Before I graduated to the Elvis Festival, I honed my craft on the stage of the Horseshoe during their biannual Living Elvis Karaoke nights that were held on the King's birthday (Jan. 8) and death day (Aug. 16) for years until they wound to a halt earlier this year. The Royal Crowns were the house band, with drummer and bartender extraordinaire Teddy Fury helping to keep things rolling along. For some reason, even though there were a lot of great performances by professional singers, my punk Elvis routine seemed to entertain a lot of people. The club even used my name in a newspaper ad and poster to attract people one time, which I found very funny. So while I could never usurp Max Brand (Black Elvis), I became a staple and enjoyed donning this jumpsuit twice a year.
The jumpsuit even made me look fat in the above photo, which I guess is appropriate. It may also be the reason why Marla the Prize Queen was trying to pry that bottle of 50 from my hand. I'll miss those Living Elvis Karaoke nights and I hope that they'll someday be revived. After all, Mary Margaret O'Hara told me that she'd like to sing back-up for me, and that still hasn't happened. But now that I've exhausted my Elvis Festival photos from Collingwood, I'll post a few shots from those nights at the Horseshoe over the next few days to relive some of those memories.