Carole King and James Taylor have been cited, repeatedly and correctly, as one of the defining creative friendships in American popular music — two songwriters whose early-1970s collaboration produced catalog that has outlasted most of what surrounded it. You’ve Still Got a Friend, the touring concert tribute created by Tony Award-winning producers GFour Productions, does not bring either of them to Rutland. Taylor’s publicist put it plainly: “This is a tribute concert that neither James nor Carole are associated with.” What the production offers instead is a 90-minute concert-style show built around how that friendship formed, what it produced, and why it still registers.
About the Show
The story behind the songs is worth knowing. King and Taylor met in Los Angeles in 1970 through mutual friend and musician Danny Kortchmar; King played piano on Taylor’s “Sweet Baby James,” a collaboration that helped set the trajectory of both careers. Their friendship deepened across the decade and culminated in a 2007 reunion — six shows over three nights at the Troubadour — that inspired subsequent world tours and became its own chapter in the history of both artists. You’ve Still Got a Friend traces that arc through two storytelling artists, two backup vocalists, and a live band drawing from both catalogs: “Fire and Rain,” “Beautiful,” “Sweet Baby James,” “I Feel the Earth Move,” “Natural Woman,” “So Far Away,” and “Carolina In My Mind.” The production had its world premiere at Theatre By The Sea in Wakefield, Rhode Island in August 2026, where executive producer Bill Hanney described it as “something different, something new. And people seem to be embracing it.” From there it moved to a national tour booked through Columbia Artists Theatricals. The show runs 90 minutes without intermission.
Venue & Logistics
The Paramount Theatre, an 838-seat historic theater at 30 Center St in Rutland, Vermont, hosts the February 4 date on the north country leg of the production’s winter run. It is a room scaled to the show: intimate enough for the storytelling to land, large enough for the songs to breathe. No showtime was available from sources at the time of publication.
Tickets
No ticket price was available from sources at the time of publication. The Paramount’s event page was inaccessible at the time of research; pricing and availability can be confirmed directly with the venue. The production is recommended for ages 12 and up. Buy tickets