I decided on having a choir at the same time I started visualizing this show. I felt that a choir would add so much more to the program, especially with the Gospel and Christmas tunes. As the details of the show started to unfold and the thought of where would I get a choir entered my mind, I considered getting a professional Gospel group. I emailed a well-known group out of Denver and smiled when I tried to imagine being the recipient of that email. "Hello, I'm an Elvis tribute artist and I'm looking for a Gospel choir." I never heard back from them.

I had a group of students from a local High School on my morning show at the radio station I work at, 1310KFKA, to help promote their upcoming school program. I was blown away at their talent! So after working out hundreds of other details, I decided to contact their conductor, Tom Pederson. He agreed that this would be a great opportunity for them and said they would be honored to join us. A funny side note: I worked with Tom at a car dealership many years back. He was the Finance Mngr and I did Fleet / Commercial sales. I never knew then what a musical talent he was.

I attended a rehearsal of the choir recently which was my first time seeing and hearing them. There were about 21 people there with an even amount of students and adults. I had asked several adults to join us to make the choir a bit bigger. They sounded great when they sang "Amazing Grace" and "How Great Thou Art". It wasn't until they sang, "If I Can Dream" that I got somewhat emotional. Those of you who are coming to the show will be overwhelmed at how much they will add. Tom really knows what he's doing!

Tickets are selling really well, so get yours soon!

We recently had our second meeting with the Union Colony Civic Center's Stage Manager, Jason Evenson, and Chris Ransome, the Sound/Light guy to plan the stage, sound, and look of the show. Even though we are still about a month out, it didn't take me long before I started having an Anxiety Attack!

Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit but my mind was swirling just thinking about how the guys where planning the stage layout. Where do you want the piano, do you want the drummer on a riser and how high, what about the choir and do they need more than one monitor, how many musicians will sing, do you want the flute lady mic'd? I never thought about these things, never really had to. This is a big show for us and big shows require big productions with lots of details.

After I left the meeting I had a few moments to reflect on the conversation and the decisions that were being made. Then it dawned on me. Jason and Chris and all the other Civic Center personnel are the experts and know how to put this show together. Let me tell you, these people are some of the most creative folks I've ever known and their vision and ideas are going to make this a wonderful event.

As for rehearsals, everything is on track and we're starting to fine tune a few hits. I'm adding another Trumpet player, an awesome student from UNC who plays with the lead Jazz group there. He'll be the one playing the high notes and his name is Toshi Chun. You'll see that name on record labels in the near future. I must admit that I was worried that my other Trumpeters, Tony and Dave, might be a little bit concerned that I wasn't confident with their abilities, I am. Both are great musicians and add so much to the band, I just wanted that extra lift!

All for now, write if you have questions.

p.s. Tickets are really selling well, get yours now if you haven't all ready. Union Colony Civic Center, ucstars.com or call (970) 356-5000

As time passes by and we get closer to the Gospel / Christmas and Rock show on Sat November 29th at the Union Colony Civic Center, it was time to have a preliminary meeting with the Civic Centers show manager, Jason. First and foremost, Jason is great and really knows his stuff, a true professional and very accommodating. I decided to invite Kathy Horning, one of my awesome backup singers, and her husband Carl because I trust their opinion. Kathy is great with her vision and ear for music and Carl is a master at sound. Carl will be there to make sure the right sound for each song is there and he'll also make sure the lights are flashing at the right place and time.

Although this will be one of our biggest shows and could really launch us in to area's yet to be known, I haven't had a bad case of nerves . . . . . until now. My Lord! I've never had to look at and consider such details before. The stage will be the biggest we've ever performed on and yet we want it to be balanced. Keep in mind this will be the biggest cast performing with me and each one is very important and needs to be seen and heard. There's the choir that could be 30+ people that we'll have on graduating risers as well as almost everyone else, each group on different height platforms. I'm on the flat stage with the towering musicians behind me and the towering crowd in front. Thank God I'll have my security blanket backup singers there with me.

So we kind of have a stage plot for both first and second acts. Our next meeting will be to look at the diagram and tweak it a bit more.

More later!

