Pictures, anyone?

One of the reasons (so many to choose from) I’ve been lax lately about posting blog entries is that I’ve been doing some traveling here and there doing trade shows. I never imagined donning the costume and not singing, but these trade shows are all about pictures.

This idea was my sister’s brainstorm since their company was doing a Vegas-themed booth at a tradeshow and she thought it would be cool to have “Get your picture made with Elvis and a Vegas showgirl” thing going on in the booth.

Amazingly, it was a huge hit. We did about 4 shows last year and three this year already. We finished our latest one in Las Vegas last week, I think we took over 400 instant photos in 2 days.

It was a lot of fun since you get to visit with so many people doing this type of work. On the other hand, the hours are longer and it isn’t quite as much fun as doing a performance…

On our last show, we did have a little hitch when the “Vegas showgirl” informed us that she was pregnant (not me!) and wouldn’t be able to make the show. Fortunately, we found a replacement and the show went on, but not without a hitch.

On the second day in Vegas, the photo printer (that I provided) stopped working. I took a quick break and hailed a cab and asked the driver to take me to the nearest Fry’s Electronics store. I suppose that even in Las Vegas, Fry’s customers are not accustomed to seeing “Elvis” walking around the store in full costume doing a little electronics shopping. So, after a few pictures in the store with employees and customers, I was on my way with a new printer and we finished out the show.

Our next convention is April 16-18 at the International Guitar Show in Dallas, TX…come on by the gigPROMOS.com booth and say hello!

Time Management

Well, I have to say it is harder than I thought to find the time to create a regular entry to my own blog.

If I was my editor, I would have fired me by now, or at least put myself on probation.

Then I probably would’ve said, “You can’t fire me, I own this blog…plus, you don’t pay me anything!”  Then, I most likely would’ve also been written up for insubordination.

So, I’ll just keep my mouth shut and work real hard on coming up with an entry this week.

Lost Friends

One of the best things I’ve found about being an entertainer is that it affords you the opportunity to meet  never would have otherwise. Sometimes, it’s a one-time thing, like the people you meet at an out-of-town show. Other times, you get to see the same crowd multiple times, like the ones you see at your regular venues. After a while, some folks almost seem like a part of your extended family.

Since I perform at several locations on a regular basis, I’ve met quite a few people that fall into that latter category. Unfortunately, though, people move away, or you’ll no longer perform in a certain area…and sometimes your friend passes away.

Since I’ve been doing the show (circa 2003)…I’ve been privileged to perform for thousands of people, and gotten to know quite a number of them since then. Four of them have passed away, three out of the four just recently, which is what made me want to say a few things about them, I suppose.

I’ll just use first names out of respect for privacy:

Shirley
Shirley was one of my first “fans”. She was the first to discuss starting a Johnny Rockit Fan Club, although she really didn’t have the time or resources to make it a reality. I must admit that I was taken aback by the fact that someone would want to start a fan club for what I termed an amateur Elvis Impersonator (you see what I mean if I ever have the guts to post some early videos). Shirley and several members of her friends and family would just about always be at our public shows, front and center, if possible and always wanted to hear “Blue Hawaii.”

Nancy
I met Nancy at a show I did for a group of rehab patients about 3 years ago. She was a huge Elvis fan and made it out to every show we did at the rehab center. When she finished rehab, she moved into a senior community and talked the management there into having a few “Elvis in the Afternoon” parties for the residents. In the last few months before she passed away, she was often too ill to leave her bed, but I enjoyed getting to visit with her nonetheless.

Lloyd
I met Lloyd at a big party at one of the Elk’s Lodges in Dallas. He came up to me before the show and asked if we would play “Love Me”, which is one of my favorite numbers anyway. Every time I saw him afterwards, he asked for “Love Me” and we’d play it and watch as he and his lovely wife (of 62 years) Pat would dance. We lost Lloyd in early January 2010. He is missed by all of us that knew him.

