Debbie Taylor was awestruck the first time she performed the music of the Carpenters with a symphony orchestra.
It was in February 2020 when she and her Top of The World: A Carpenters Tribute show performed with the Palm Desert, Calif., symphony. When she heard the orchestra behind her, she had to turn around to take it all in.
“My jaw was on the floor,” said the south Florida singer who performs with her Debbie Taylor Band as well as her Top of The World: A Carpenters Tribute. The tribute show will be performed with the Augusta Symphony at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 3 at the Miller Theater.
The Augusta Symphony is only the second orchestra Taylor has performed this tribute with, and the first was magical, she said.
“We’re so lucky to be able to do this with a symphony. This music was made for this,” said Taylor.
Taylor typically takes the stage with seven additional performers, and when they do the show alone, they use three keyboards. One musician plays multiple instruments including the saxophone, flute and keyboard, but many of the other sounds, such as the strings, come solely from the keyboard.
Taylor, a dental hygienist by day, has spent many years singing for weddings, corporate events, private parties and galas, including the 2007 Love and Hope Ball honoring Barry and Linda Gibb (Barry Gibb was a member of the Bee Gees). For those occasions, the music of the Carpenters always provided a comfortable range for her contralto voice, she said.
Many people have told her she sounds like Karen Carpenter, part of the brother-sister duo who sang hits such as “Top of the World,” “Close to You,” “Rainy Days and Mondays,” “We’ve Only Just Begun” and “Kind of Hush.”
Karen Carpenter died in 1983.
A few years ago, Taylor and Paul Stewart decided to create a tribute show. There are about 15 songs in the performance.
The Feb. 3 concert is part of the symphony’s Pops’ series. Two additional concerts remain in that series. The Music of Earth, Wind and Fire will be featured in “Serpentine Fire” on March 10, and the series will wind down with Motown sounds in Dancing in the Streets April 14.
Tickets are available at augustasymphony.com.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the managing editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
