Hello Elvis Fan Clubs & Podcasts,
I am writing with curiosity if you ever have guests on your podcast or featured on your platform. I am a lifelong Elvis fan, and performer. I would love to share my story with you, and then briefly explain my inquiry.
My parents, both Elvis fans, met and married in three months in 1980 after discovering each other; Their love of Elvis is what began their first conversation. My mother and father both worked in separate departments of the Department of Motorvehicles on Long Island,NY; My mother heard about another employee, my father, who had taken a trip to Graceland in 1979, and wanted to talk to him about it, they instantly hit it off, and got married 3 months later. In July of 1987 my parents found out they were going to have a baby, and while some parents play classical music to their unborn child, my Dad placed headphones on my Mom’s belly and played Elvis. As you can imagine, I came into this world an immediate fan. I can vividly remember sitting in-front of the TV as a small child watching 68 Comeback, Aloha, and That’s The Way It Is; absolutely mesmerized and captivated by everything Elvis had to offer, his soul jumped off the screen and into mine. We were connected deeper than most. My parents bought me a CD/Cassette/Radio when I was about six years old, and with it came a stack of CD’s. The first CD in the pile was Elvis’ Golden Records, and I played that CD countless times, the songs embedded in every grain of my mind. I wanted so badly to be like Elvis.
When I was 10 years old in 1998 I entered the school talent show in Lindenhurst NY, I wanted to just perform with Elvis’s version of “Johnny B. Goode”, but the teacher opted for me to do it with a student who had some tracks on his keyboard. The instrumental didn’t exactly match the song, but we made it work. It was truly a monumental moment in my life. I had always wanted to be a performer but this experience really cemented it in my soul. We did three shows, and the response from each show fed me an energy I had never felt before;The exchange between the performer and the audience. In addition to that, the performance made the local paper, and to a 10 year old it might as well have been Rolling Stone Magazine.
1998 Talent Show Performance
Right out of high school I pursued an original music career; I released several original albums, including my own unique spin on “That’s All Right”, which I recorded at Sun Studio in 2010. But as most people are aware, the music business is a tough one. I never broke into the big time, but I enjoyed myself along the way.
During the pandemic I began supplementing my income with another passion of mine, graphic design. I combined passions and started designing original Elvis art; One piece in particular captured the eyes of Karin Ågren of Sweden. After seeing the piece on Instagram, she wrote to me, and we began talking everyday all day; Our connection was instantly deep. In July of 2021, I flew to Sweden to meet Karin, and much like my parents, by September we were married, all through the love of Elvis.
I now happily live in Sweden permanently with Karin, and we are pursuing an Elvis Tribute act. The idea behind the act is pairing lesser popularized Elvis hits, with songs Elvis very well could have performed if given the opportunity.
My hope is to expose this story and performance through a variety of podcasts and magazines with listeners/viewers who actually may be interested in it all, then take this around Europe, and all over. I have attached our current presskit while our website is still under construction. I have also included some links of me performing Elvis style songs in my home studio, our full band promo will be filmed June 10th.
Burning Love
Loves Me Like A RockGreased LightningHow The Web Was Woven
I hope this story finds you well and that you enjoy the tribute.
Best Regards
Matthew Zeiss