Patricia
I got to know Patricia at the same place that I met Nancy, except she was a full-time resident, not a temporary rehab patient. Since it has been a regular gig for over 3 years, I probably saw Patricia 30-40 times over the last several years. The very first time I was there, the lady in charge came up to me and said, “We have someone here that is a huge Elvis fan, so put on a good show!” She must’ve liked it since she was there for just about every other show we performed at the rehab center.
I got an email last week that Patricia had unexpectedly passed away. I had performed there and got a chance to say hello to Patricia for a few minutes after the show a few days before her passing. Saying “hello” is literally about all we have time to say to some of the 40-50 residents, since an afternoon show means a quick pack-up of the equipment and loading of the car and get back to work as soon as possible. I was able to attend the graveside service for here that was performed by her nephew. He did a great job or describing what it was like growing up with Patricia as the loving aunt…he made me wish that I had more time to know Patricia better than an occasional quick hello, she sounded like a special person.

Elvis Impersonator Contests

Is it January already? Then it must be time for an Elvis contest! Some Elvis tribute artists love em and some won’t go near one, but I think they are a lot of fun whether you win or lose. It is a chance to see plenty of interpretations of Elvis and an opportunity to meet some die-hard Elvis fans.

The first time I ever put on a (borrowed) jumpsuit, it was for a contest back in January of 2003. Man, was I nervous. The contestants got to sing with  a live band, which I had never done before. The contest was held in  a little restaurant in Addison, Texas called the Baja Grill. I figured it would be about 50 people or so in attendance since it was a weeknight. Wrong! I arrived 2 hours before the contest started and there were already around 300 packed in there and the local news stations were setting up their communications vans in the parking lot.

When it was my turn to sing Teddy Bear and then Heartbreak Hotel, I had the highest level of nervousness I’ve ever experienced in my life. It was kind of funny because my hand was shaking so bad that I could barely keep the microphone in front of my mouth. But I got through it…and I didn’t win. That was ok, I was happy that I survived.

I tried another contest later that year, at the “old” Hard Rock Cafe in Dallas. It was a huge event with about 2 dozen contestants…yeah, I didn’t win that one either.

Eventually I got better and started getting past the first round of eliminations and finally even won a few contests here and there.

 To this day, I can’t say with any certainty what the judging criteria seems to be from event to event. I have seen guys that should never be allowed to pick up a microphone do very well with the judges and others that gave knockout performances that didn’t even get past the first round. So, I usually try to go in with the attitude that we’re all just here to have fun, regardless of the outcome. I have seen a few people throw a little bit of a fit when they didn’t win, which was also entertaining now that I think of it.

The contests that I am aware of this time around are:

January 7th, 2010 at Dick’s Last Resort (Dallas)…open to anyone

January 8th, 2010 at the Glass Cactus (Grapevine)…amateur performers only

January 13th, 2010 at El Ranchito (Oak Cliff) …open to anyone

I’ll be entering the Dick’s Last Resort contest and the El Ranchito contest. The one at El Ranchito should be a real treat because one of the original Elvis impersonators, Johnny Harra, is scheduled to put on a show the night of the contest. I last saw Johnny perform in 1984, so…it’s been  awhile.

Las Vegas and Memphis are hosting the national events right now during Elvis week, but I imagine just about every city has an Elvis contest or event going on over the next few days. Check one out if you get the chance, even if you don’t sing, you may have a shot at winning the jelly donut eating contest.

Buying The Bose PS1

Let’s talk about the second small sound system I purchased to replace my Fender Passport, the Bose PS1. It’s also called the Bose PAS, and, more recently, everyone has seemed to settle on the Bose L1 label. It’s all the same thing, though. If you remember from a previous post, I had been gigging for a few years with the Fender unit and was perfectly happy with it. One day, the guitar player in our band asked me if I had seen the new Bose system. I hadn’t, so it was off to Guitar Center we go! This post focuses more one buying the Bose and the follow-up post will deal more with using it. I don’t like typing long posts, I probably have a short attention span.  

 At the time (maybe still), Guitar Center was the ONLY place you could buy the L1. I found their demo unit off to the side in the room where they display most of their PA and lighting inventory. The salesguy was helpful and was actually familiar with how it worked. I have to say, it certainly looked different! Usually, or sometimes, anyway, different-looking is cool-looking. That was true in this case…so, check.

First of all, I really didn’t see how it could project much power because the speakers are little, 2 1/2 inch units that run the length of the “pole” section that plugs into the horseshoe-shaped base unit. The separate little box-looking piece in the photo is the subwoofer. It also has a remote unit to set a few volume levels and basic high-mid-low knobs for 2 other inputs.

