Long Live the King
Presley is this artist's good luck charm
by Dwayne Steward
Entertainment reporter
Newsday
August 12, 2007
Shawn Klush says becoming someone else is his higher calling, a sacrifice he makes with pride.
Donning the white, sequined jumpsuit, slicking back his jet-black hair - it's all for just that moment when Klush can be Elvis Presley.
"It's a rush like no other when you get on that stage with the original band," says Klush, who will be a headliner at the Rock 'n' Roll King Spectacular at the North Fork Theatre in Westbury on Aug. 18.
Klush, 38, has been an Elvis tribute artist for 20 years, a one-stop Elvis extravaganza. His performance includes everything from early hits "It's Now or Never" and "Love Me" to later classics such as "Suspicious Minds."
Growing up in the small town of Pittston, Pa., Klush remembers watching Elvis on television with his father. He sang his first Elvis song professionally in 1988. Little did he know, his love for The King would lead him to performing for sold-out crowds all over the world.
It's the audience Klush craves, the love they shower him with every night. He says he is bringing Elvis back to the world the right way.
"The whole idea is that we bring as much realism as we can," Klush says.
His act incorporates some of the people who performed with Presley, including his original drummer, D.J. Fontana. Klush strives to be completely faithful, even down to using Presley's tailor and jeweler for his own wardrobe.
The only thing missing is Elvis himself, but Klush believes he gets pretty close.
"This isn't about me," he says. "I just want to get the perception of Elvis back to where it was at the height of his career and not when he died."
Klush doesn't consider himself among the many beer-bellied men in tacky, stained, white jumpsuits that dot the Las Vegas landscape. For Klush it's about giving people an Elvis experience they've never seen.
"For every show we say, 'Let's make the guy proud as if he's looking down on us,'" he says. "I look at it like I'm just riding a vessel and someone else is the captain."
by Dwayne Steward
Entertainment reporter
Newsday
August 12, 2007
Shawn Klush says becoming someone else is his higher calling, a sacrifice he makes with pride.
Donning the white, sequined jumpsuit, slicking back his jet-black hair - it's all for just that moment when Klush can be Elvis Presley.
"It's a rush like no other when you get on that stage with the original band," says Klush, who will be a headliner at the Rock 'n' Roll King Spectacular at the North Fork Theatre in Westbury on Aug. 18.
Klush, 38, has been an Elvis tribute artist for 20 years, a one-stop Elvis extravaganza. His performance includes everything from early hits "It's Now or Never" and "Love Me" to later classics such as "Suspicious Minds."
Growing up in the small town of Pittston, Pa., Klush remembers watching Elvis on television with his father. He sang his first Elvis song professionally in 1988. Little did he know, his love for The King would lead him to performing for sold-out crowds all over the world.
It's the audience Klush craves, the love they shower him with every night. He says he is bringing Elvis back to the world the right way.
"The whole idea is that we bring as much realism as we can," Klush says.
His act incorporates some of the people who performed with Presley, including his original drummer, D.J. Fontana. Klush strives to be completely faithful, even down to using Presley's tailor and jeweler for his own wardrobe.
The only thing missing is Elvis himself, but Klush believes he gets pretty close.
"This isn't about me," he says. "I just want to get the perception of Elvis back to where it was at the height of his career and not when he died."
Klush doesn't consider himself among the many beer-bellied men in tacky, stained, white jumpsuits that dot the Las Vegas landscape. For Klush it's about giving people an Elvis experience they've never seen.
"For every show we say, 'Let's make the guy proud as if he's looking down on us,'" he says. "I look at it like I'm just riding a vessel and someone else is the captain."
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