Dylan Carter had already lived more lives than most people twice his age. A singer-songwriter, a realtor, a campground co-owner, a community fundraiser, and a young man who carried his mother’s memory with him everywhere he went, Carter died on Saturday night in Colleton County, South Carolina, the result of a car accident. He was 24 years old. The Lowcountry community he had spent his life entertaining is in mourning, and the silence where his voice used to be is going to take a long time to fill.
Carter grew up in St. George, South Carolina, a small town in the Lowcountry about an hour outside Charleston, and discovered his passion for music at the age of ten. He started writing songs and performing at local farmers markets, churches, weddings, and special events, building a following one room at a time in the way that only artists who truly love what they do actually build one. He auditioned for NBC’s The Voice twice before earning his four-chair turn on Season 24, and when he chose to join Team Reba, he became part of country music legend Reba McEntire’s first-ever team on the show. The song he sang for that blind audition was Whitney Houston’s “I Look to You,” a tribute to his mother, who had passed away the year before. He had tried to sing it at her funeral and couldn’t finish it. On that stage, he did.
After The Voice, Carter came home and kept working. He performed throughout the Lowcountry, booked weddings, fundraisers, restaurants, and backyard parties, and described himself with characteristic warmth as a one-man band who promised every audience laughter, smiles, singing, and perhaps a little boot scootin’ boogie. He worked as a realtor by day to support his music career and was a co-owner of Sunny Days Campground near Lake Marion in the Santee community. He was also co-founder of The Local Voice, a nonprofit based in Santee that provides care to women fighting breast cancer, and threw himself into that work with the same generosity he brought to everything else.
The Local Voice shared the news of his passing with words that said everything about who he was. “Dylan was the heart of what we do,” the organization wrote. “He believed every voice matters and lived that every day. Through his music, his kindness, and his smile, he brought people together and made everyone feel seen.” Moncks Corner Mayor Thomas Hamilton Jr., who had to cancel a Music on Main event that Carter was scheduled to headline on Monday, wrote that Carter was far more than an entertainer to his community. “He was our friend,” Hamilton wrote, “and we are deeply saddened.”
Reba McEntire told Carter to use his voice to touch people’s hearts. By every account from everyone who knew him, that is exactly what he did, every single time he walked onto a stage. He was 24 years old and just getting started.