I’m not going to go into a review of every little knob, button and spec…there are plenty of sites on the dang old internets that cover that stuff.

I had brought along  my iPod and a patch cable and Mr. Helpful Salesguy got me all hooked up to run a few tunes. At the time, I was enamored with the live version of Elvis’ 1969 Las Vegas rendition of the Mystery Train/Tiger Man medley. I have to say, when James Burton’s Telecaster started cranking, everyone within 50 feet drifted over and listened in. I was floored by the power and quality of sound coming out of those little speakers. We had the volume level set at about 20% up from zero, so we were not pushing it at all.

After a few more songs, I was sold. You would think that since I was going to use this for vocals, I would’ve hooked up a microphone and tested that as well, but I never said I was a savvy-buyer. More of an impulse buyer, maybe. Regardless, I wrote the check. As an aside I will have to say that Guitar Center wouldn’t take my check. Or, more accurately, their check service wouldn’t take my check. So, I got on the phone with Mr. Telecheck.

Them: I’m sorry, we’re unable to accept your check.

Me: Why not,  haven’t bounced any checks, is there some flag on my account?

Them: No, the amount is too large. ( I think it was about $2,000.00)

Me: What does that even mean? Do you realize that this is Guitar Center, they have lots of stuff here that costs more than what I’m buying, are you saying you can’t take checks for any of it?

Them: Well, you’ve never written a check for that much, so we can’t approve the transaction.

You would think that the idea is to get people to spend MORE rather than less in a retail store. But, maybe that is just one of my old-fashioned ideas…remember, Guitar Center was the ONLY place you could get one of these, so I did what any other American consumer would do, I put it on my credit card and problem solved.

Next time…using the Bose L1.

the show must go on…usually.

I hate cancelling shows. I agree with the old saying, “the show must go on”,  it’s the way entertainers should look at their commitments. When someone books entertainment, they should be able to count on the performer showing up and putting on a good show.

I am now coming up on seven years as an entertainer. The next show I do will be show number 458. In that time, I have had to cancel 2 shows.

Once, several years ago, I had a bad bout of the flu that eventually got to my vocal chords, pretty much rendering me speechless…or at least “sing-less” I couldn’t hit a note to save my life…yes, it was worse than my “regular” singing! I knew I could probably dope myself up with Dayquil and show up, but the show was going to be terrible, aside from the fact that I was going to possibly expose a number of their guests to the flu. So, I had to cancel. Fortunately, the client was understanding and was able to reschedule me for another event…so things worked out in the long run.
The second time happened last week and involves “hurling”. If you don’t enjoy reading an entry  that involves throwing up, hit the back button now. Some people must like it, my sister somehow incorporates the word “vomit” into almost every conversation we have. Anyhow, our third grader came home one day last week and said one of the kids in his class went home throwing up…and sure enough, by that evening he had his own version of the “stomach flu” and was giving his own dinner the old HEAVE HO. Actually, it was a combination Chester’s Hot Fries and milk, which as it turns out, is difficult to shampoo out of carpet… three times.  But, that is a story for another blog. Hopefully, I will never have time to write it. A few hours and a few more rounds with the carpet shampoo machine and he was over the worst of it. I will say I had no idea he could consume that much milk and hot fries.

I had a show coming up the next day and I woke up that morning with that queasy feeling and thought…uh oh. By noon, I had a full-blown case of the “stomach flu”…and we all know what that means. We also all know what we’d like like to think when this happens. Maybe it’s just food poisoning! As if that is somehow preferable…

Anyway, it’s noon, and I have a show at seven that evening…what to do. As much as I hated to, I called and cancelled.  I figured that would maybe give the client enough time to find alternative (non-puking-style) entertainment and if not, maybe I would be in better shape by that evening….I wasn’t.  So, good call.

Even though 2 cancellations in almost 500 shows sounds good from a percentage standpoint, it’s still a bad feeling knowing that you’ve let someone down after you’ve committed yourself.

