Tracy Alan Moore does Elvis. But the Lynnwood man no longer does Vegas, at least not in costume.
He’ll do that at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Historic Everett Theatre, when he performs with Rising Sun, as the theater continues a series of performances by classic rock tribute bands.
Moore, who has performed as Elvis Presley for 20 years, used to be a regular at the various Elvis conferences and conventions in the U.S. and in Las Vegas.
Moore said he would go to Vegas and would meet others who were walking a mile in the same white boots, an item, along with the jumpsuits, costumes and other performance paraphernalia that attendees would buy from vendors at the conventions.
The last time he went, following his performance, he returned to his room and changed into shorts, a T-shirt and flip-flops and went back down on the convention floor.
“Some of these guys never take their suits off; they never turned it off. I got fed up with these guys trying to be Elvis all day long,” he said. “It’s like going to a Star Trek convention and everybody’s wearing (Spock) ears all day long.”
Still, he enjoys performing the songs and loves Elvis’ music.
“I have an appreciation for the music and want do a good show,” he said. “I kinda look like him. And I’ll do a ‘Thank you. Thank you very much.’ It’s just a stage act, but I have respect for doing the show correctly.”
It helps that getting the voice down hasn’t taken a lot of practice.
“I grew up in Memphis and Houston, so the voice comes naturally to me,” he said.
“As soon as the suit goes on then you start to get into character, hunkering down with your thoughts. And when you get out on stage, it’s just a natural thing,” he said.
Moore routinely performs with Rising Sun, a band named for one of Elvis’ cars, an El Camino, at Graceland, The King or Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Memphis, Tenn., estate. The band includes Jeffrey Carolus on guitar and vocals, Doug Peters on drums and vocals, John Marino on keyboards and vocals, Todd Gowers on bass, the Cadillac Horns of “Skinny” Lynn Cook on trombone, Darryl Estes on sax and flute and Mike Lewis on trumpet and background vocals by Laurey Carolus and Aury Moore.
Moore works for Boeing at its interiors center. But he’s not Boeing’s only Elvis.
“There’s another Elvis who works in the big factory on the 787 lines,” he said.
His Elvis gig started small. About 20 years ago, Moore would dress up as Elvis as a “Halloween or karaoke” thing.
“I never won anything, but my manager at Safeway found out and asked if I could do a little Elvis appearance thing for Valentine’s Day,” he said.
Moore sang and handed out Hershey’s Kisses to the crowd. Impressed, a customer holding a birthday cake asked Moore if he would come with her and sing a couple of songs for her daughter, a big Elvis fan who was celebrating her sixth birthday. A little reluctantly, Moore, still dressed in his white jumpsuit, drove down Aurora Avenue and into a cul de sac where a group of kids were waiting for The King. With no background track to sing to, just a tape of Presley songs, Moore performed for the kids, “who went nuts,” Moore said.
Afterward, the little girl asked if Moore wanted to see her room.
“This little 6-year-old girl had a Elvis shrine. ‘I love Elvis,’ she said. I couldn’t believe it, but I had made her day,” he said.
When he left, the parents gave him a roll of cash, money collected by the parents at the party. Moore refused at first, but was eventually persuaded by a burly father to take the gratuity.
“I sat at a light and looked at the roll of money: fives, tens, twenties, 85 bucks. That’s when the light went off in my head: I can do something with this,” Moore said.
So for 20 years, Moore has performed at theaters, festivals and celebrations.
“I take it seriously; there’s a reverence to it,” he said. “But we do have fun.”
Moore is hoping that one day, one fan in particular will come and talk to him after a concert, the 6-year-old girl who launched his Elvis career.
“I was thinking about that not too long ago,” he said. “That was in 1994. She’d be 26 or 27. That would be a hoot.”
Elvis tribute
Tracy Alan Moore performs as Elvis Presley with Rising Sun at 8 p.m., Saturday at the Historic Everett Theater, 2911 Colby Ave., Everett. Tickets, $12 to $25, are available at the door or www.etix.com/.
The concert is a benefit fundraiser sponsored by the Everett Fire Department for the Burned Children Recovery Foundation and Camp Phoenix, its recovery camp program for burned children. A silent auction is schedule before the concert, with doors opening at 6 p.m.
To read more about tribute bands playing in the county read The Herald story at tinyurl.com/DHPlayingTribute.
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