Tori Holub Reaction | "We've Only Just Begun" (Carpenters Cover) 

Former corpsman shout out to ya and great review!

Thanks so much for the thoughtful review of our video! I'm Jim, piano, clarinet, percussion, audio & video guy here. Tori has been such a joy to work with. Again, I appreciate your kind reaction! - Jim Wilkas

A very heartfelt and realistic review of Tori's amazing velvety and smooth voice along with the very excellent arrangement by Jim Wilkas, that matched the original extremely well.

Thanks Doc for getting to this reaction so quickly. It never gets old witnessing the looks on peoples faces when they listen to this for the first time! I can't say I'm surprised, but your reaction was so profound that it surprised even me. I am so glad I recommended that you listen to the original first, because the impact would not have been the same without knowing it well. Tori has said that her goal is not to be Karen Carpenter. She is not trying to imitate. Her voice just naturally sounds very much like Karen's. I have never heard a voice like this in 50 years, so timeless. Tori has an original song which I see is posted by another viewer below. She also has a number of shorts on TikTok of various Carpenter songs as well as other artists. She is coming out shortly with a version similar to this of their famous hit, Close to You. I and another gentleman who is close to Tori's journey will recommend sort of a playlist for you so be on the lookout. In the interim, I will give you one that is phenomenal. But again listen to the original if you are not familiar. It is the Bacharach/David Medley again with Jim Wilkas harmonizing with Richard's part. I really appreciate all you do and your commentary was well received. By the way, I would not call this a cover. It is a recreation or reincarnation. As an added bit of information, Tori was invited The end of April to appear at the Carpenter's 55th anniversary celebration in LA. She performed two songs, and unexpectedly, Richard Carpenter showed up and she had the honor of meeting him and speaking with him backstage! Peace out.

From a little research, she was born Victoria Holub and grew up in the Minnesota suburbs. Her dad Joe sells wine amongst other things, and she has at least 1 sister. Her Mom's name escapes me right now, but I hope God guides and protects her as her career progresses. 🙏 Maybe, we'll see her on a Christmas special in a few years.

This is such a perfect video for those experiencing Tori for the first time. Seeing reactions like yours never gets old. Jim Wilkas' technique a' la Leonid and Friends in showing all the parts is masterful given the complex overdubbing of the original harmonies. That being said, as much as Tori shares many qualities with Karen, she very much has her own voice and has a rather impressive range. There is another Carpenters tribute she did that was augmented by Jim Wilkas (Tori's collaborater in this video) and is very entertaining. It's a medley of Burt Bacharach/Hal David songs that the Carpenters would often perform live. I don't think you would be disappointed. Link is below. Thank you for reacting to this song and thanks to Ron for requesting. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-J95lfJqo9VY.htmlsi=9Fe5n_MvuHqqP_pe

She sounds really close, doesn't she? And you know what's amazing, Tori herself doesn't think she sounds quite like Karen, (but those who are dead ringers seldom do).

I think Tori will become something really important. She sounds so similar to Karen. But, I want more of her voice.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bQURbjijAbI.html&start_radio=1 now out on all platforms, this is definitely an original, but still Karens voice

Thanks! Doc! I made a request in the comments for Tori and Dan It’s Impossible with a link. Looks like it stayed so I don’t have the service you’re using. I hate this one as it takes too much. Start a PP or coffee donation thing. More popular. Enjoy the song, they worked hard, it’s OK. 😉 Joe

Hi NavyDoc, I’m Joe and Ron is my friend. I saw this but forgot to comment. No one expects Tori. Your reaction is fairly accurate and representative. I’ve been requesting reactions to Tori since November and RU-vid introduced me to her in mid October. There are a bunch of short videos and some long form. That has been growing at a good clip now. I see some recommendations in the comments. All good. I’ll put in my 2¢ below with her newest. This has only a little to do with Karen. Carpenters appeared on a Perry Como Special and they and Perry did a medley where they traded singing their respective hits. So Karen wound up singing one line of Perry’s big hit, It’s Impossible. My friend in the UK, Dan Wesley who made a couple of videos about Tori’s singing abilities. He’s a Musician/singer/producer. He wondered, what if Karen had sung the entire song. So he reached out to Tori with that idea. Turns out it’s one of her favorite songs. Who knew? She agreed to do the song with Dan. Given he’s in England and she’s in Minnesota, logistics wasn’t a thing. So they did the same type of music in boxes video. Just fewer boxes as it was just piano and voices. This is Tori at her finest just being Tori with a song that’s not really a Carpenters cover. Not that there’s anything wrong with Carpenters covers. It was recently revealed that Jim and Tori’s next cover is; Close To You. In the mean time if you’re going on a Tori deep dive, this is her newest. I’ll do the opposite of Ron, I’ll undersell it. She did OK, just OK. I mean she can barely sing in tune. Poor dear. So you can be relaxed and not worry about her singing. It’s average at best. OK did I undersell it enough? Joe ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WTKqF0rgK5g.htmlsi=cbOuqkryKR7Gb4ea .