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Musician fatally shot trying to kick in door
By JEFF CARLTON
The Associated Press

JEFFREY CARTER ALBRECHT DALLAS -- Dallas musician Jeffrey Carter Albrecht, a member of the band Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, was shot to death early Monday after trying to kick in the door of his girlfriend's neighbor, police said.

The neighbor, who has not been identified, was asleep in bed when he awakened around 4 a.m. to his wife screaming that someone was breaking into the house, according to a police report.

The neighbor yelled through the door for Albrecht to leave and then fired his handgun through the door.

Albrecht, 34, was struck in the head and died at the scene, police said.

The case is under investigation; no arrests have been made.

Danny Balis, Albrecht's roommate and a fellow member of the Dallas rock band Sorta, said Albrecht had been at his girlfriend's house.

"He left the house and went next door and -- for whatever reason, which we don't know -- he knocked on the neighbor's door," Balis said Monday. "And from what I understand, he was persistent. I don't know if there was a verbal exchange, but the person panicked and fired a shot through the door."

Published and broadcast reports quoted police as saying that Albrecht beat up his girlfriend and then tried to kick down the neighbor's door in a drunken rage.

The couple had no history of domestic violence, but the girlfriend had bruises on her face, police said. She did not suffer serious injury.

Albrecht apparently struck his girlfriend in the face several times and hit her in the back once she fell.

She later managed to lock him out of the house, according to the reports.

His death stunned friends and the North Texas music community. Banging on a door in the middle of the night seems out of character for a man known to be friendly and quiet, friends said.

"He is not a violent person," said Carrie Garcia, Sorta's manager. "He is cool as a cucumber, shy, always wanted to make a joke in a situation that may be a little tense."

Albrecht, who went by his middle name, had been a keyboard player for New Bohemians since 1999, according to the band's Web site.

He also played keyboard and guitar and sang for Sorta, named in 2006 as the best local music act by the Dallas Observer.

Albrecht played several times with Brickell's husband, Paul Simon, Garcia said.

He also played with Texas musician Charlie Sexton, a renowned guitarist.

Albrecht was working on a solo album that Balis called "the best thing he has ever done."

"He was the best musician I've ever played with -- no question," Balis said. "He could play anything. It's a shame not enough people outside of Dallas heard him."