[5] As a songwriter, Carter marries a traditionally English narrative style with elements of American gospel, shapenote, R&B and folk-rock has been described as an "impressively original" performer.

[6] Some commentators consider that Carter's guitar and vocal style is similar to that of noted British iconoclasts John Martyn[7] and Roy Harper,[8] whilst his lyrical perspective has further invited comparison with the work of Richard Thompson.

[9] After moving to London from his native Rutland, Carter came to the attention of British Indian musician Nitin Sawhney and singer/songwriter Martin Simpson, from whom he reportedly received some guitar tuition.

[10] This in turn led to an invitation from fellow Artists in Residence Bellowhead to tour the UK with them in the Spring of 2009, and to further collaborate with members of the group, both live and on record, particularly fiddle player Sam Sweeney.

[19] For festival appearances during the summer of 2013, and subsequent live dates in the autumn of the same year, Carter formed a Trio with Matt Ridley (double bass) and Karl Penney (drums).

[29][1] In late 2019, Sam joined the ensemble for the touring folk theatre show ‘Rising Up: Peterloo 2019’, arranging and performing songs written by the Young’uns’ Sean Cooney alongside Lucy Farrell of the Furrow Collective and Jim Molyneux.