One of my favorite things about our concerts is interacting with the crowd. I get a kick out of those who come up and try to have a conversation while I’m singing. I get several comments about this and people say it’s one of the reasons they enjoy our shows so much. In a standard show I give out 15 to 18 scarfs and kiss many hands as well.

Although our show at the Union Colony Civic Center Nov 29th 2008 well be performed in a state-of-the-art auditorium, our show will stay as we have always performed them.

This upcoming show at the Union Colony Civic Center on November 29th 2008, started as an idea about a year ago. I always wanted to incorporate some of Elvis's Gospel but never performed at a venue that I felt that kind of music fit.

As I attended holiday concerts that showcased well-known performers, I kept having this vision that a holiday show featuring Elvis's Gospel and Christmas hits would be so much fun and we would be performing his favorite music. Elvis loved Gospel and if it wasn't for his manager Colonel Parker pushing him more towards Rock, who knows where he would have gone or what level of celebrity he would have achieved. Probably not to the level he is known today.

With this idea I then contacted the Union Colony Civic Center in Greeley and tossed the idea to them. I remember thinking, as I sat there trying to paint a picture of how the show would look to them, how unprepared I was for this pitch. I have been in sales most my life and I know that before you ask someone for the sale, you must show them the options and how they will benefit them. Ideally I would have put together a promotional packet that included pictures, testimonials, a storybook on the performance, and some audio clips from our shows so they could understand my vision. All I brought was my enthusiasm and my hands, as I tried to convey the picture in my mind. I walked out of that meeting with little hope of selling the idea to them and knew that they would instead book a holiday "Nunsense" play.

January 2008, I received an email from the Civic Center saying that they were considering the Holiday show idea and they would be back with me in the coming months. What?!?! I was totally blown away and very excited for us. I held back my excitement as I told the band during one of our rehearsals. I didn’t want to excite them too much and also wanted to keep our focus on our upcoming shows at the Bayou Steak House and at the "Relay for Life" cancer benefit.

As the weeks went by, I finally got the call for us to meet for coffee to figure this thing out. I will never forget the excitement I had and never will I forget the nerves that were born that morning. More to follow.....

I was asked "What made you become an Elvis Impersonator". I actually consider myself a "Tribute Artist" which not only sounds better but is what I do, a tribute to Elvis.

It all started with listening to my Dad's albums when I was about 10yrs old. I had my favorites that included Peter, Paul, and Mary, The Smothers Brothers, and Elvis. Little did I know at the time but I was actually training my voice to sound like and achieve the vocal range of Elvis's. I think I also picked up a few traits of Tommy Smother’s sense of humor that is evident on the morning radio show that I do. More on that later.

So anyway, here I am with this “gift” that was dormant for years until after play rehearsal some friends and I went to a bar that was doing Karaoke. Keep I mind that I was never in choir or really sang in public except for a few songs I did in a pre-show for some plays. I guess there was this one time on the school bus in High School where I sang a few songs from the musical “Grease” to a few girls that was a big hit, but that was about bit. At this Karaoke bar everyone was getting up and singing songs, mostly badly, and having fun. People were pushing me to sing as they shoved a song list in front of me. As I scanned the thousands of songs, I decided to sing songs that I really knew well. I picked “Love Me Tender” and stepped up to the mic and let it rip.

To be continued. . . .

I’ve decided to start this Blog as a journal for you, our fans, to get to know us better and give you some insight on who we are, what we’re working on, and what’s scheduled. I decided to make this Blog interactive so you can make comments and ask questions.

Hard to believe that this is already September because it seems like just a few weeks ago it was January when we started having conversations with the Union Colony Civic Center about doing an Elvis Holiday show which is now scheduled for Saturday November 29th. From Mark to Rhonda and all the others involved, this has been an exciting experience. What a great group of people to work with and what an awesome opportunity we are given!

The band and I have been together for 4yrs now and although a few have come and gone, I’m still so blessed to have such talented performers. Everyone really puts 100% in to our shows and we have all become a family. Family is something that I’ve always preached and we try to include our families in everything we do. I’ll write more later.

Don’t forget to get your tixs for our Elvis Holiday show, Nov 29th at the Union Colony Civic Center by calling, (970) 356-5000 or you can visit their web site at http://www.greeleygov.com/UCCC/Events.aspx