“It’s just the way that I feel. I’ve never copied anybody or styled myself after anybody. The way my voice showed up was a kind of accident in the first place.” (Karen Carpenter, BBC Radio 2 interview with Ray Moore, 1981).
And what an ‘accident’ that was! One that produced perhaps one of the best female vocalists of all time.
This exciting new show, “Rainy Days, Mondays & Good Old Dreams” is much more than a Carpenters tribute; it sensitively explores the music and lives of the Carpenters from their early attempts to get a ‘break’, to some of their greatest influences (such as the Beatles, Burt Bacharach & the Beach Boys) as well as the challenges faced by the incomparable sibling duo along their journey to stardom and, ultimately, to tragedy.
Kerry Le Bern, a professional singer who performs across the south of England, sympathetically re-creates the nuances and detailed characteristics of the beautiful soulful contralto tones of Karen Carpenter, whilst telling the tragic story of a life ended far too abruptly. Kerry says, “I adored the Carpenters from an early age and in the 1970’s I often used to pretend I was Karen Carpenter as I sang along to the songs from the “Close To You” album on my trusty cassette player.” Kerry continues, “I want to bring something very special to my audiences with this show, I want them to hear Karen’s vocals through my own interpretation, but I also want to tell their story, I want people to go away saying ‘how different”, “how fascinating” and “I didn’t know that”.”
Kerry is delighted to be joined by the supremely talented Mark Busell on keys for this show and the two have formed a close collaboration to bring their respective talents to bear. Together, this Enharmonic Duo will transport you right back to the Carpenters’ magic of the 1970’s/early 1980’s with their unique and insightful performance. At one moment they will have you tapping your toes and singing along, and in the next, they will reach out and touch your very soul with their poignant rendition of these classic songs.
This is a show to be experienced and not missed.
