It’s not Ashley, it’s Traci Cassa Bruccoleri. While Taylor Swift has many impersonators on social media, Bruccoleri separates herself as a tribute performance. “Are You Ready For It? A Taylor Experience” took place at Appalachian Theatre of the High Country Sunday.
“I think that we are doing this the right way, where we’re really making sure that people know that I’m not an impersonator,” Traci Bruccoleri said. “I’m not going out there and pretending to be Taylor.”
“Are You Ready For It? A Taylor Experience” is a G-rated tribute show with Traci Bruccoleri replacing lyrics to make them more child-appropriate. One such instance is during the infamous bridge of the song “Cruel Summer.”
“I don’t even know the real words anymore, ‘cause I say, ‘I’m stuck in the back of the car, and I cry like a baby coming home from the mall,’” Traci Bruccoleri said.
The tribute show is aimed toward children, providing a space for them to dance and sing along to their favorite songs from Swift.
Having never attended “The Eras Tour” herself, Traci Bruccoleri watched live streams and “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” on Disney+ countless times in order to put on the best performance. With costumes sourced from Etsy sellers and a live band backing her up, Traci Bruccoleri recreates “The Eras Tour” with shocking accuracy.
The band includes Mike Bruccoleri, Traci Bruccoleri’s husband, as the music director, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist. Accompanying him is Steve Edwards, lead guitarist and keyboard player, Mike Morgan on the bass and backing vocals, Derrick Martens on the drums and Anna Gillan on the violin and backing vocals. Genevieve Pastore is also on backing vocals as well as Traci Bruccoleri’s wardrobe manager.
“I will brag about my band until I’m blue in the face,” Traci Bruccoleri said. “They are such top notch musicians.”
In between shows, Traci Bruccoleri and the band make sure they find time to take a break.
“While we’re traveling, if there’s time and there usually is, as a band, we always like to find something to do,” Traci Bruccoleri said. “So when we were in Utah, for example, we went to Great Salt Lake because we were in Salt Lake City. When we were in Oregon, we went to the Redwood National Forest.”
Traci Bruccoleri has been listening to Swift’s music since the release of the “Red” album in 2012. She paid tribute to it with a performance of the title track as her surprise song, a nod to “The Eras Tour” that she includes in every experience. Her favorite album is “Midnights,” with the tracks “Anti-Hero,” “Midnight Rain” and “Karma” included in her tribute setlist.
Similarly to “The Eras Tour,” Traci Bruccoleri gifts the “22” hat to a recipient of her choice during her performance.
With Traci Bruccoleri’s show being half the length of “The Eras Tour,” she had to hand pick eras and songs from the original show to include. She opened the show with the “Lover” era and followed it up with the “Fearless” era. She continued with the “Red” era that preluded the iconic “Reputation” era. She then included Swift’s newest albums back to back, “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT” and “The Life of a Showgirl.” She concluded her tribute performance with the “1989” era and the “Midnights” era.
Choosing the songs and eras performed has everything to do with her target audience being children. Traci Bruccoleri touched on the importance of holding the attention of her audience the entire time. She stressed that keeping a child’s attention for 90 minutes depends on upbeat music, meaning albums such as “Folklore” and “Evermore” were not included in the performance.
She also has to find a way to keep them engaged during costume changes. They utilize multimedia and trivia as fun ways for the crowd to get involved.
“There’s constantly stuff going on for the kids to do, see, look at, engage with, there’s multimedia going on behind the band on a screen, and sometimes there’s trivia up there while I’m doing a quick change,” Traci Bruccoleri said. “Sometimes the kids do karaoke with the band while I’m doing a quick change. Like, there’s always something happening.”
Together, Traci Bruccoleri, her husband Mike, and their band have recreated the energy Swift brought during her tour while also creating a unique experience for fans of all ages.
With this tribute, “Are You Ready For It? A Taylor Experience” brought the magic of “The Eras Tour” to the Swifties of the High Country, creating life-long memories for families and an energetic show for the fans.
