Channeling Elvis from TimesDigital on Vimeo.
There are some ideas that are worth executing…just because.
A few weeks ago Jared Bentley caught wind of a special fundraiser coming to Kingsport to raise money for local veterans. A local Elvis impersonator had gathered to gather a handful of friends to band together for a special performance at the Kingsport Renaissance Center.
We decided one morning that this would be a great Friday night outing and planned to grab a few cameras, conduct interviews and put together a documentary piece to ask the question of what it means to be an Elvis impersonator.
Sure, we’ve all seen hundreds of these performers who dye their hair, but the outfits, curl their lips and do their best to shake it like a hound dog. But what is that drives the passion to perform on stage as Elvis – after all it’s nothing new.
It was a strange night anyway. An Oklahoma sand storm had just passed over Bays Mountain, turning the autumn sunset into a golden haze. When we arrived, Jim Fields was testing the microphone with a pair of gold rimmed glasses on the bridge of his noise. His grandson was jumping around the stage as the music was playing and he was worried about the music being a little loud.
We set up the lights in a small room just outside the stage and watched as each performer came back to dress the part.
The interviews were interested too and the answers we sought were all very similar. These gentlemen came from all walks of life – soliders, entertainers, retirees – and they were all inspired by the King.
My words are lame compared to the images and footage we captured this night. Hope you enjoy.
Congratulations to Jared for pulling together all the footage to create a extraordinary documentary called ‘Channelling Elvis.”