 Needing a change of scene, she moved to Europe and spent two years in Germany.While making connections, she worked as a nanny for a German family and taught violin on a U.S. military base.Carter returned to the U.S. and first came into the spotlight as the violinist for the all female pop-jazz quintet Straight Ahead in 1987, with Cynthia Dewberry, Gayelynn McKinney, Eileen Orr, and Marion Hayden.