Debbie BeChamp warms up to Christmas at Century Church Theatre

November 27, 2013 · 0 Comments

A regular performer on The Tommy Hunter Show and with Gordie Tapp, Debbie Bechamp has always had a large Christmas repertoire from which she will be making selections to perform at the Century Church Theatre in Hillsburgh Dec. 7.
Joining Bechamp, singing and playing acoustic guitar, will be her eldest daughter Faye, once a member of the Achill Choir and now quite consumed teaching in elementary school. She will supply harmony and a little tambourine.
Bechamp husband Peter, aside from preparing rhythm section tracks will also be playing base and lead guitar. Daughter Ruby, (search “thesmokingzebras” on the internet) though from an entirely different generation, inherited more than her share of musical skill and will perform her take of some Christmas favorites.
“It’s not a family band.” Bechamp said. “But there’s a lot of family in the band.”
To make the evening even more special, friend and special guest Aaron Solomon, famous for personifying Johnny Cash and Glen Campbell, will perform a number of Christmas selections as a special guest vocalist. Solomon hails from Cape Breton, where he developed a superb mastery of the fiddle, which he will use to provide a down-home flavor to the Christmas tunes.
Bechamp started singing when she was young and won the Simcoe Canadian Open Country Singing Contest while still a teen. Her first big break came when she won the CBC Talent Search Show Look Out World Here We Come. Her prize was performing on and hosting three half-hour television variety shows. She went on to make records and tour Canada coast to coast, performing on TV shows such as The Tommy Hunter Show in Toronto, La Bastringue in New Brunswick and Sun Country in Edmonton. She was a regular on CFGM’s country radio show Opry North and warmed up for Garth Brooks and Marty Stewart at Maple Leaf Gardens, Lee Greenwood and Eddie Rabbit.
Bechamp took a hiatus to raise children and turned out four of them, all the while playing local solo dates. As the kids grew, she found herself able to get out and sing more, accompanied by her long-time partner Peter Komisar, who has been responsible for writing and producing most of the material Bechamp has recorded over the years.
Old friend Marie Bottrell invited Bechamp to take a part in the Collin Stewart and Chris McHarge stage production of Heaven’s Little Honky Tonk. This started a run of performances in Ontario theatres.
It should be a memorable night, and a great way to bring in the Christmas season. There is one performance only, Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 from the box office, at 519-855-4586.