Well, I imagine that is enough puke talk for one blog entry, although my sister would find a way to incorporate throwing up into every blog entry she did, if she had one…

Old Cadillacs

Peanut butter & jelly, chips & salsa, Elvis & Cadillacs…some things just go together. Before I started doing the Johnny Rockit Show, cars were my thing. The last time I tried to make a list (too much time on my hands that day) around 53 cars had passed through my life. Right before I started performing, I had a black 1989 Lamborghini Countach. It was the best and worst car I’ve ever owned…

The best because there are few cars that rate higher on the “cool-looking” meter than the Countach. Face it, most of us adolescent boys had a Countach poster in our room growing up. It looks like something Darth Vader would drive if Imperial TIE Fighters hadn’t been invented yet.

The worst because I’ve never owned another car that broke down, spent as much time in the shop and had things fall off of it as much. And, believe me, I had some clunkers along the way. At least it never totally stranded me or caught fire.

My daily driver at the time was a Cadillac Eldorado, a decent-looking dependable driver. But, after doing the show for a while, I decided to get something with a bigger trunk. With a PA sytem plus some stage lighting and the occasional follow spotlight, the Eldorado’s trunk was getting a little space-challenged.

One day, I made the mistake of reading a forum about older Cadillacs and got the idea that an old Caddy would be a perfect addition to the show. What’s better than pulling up to an Elvis gig than in a 20′ long Cadillac? Of course, the problem with old cars, and worse, old luxury cars is that there are more things to break on them. So, as much as I have loved to get a pink Cadillac from the ’50s, I went for something a little more dependable.

I found this 1990 Cadillac Brougham on Autotrader.com, the only problem was, it was in Alamogordo, New Mexico. I just happened to be going to Las Vegas that week, so I figured out a return flight plan and eventually found myself in Alamogordo and was soon back on the road headed to Texas.

If you haven’t driven one of these mid to late 90′s full-sized Cadillacs, just sit on your living room sofa…it’s pretty much the same sensation. Very isolated and cushy…with a velour interior. I do like having a dark blue interior, why do all the new cars give you an interior color choice of black or some shade of tan? I remember growing up we had cars with just about every interior color you can imagine (some of which were mercifully discontinued). Unbelievably,  I averaged 23 mpg coming back home, which was an added bonus.

Although I intended to use the Cadillac only for Elvis gigs, I find myself behind the wheel of the Brougham almost every day. It’s comfortable and I don’t have to fret about getting parking lot door dings so much. If you’re driving around Dallas and see “Moby Dick” on the road, give a honk and a wave!

Sound Systems – Fender Passport PD-250

Some of these posts may be a little more relevant to Elvis impersonators or other performers. Hey, one of them might run across this page someday, you never know.

Since I had never entertained before, when I started the act in 2003 I had to buy everything that goes along with putting on a “small” show using backing tracks. Large venues with a band usually require a big, professional-level sound system, but on day one I had no band and was starting small. I’d like to share my impressions of the two “personal-sized” public address (PA) systems that I have used over the years, the Fender Passport PD-250 and the Bose L1. This post will focus on the Fender unit.

Of course, I knew nothing about sound systems…so off to Google I went, reading forums, blogs, whatever I could find. There are a ton of large, powerful sound systems out there. Unfortunately, most of them weigh a ton and require a small trailer or minivan to transport them. While they serve a purpose I’m sure, I’m not into minivans. One of my numerous personality flaws is that I am usually swayed by whatever is “cool-looking”…minivans are not cool-looking. Except possibly the Chysler Town & Country minivan a few years back, maybe a subject for a different post, though.

What was I talking about? Ok, sound systems. I settled on a unit from Fender called the Fender Passport PD-250. Why? Probably because it was somewhat cool-looking. Let’s take a look.

Fender Passport

The Passport comes with almost everything you need to get started, amp, speakers, all the cables and 2 decent Fender microphones. The only additional purchase I made was a pair of tripod speaker stands so the speakers wouldn’t be sitting on the floor.

The PD-250 delivers 250 watts of power. That doesn’t sound like much compared to some of the larger systems, but for a typical room that might seat anywhere from 50-150 people, it does a really good job.  There were plenty of inputs for microphones and/or instruments and you could add some reverb to the vocals if you wanted. I’m not a big fan of reverb, a little goes a long way.

It literally take about 5-7 minutes to set up and be ready to start your show, if you don’t have to spend time changing into an Elvis jumpsuit. Since wearing the fancy jumpsuit is my main reason for perfoming in the first place (Level 10 cool-looking), I always have to allow additional time to change into the jumpsuit. The PD-250 speakers are Bose-designed (the earlier P-250 uses a different speaker system) and deliver clean overall sound.

