EATONVILLE, Wash. — Everything at Jebino’s Ristorante &Lounge in Eatonville celebrates star power of the past. Pictures of the Rat Pack line the walls. Tables are replicas of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, each with a different celebrity moniker. But what’s drawing patrons to this local restaurant is the star working in the back.
Chris Anderson, a 20-year-old busboy at the local Italian joint, has become a phenomenon in this Mount Rainier foothills community by singing at the restaurant three nights a week.
Anderson belts out standards between clearing tables, channeling Bobby Darin while wearing a cloth apron.
He said he applied to work at Jebino’s because he liked the music played there — songs by crooners like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. But he didn’t figure he’d end up singing those songs himself.
“My grandpa introduced me to that kind of music,” Anderson said. “That’s why I applied. But I didn’t even know I could sing.”
That was back in late 2006, about the time Anderson began experimenting with singing in his uncle’s band. He started working at Jebino’s a few months later.
Since then, Anderson’s performances have helped pack the 80-seat restaurant every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night, co-owner John Bratholm said.
“We will have customers call for reservations and say, ‘Will the busboy be here that night?’ ” Bratholm said. “People want to see him.”
On a recent Saturday when Anderson performed, the restaurant and bar were filled with people there to watch the show.
Some were turned away at the door.
Anderson started off the night with Bobby Darin’s “Clementine” and finished with a rendition of “Me and Mrs. Jones.”
“I like to listen to my favorites and take a little bit from each one of them and try to infuse it into my own kind of thing,” Anderson said during a recent interview. “I just love the sound of a big band and the lyrics of the older music.”
Between sets, he’s called back to the serving floor to help clear tables. He is still a busboy, after all.
“If we’re swamped and we need him immediately, he’ll run to the restaurant and do what he can, then he’ll get back on stage,” Bratholm said.
Anderson’s fans say he’s headed for big things. At the restaurant, he sings along to recorded musical accompaniments, but he’s performed alongside a live, 17-piece band in a recording studio.
“Somebody’s going to pick him up,” said Ruth Braden, who has lived in Eatonville for more than 30 years.
Braden brought her 23-year-old granddaughter, Sophie Pratt, to see Anderson perform the weekend after Thanksgiving. Pratt, who lives in Bellingham, was so impressed with Anderson’s performance that she bought one of his CDs to take home.
“We had him sign it and everything, so when he becomes famous, we’ll have it,” Pratt said.
Anderson recorded his first album, “How Sweet It Is,” earlier this year at a studio in Tacoma.
He didn’t envision a singing career for himself until recently.
He never sang during his years at Eatonville High School, where he graduated in 2006. His parents said he was too shy.
“It kept him from joining choir and that stuff, because he knew he’d have to sing in front of people,” said his mother, Michelle Anderson.
He started working at Jebino’s in January 2007.
One day, his family came in and urged Bratholm to let Anderson perform on the small stage, made entirely of glass blocks.
Bratholm was skeptical at first.
“Chris pointed to the stage, and said to me in his puppy voice, ‘I’m in a band,’ ” said Bratholm, who also performs at the restaurant regularly. “And I acted like, ‘OK, kid, that’s great, you keep that up.’ “
Eventually, Bratholm agreed that maybe the two could perform a duet. When he asked Anderson to sing a few notes for him, he immediately saw his potential.
“I pulled him outside and said, ‘Show me what you got,’ ” Bratholm said. “He starts singing, and I said, ‘You’re on your own.’ I brought him in to start singing, and the rest is history.”
He’s put off attending college to try to make it in the music industry. While he used to work at Jebino’s about 30 hours a week, he’s now down to busing seven hours a week so he has time to focus on his singing.
He’s been performing at retirement homes and weddings in the area and is working on a second album.
Unlike his first release, which included only jazz covers, this one will feature a few original songs.
But those tracks will still be sung in that classic style he loves.
“Old music just makes the most sense to me,” Anderson said. “I just love to be able to please a crowd.”
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