The skater look was popular back when Eli Williams was in high school but he didn’t feel the need to dress like the rest.
He had his own style, inspired by Elvis Presley. That meant vintage clothes and lots of grease in his hair.
This was back in the 2000s, when there weren’t many kids with Elvis on their iTunes playlist. Williams got hooked on Elvis when he was five or six and saw the movie Forrest Gump.
After the flick, he went into the bathroom, slicked his hair back, came out and asked his mom: “Do I look like Elvis?”
His grandmother was also a big fan of the King.
When he was in high school, Williams got a chance to perform in a talent contest as Elvis and he knew he’d found his calling.
He understood there were performers making a living as tribute artists but he didn’t know how to start his career.
So, through Facebook, he found a Surrey-based Elvis tribute artist named Brian Simpson who trained other aspiring Elvis tribute artists, also known as ETAs.
Along with vocal and choreography lessons, Simpson connected Williams with a tailor in Vancouver who specialized in making costumes for the movies and entertainers.
Williams brought him a few pictures of Elvis in costume and some fabric and then waited anxiously.
“Three weeks later, I had my first outfit,” he recalled.
His first paid gig was the birthday party for the father of one of his high school buddies.
“In my mind, I thought it went really well,” he said, admitting that he played some songs that he hadn’t fully learned at the time.
Since graduating from high school in 2006, he has been busy performing and building his brand, saying, “It’s like starting your own business.”
Along with playing regular gigs and now owning a walk-in closet worth of Elvis duds, Williams also regularly competes in ETA contests.
The granddaddy of them all is Ultimate Elvis, put on by Elvis Presley Enterprises and hosted during Elvis Week in Memphis in August to commemorate the death of legend.
To earn a spot on stage and chance to win $20,000, you must first win a regional competition.
Williams has already competed in the prestigious contest in Memphis three times, in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
“It’s kind of crazy,” he says about Elvis Week in Memphis, with all of the fans and impersonators. During the show, performers are scored based on vocals, style, stage presence and overall performance.
Still, you don’t have to travel to Memphis to see Williams get into the groove.
Next month, he will be starring in the Elvis ’68: The Show at Inlet Theatre in Port Moody that he is producing with Blue Morris.
Williams and the band Memphis Sound will re-create the entire TV special that relaunched Elvis’s musical career after he’d spent several years away making movies.
“We’ve taken all those elements in one show,” he explained, noting that the original show was filmed over a couple of weeks. “[There are] seven costume changes, we go from full orchestra to small jazz session and we try and recreate the entire show, top to bottom.”
In order to continually hone his craft, Williams says he’s constantly watching Elvis footage to pick up even tiny nuances.
He says the best complement he can received as an ETA is introducing a younger generation to the King and inspiring them to discover his music.
• Tickets for Elvis ‘68: The Show in Port Moody on June 17 are $25. For more go to www.inlettheatre.ca.