One of the best features on the Fender is the fact that it all “fits” together when not in use so you can transport and store it like a large suitcase with a handle molded into the top.

Like this: All of the cables, cords and microphones fit into a handy storage compartment in the back of the main unit. I figured that would be convenient since I could tote almost ”the whole show” into a venue in a single trip. Even with the added speaker tripods, the whole thing fits into the trunk of my car, which meant I didn’t have to buy a minivan, thankfully.

 What I didn’t figure was this meant that I’d have lift and tote “the whole show” with one hand. So, the strength is also the weakness. You end up with a fairly bulky, heavy (approx 55 lb.) suitcase. I eventually bought a small, fold-up dolly for transporting the sytem to and from the car. 

The PD-250 served me well for over 3 years. It never had an issue and I never had to have it serviced.  It used it in venues as small as a den and as large as a what would pass for a “ballroom” in a smaller hotel (150 people).My sister still uses it for rehearsals and such. From what I can gather, Fender now offers a newer model called the PD-250 Plus, with a built-in CD player  (for those that still use them).

I eventually replaced it with the next system I’ll discuss, the  Bose L1 system (also called the Bose PAS) because, among other things, it was even cooler-looking.

Where’s Elvis? Not in Vegas…

I remember going to Las Vegas a few years back. I hadn’t been to Sin City in about 10 years, and now that I was “in the business” I couldn’t wait to hit the strip and check out some Elvis tribute shows. There were none!

Come on, this is Las Vegas, I figured it’s supposed to be like Mecca for Elvis impersonators. I finally located one(!) Elvis show off of Fremont Street at a casino called Fitzgeralds. They offered an Elvis show for no admission (2-drink minimum), two shows a night.

So, I took a cab over and went into Fitzgeralds. There was already a line forming to get into the showroom, a small dark room that held around 150 people. By showtime, it was full.

I don’t remember the tribute artist’s name but he put on a solid show, not just doing the standards, but a few of the numbers that you don’t hear all the time. Good voice, decent moves, and the gold lame’ jacket. It was a backing tracks show, so no band or even backup singers, but we all had a good time nevertheless. Overall,  I was disappointed that there was only the one Elvis show in the whole town.

I have been back to Vegas about 4 times this year, a few times on business, a couple of times to do an Elvis tribute for corporate clients. I have never been in town when Trent Carlini was performing, but I hear he is the best in Vegas at the moment.

I did run into an “Elvis” on the street one afternoon. You could take a picture with him for $5 bucks. He was wearing a  white costume that needed washing  and a wig that had dirt and what looked to be dead gnats in it. Admittedly, while I never saw Elvis Presley in concert,  I am pretty sure from watching the videos of his concerts that his hair was dirt and bug-free. I wasn’t watching it in HD, so I can’t be 100% sure…

Maybe there never were as many Elvis impersonators in Vegas as the movies and popular culture would have you think (except during Elvis week). If you know where they’re hiding, let me know.

Impersonator, or Tribute Artist?

So, what do we call them (call us)…Elvis impersonators, or tribute artists?

I remember the first Elvis cover act I ever saw at the Currency Club in the old Sheraton Park Central in Dallas. The guy’s name was Alan Meyer(?), not sure about the last name, he billed himself simply as “Alan”. He put on a great show and my friends and I tried to catch his act whenever he came through town. I would say he performed as a “tribute artist”, that is to say, he didn’t address the audience as if he was Elvis…but would talk about whatever song he was about to do and say, “Elvis recorded this one in 1956″,or whatever.

The other act I saw, maybe around 1983, was Johnny Harra. Johnny was one of the first Elvis impersonators and would take on the persona of Elvis and really try to recreate the concert experience and would say, “I did this song in my first movie”, etc…in other words an impersonator. He had the look, moves and a great voice and it added up to a realistic performance, for sure. By the way, I heard Johnny Harra will be performing at the Elvis Contest at El Ranchito in Oak Cliff next month…it will be great to hear him again.

Almost every “Elvis” act I see today is more of a tribute, as is my own. I’m just more comfortable performing in that style…plus I don’t think my speaking voice sounds all that much like Elvis’ speaking voice.

Either way, I think most of the audiences come for the music!