Closer To You: A Live Tribute to The Carpenters

Featuring GRAMMY Nominated Vocalist JUDY PANCOAST and Musical Director Michael Pierce.
A most romantic way to celebrate the most romantic weekend of the year, with the timeless love songs of The Carpenters, including such classics as “We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Rainy Days and Mondays,” “I Won’t Last a Day Without You” and, of course, “Close to You.”

When Judy Pancoast’s fans remark that she sounds “just like Karen Carpenter,” it’s no coincidence.  Pancoast was just eleven years old when her older sister told her about a song she’d heard on the radio, and said that the girl singing it sounded “just like you.”  That was the summer of 1970, and when Judy finally heard “(They Long to Be) Close to You” it was the beginning of a childhood adulation that would last well into her adult years.  She spent her adolescent and teen years listening nearly non-stop to the music of the brother and sister duo who called themselves “Carpenters”, and became on of the charter members of their fan club at age 12.  She saw them in concert five times and, in what remains one of the great thrills of her life, wrangled her way backstage to meet them at a concert in Portland, Maine in October, 1973.  Judy’s natural rich alto voice blended well with Karen’s, and she spent countless hours in front of a mirror with a hair brush “microphone” mimicking her idol’s voice.  Later, while a music major at the University of Maine, she was advised to “stop trying to sound like Karen Carpenter,” but although she managed finally to all but erase the traces of Karen’s stylings, the influence had already had its impact.  To this day she is delighted when fans who have no idea of her long history with the music of The Carpenters tell her she sounds “A lot like Karen Carpenter,” and she considers it the greatest compliment of all.  She is thrilled beyond measure to have been invited to perform this tribute concert with her long-time friend and fellow Carpenters’ fan, Michael Pierce.

“This is a tribute concert in the truest sense of the word,” says Pancoast.  “Instead of trying to impersonate The Carpenters, I’m going to be sharing songs and recollections with the audience of a special time when simple love songs and the pure, rich alto of a girl held the world spellbound.”

The concert will not only include the chart topping hits that made The Carpenters the best-selling duo of the 1970’s, but will also some of Judy’s favorite album cuts.