-09-19] cite news
first = Michael
last = Grabell
coauthors = Tanya Eiserer
url = http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-musiciandead_05met.ART.State.Edition2.4247864.html
title = Girlfriend of slain musician cites anti-smoking drug
work = dallasnews.com
publisher = Dallas Morning News
date = September 5, 2007
accessdate = 2007-09-19] cite news
first = Janet
last = St. James
url = http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070917_wz_chantix.e2f8cc0b.html
title = Dead musician's girlfriend warns about drug
work = WFAA.com
publisher = Belo, WFAA Channel 8
date = September 18, 2007
accessdate = 2007-09-28] cite news
first = Janet
last = St. James
url = http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070917_wz_chantix.e2f8cc0b.html
title = Dead musician's girlfriend warns about drug
work = WFAA.com
publisher = Belo, WFAA Channel 8
date = September 18, 2007
accessdate = 2007-09-28] No other explanations have been offered for the events of that morning.

References

External links

* [http://www.newbohemians.com/mt/carter/ Albrecht's blog on the New Bohemians' web site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/carteralbrecht/ Carter Albrecht Memorial Page on MySpace]
* [http://www.sortaweb.com/ Sorta Official Homepage]
* [http://www.myspace.com/sorta/ Sorta MySpace page (Music)]
* [http://www.myspace.com/5parrow5 Sparrows MySpace page (More Music)]