CMA Music Festival Hotter Than Ever

Every year the CMA Music Festival (aka Fan Fair) is the hottest ticket in Nashville. Not only is the weather hot, but the talent line-up is even hotter. Getting to meet so many Elvis fans on Broadway this year has been such a treat.

CMA Music Festival, which started as Fan Fair in 1972, is all about the fans and their relationship with the artists and the music. This year 65,000 people converged on Nashville each day during the 4-day event which happens every June. Fans come from all 50 states and over 40 different countries to stand in long autograph lines to meet their favorite country singers and see dozens of live concerts performed all over Downtown.

The one moment I'll treasure most is that I became a fan that week of the world's cutest Elvis impersonator - Gabriel "The Storm" Jarrett. At 6-year's old he packs a powerful punch in that little Elvis suit. Not only is he adorable, but he can sing and has all the moves. He even does a great Johnny Cash and has more Facebook fans than me!

Representing Elvis during that time is such a pleasure. He still has so many fans, and I am blessed to be the recipient of some of that love and kindness he sowed so generously during his life.

Thank you to all those new fans I got  to meet. I hope to see you next year. If you have never been to the CMA Music Fest, it's a great way to celebrate the best of Nashville. The don't call us Music City USA for nothin'!

Nashville Predator's Gnash Meets the Nashville Elvis

The Nashville Predators have come a long way these last couple years going from possibly leaving Nashville to making the NFL play-offs in 2011. The city of Nashville has a love affair with their Preds - so much so that Music City is willing to also call itself "Smashville".

I have had the pleasure of working the Predators organization. They are a class act. We are blessed to have Barry Trotz and all the terrific players.  My wife was thrilled when they made the smart  move to add Carrie Underwood's husband Mike Fisher this season also. He's been a great for the team and a big morale boost for the city.

Hockey is a tough sport and the Preds prove they can hang with the big guys including my first hockey love the Red Wings. Now they are our biggest rival.

Elvis would have been proud to have the Stanley Cup brought back to Tennessee.  Preds, the King is behind you 100%!

A Hunka, Hunka Burnin' Love

I have been honored to perform at many weddings over the years. But the wedding I performed at last Saturday had to have been the most unusual and heart stopping.

You see, the groom Gareth was the England. He met his Tennessee bride Meghan in New Zealand. They had a whirlwind romance and he decided to pick up everything and move to Connecticut where she was working to be near her.

Gareth contacted me over a year ago with exactly how he wanted my part to play out. He had all the details which made it easy for me. But his first request of me was a little odd. He asked that after they were pronounced husband and wife and were coming down the ailse that I sing "Burnin' Love".

First of all, I don't do that song in my show for obvious reasons. Married men usually don't proclaim to swooning women, "I'm a hunka, hunka burnin' love." But since this was a special request, and because really I was singing on behalf of Gareth, I made an exception.

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

I am so incredibly proud of my daughter Brittany. She has spent the past seven years earning her black belt. It took tremendous dedication and focus. This August she officially got her belt along with some other wonderful kids our family has grown to love. My boys even obtained higher belts during the Extravaganza event as they call it.

Elvis loved karate. The Army also introduced Presley to karate, which he studied seriously, later including it in his live performances. Elvis started in shotokan, earned his first black belt in chito-ryu, dabbled in tae kwon do, and than got a black belt in kenpo.

I think that is why he may have worn the jumpsuits as well. He wanted to be able to do his karate kicks in his Vegas shows.

You don't have to be Elvis to find your inner Elvis. Just have the confidence to try something new and focus your goal.

Marilyn Monroe in a Pink Convertible

All I knew was that my wife Buffie was planning a very special birthday weekend for me. She said to take the boys and go to a movie and be back at 4:15 sharp because our escort would be waiting.

I thought we were going to a concert from what my sister Debbie had let slip. I didn't know she was in on the gag.

Buffie is a pretty smart girl, but I didn't realize how clever she truly was. Sometime after 4:00, I was driving down my street on what had to be one of the hottest days this summer, I could see a blur of pink in the distance. And it wasn't coming from the surprise lilies in our yard.

In the most beautiful pink convertible I had ever laid my eyes on was Norma Jean herself - Marilyn Monroe waiving and flirting with me. In the back of my mind, "I'm thinking is my wife watching this?" Oh yeah, she planned this. I think.

The Night I Met Taylor Swift

It was right out of a Tim McGraw song:

When I saw her for the first time

She was standing there in the ticket line

And it all started right then and there

Oh, a sailer’s sky made a perfect sunset

And that’s the day I’ll never forget...

But this time it was me The Nashville Elvis, and the girl wasn't in a mini-skirt, but she was in a ticket line at the Green Hills Theater in Nashville. She may have had red lipstick, but I didn't notice. But I did notice she must have been 6" tall!

The theater had hired me to perform July 29, 2010 at the one-night-only "Elvis on Tour" movie. Hundreds of Elvis fans came out that night to see the movie.  Lots of ladies in their Elvis shirts and holding their Elvis purses took pictures with me before the show.

I would sing a few songs and poise for photos, and Buffie my wife was there because it was her birthday. What a great wife I have who was willing to share her birthday on a work night for me. As she was busy handing out flyers about me, I noticed she suddenly started making strange eye movements. I couldn't understand what she was trying to tell me.

I Just Give 'Em Away

Two things that endears me to Elvis are his spiritual roots and love of people. Elvis made a lot of mistakes in his life. But I have too. I choose, like many fans, to focus on the good things in his life and the many lives he touched and still touches through his music.

Because of Elvis' love of gospel music, he had the opportunity to sing with many popular gospel groups in his day. One of those groups was The Imperials. I had the privelege of meeting one of the group's members, Joe Moscheo.

Joe is an incredibly talented singer and author in his own right who recently wrote a book called, "The Gospel Side of Elvis". It was also made into a PBS documentary with the same title. I highly recommend the book and the movie because it shows Elvis in a whole new light and just how much he searched for the Lord and found peace in the music.

One of the funniest stories in Joe's book that I often tell at my shows is the time Elvis bought gold watches for every member of The Imperials. This wasn't just your average gold watch. Elvis never did anything average. These watches were valued at probably $5,000 a piece. And that was in 1969!

Well Joe graciouslly accepted his expensive watch and examined it closely. He couldn't help but notice it wasn't working. Everyone else's in the group worked but Joe's. Now Joe was in a dilema. Should he say anything about it to Elvis or just let it go?