Introducing... Shaun Klush - The other Elvis Presley

Published on Friday 28 August 2009 14:42

IT'S 32 years since the death of Elvis Presley, but his fame is undimin-ished.

Even people still to be born at the time Elvis died know his name, recognise his picture, and perform his songs at karaoke nights. He was the first truly global superstar.

Very few entertainers have reached the level of fame he achieved. It's likely that very few ever will.

Since 1977, a vast array of Elvis tribute artists – known as ETAs – have sprung up, dedicated to keeping the legend alive and providing his fans with the chance to savour the atmosphere of a live performance.

These ETAs come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from enthusiastic dreamers to serious performers, but at the top of the tree is a man with a truly remarkable talent – Shawn Klush.

If you're a fan of Saturday night TV, you'll probably remember Shawn. He was the winner of the BBC1 show World's Greatest Elvis back in 2007.

His performance was so reminiscent of the real deal that it reduced one of the judges – Diamond Joe Esposito, who had been best man at Elvis and Priscilla's wedding – to tears.

A few months after his victorious TV performance, Klush picked up the biggest prize of all when he won the first ever Ultimate Tribute Artist Contest. This competition was staged in Memphis, Tennessee by Elvis Presley Enterprises, and carried the official seal of approval.

In the world of Elvis tribute artists there is no higher accolade. Klush has also performed with some of the original musicians who worked with Presley, including the Jordanaires, and each year he takes part in the Elvis Birthday Tribute Tour. He's even played live at Graceland.

Klush's talent has earned him the nickname 'the closest thing to the King', and YouTube footage of him in action shows that he really does have all the ingredients – the physical resemblance, the voice, the mannerisms, the presence. It's uncanny stuff.

Born and raised in the small coal-mining town of Pittston, Pennsylvania, USA, Klush credits his late father, who was a DJ, for inspiring his life-long love of Elvis and helping to nurture his talent.

"I think I was around the music so much that it was just a natural thing to me," he says. "I never had to force it or anything. It's just part of the way I was raised. I'd always sung that way."

Klush's knack for imitating his idol has seen him played to tens of thousands of fans in stadiums around the world. Tonight, at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange, he makes his live Scottish debut, backed by his eight-piece band, the Fabulous Ambassadors.

If Elvis had lived, he'd be in his mid-70s now, but Klush is adamant that he wouldn't have retired. "Don't think that he wouldn't have been out there. He would have thought, 'If old Tom Jones can be out there, so can I'."

Sadly, that wasn't to be, but in the absence of the real Elvis, Shawn Klush is the next best thing.

Shawn Klush as Elvis, Corn Exchange, Newmarket Road, 7pm, tonight, 20-60, 0131-443 0404