About

Carter Way is a Kalamazoo, Michigan based drummer, percussionist, producer and composer.

With a wide variety of experience in every musical style and situation, Carter has become one of the most sought after percussionists in the area.

Growing up in Kalamazoo, Carter developed his passion for drums at a young age, starting with discovering a drum set in his parents' basement at the age of six.

He has been a regular musician at the Equity regional Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan since 2016, performing both previously curated and completely original scores, including an original workshop performance and created-from-scratch drum book for Billy The Kid: The Musical, written by Brendon Ragotzy. Favorites from past seasons include Mamma Mia!, Rock of Ages, Guys and Dolls, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and his absolute favorite - the regional premiere of Groundhog Day.

In New York City, Carter has had the privilege to perform at Feinstein's 54 Below for artists such as Alyssa Wray (American Idol), Carolina Rial (The Voice), Leanne Antonio (The Lion King), Keri Renee Fuller (Six, Waitress), and many others. He was also heavily involved in recording projects for both NYU Steinhardt's Screen Scoring program and the Student Composer's Board. Other songwriting classes and credits include playing alongside Emily Davies (bassist, Six), Matt Wong (guitar, Parade, Wicked, A Strange Loop) and Yuma Sung (screen scoring; piano, Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, Wayne Bergeron).

Alongside theatrical productions, Carter has been proudly producing and performing for the English artist Ed Tullett, featuring on drums in both his solo project, Lowswimmer, and duo project Hailaker with Jemima Coulter. Carter's most recent project with Tullett and Coulter is Hailaker's Serenity Now (2024), playing drums for the record. Next with Tullett is Lowswimmer's upcoming album Godspeed, Fantasy, releasing June 6th, 2025. Through his connection with Tullett and Coulter, Carter was introduced to -- and later recorded with -- Welsh indie-folk artist Novo Amor. Featuring both on drums and vocals in Novo Amor's latest album Collapse List (2024), Carter can be heard on the tracks "First Place" and " Me v2".

Carter graduated with a Bachelor of Music from Western Michigan University in 2021 under the direction and instruction of Judy Moonert, Keith Hall and the legendary Billy Hart. He recently graduated with a Master's degree from the percussion studies program at New York University under the direction and instruction of Jonathan Haas, Sean Statser, James Saporito, Javier Diaz, Valerie Naranjo, Eriko Daimo and Josh Samuels.