Elvis won’t leave this building

May 24, 2008
By Vidya Prabhu

Clad in jeans and a tee, Stephen Kabakos looks like a regular Canadian. And while he is certainly one, there’s more to him than just that - and his sideburns are the biggest giveaway to this Elvis Presley ‘tribute artist’. “If you think that I always wanted to do this, you are wrong. Yes, I grew up listening to Elvis, so much so that he was like a family member. I would also impersonate him in family functions but that was that. Until 1996, when I first went for an Elvis festival in Ontario. In fact, I was studying design back then. But when I saw a tribute artist pull off a cool act in an Elvis avatar, I wondered ‘Hey, why don’t I do that myself?’,” recounts Stephen, who has even been crowned a world champion at such a contest in Tennessee, America.

Ever since, it’s been a whirlwind journey for Stephen who has toured the US, Canada, Hong Kong, Bangkok and China. Not surprisingly, this is his first visit to the country and Mumbai is the last stop on his India tour, part of Black Dog’s 125th anniversary celebrations.

So were there any surprises in store for him? “Well I have to admit that I didn’t anticipate such a huge Elvis fan following here. I mean, I’m told Guwahati is a smaller town compared to say Mumbai or Delhi, but the audiences there knew the most obscure Elvis songs which even an avid Elvis fan might not!” enthuses Stephen, who has never met anybody from Elvis’s family but has worked with many who have. “For one, I got to work with DJ Fontana, who used to be Elvis’s drummer in the 50’s - apart from the Jordannaires, the 1970’s bassist Jerry Sheff and the singing trio Sweet Inspirations,” he says, adding that he’s also met other Elvis tribute artists, who - according to him - number over 30,000!

So what’s the highlight of his career? “Well, the best part has been impressing the skeptics. There are scores of Elvis fans who’d say that they never want to see a tribute artist’s performance as it can never get as close to the original. But guess what - I have actually had a lot of them watch my show and tell me that they are glad they came! Now isn’t that a great feeling?” he asks with a wink. We couldn’t agree more.

Source Article http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1166254