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Fernwood Resort will host the second annual Elvis Festival, a three-day celebration of all things Elvis this weekend.
And one of the stars is happy to be back to Northeastern Pennsylvania. Shawn Klush, award-winning tribute artist, will anchor the "From Burbank to Vegas" show, one of many events at the festival.
COST: Saturday concert only, starts at $45, and the all-events pass starts at $65. Single-event ticket prices available.
INFORMATION: www.PoconoMountainsElvisFestival.com or 518-681-7452.
"I live in Exeter, Pa., and I'm originally from Pittston. I've been working my tail off, working everywhere from Peru and Canada, we have a European tour coming up, and we're going on a cruise in autumn in the Bahamas. It's my life; it's my job. I don't do anything else. Last year, we did 152 dates," Klush said, adding that he has been at the business full-time since 2000.
Somewhere in between all the road trips, Klush has carved out enough time to record four albums — the last one being especially poignant for Klush.
"It actually centered around my dad. He passed away (recently), and the only thing that got me through was music. I was wasting a lot of time singing and playing the piano, and thought I might as well do something productive. The title is 'For the Heart,' and we do a lot of stuff on it, a good mix of songs. We'll be selling them at the show, or people can get them at our website, shawnklush.com," Klush said.
Klush recalled last year's Elvis Festival as an enjoyable and successful one for a new festival on the scene.
"It was fresh; it was new. As with anything new, it needs to find legs," he said, using a showbiz term for first-year events which go on to be popular, such as the huge festivals he plays every year in New York and California.
"Lake George is the biggest in the world, and there's Collingswood, Calif. The fans make it happen. There's a relationship type of thing (with Elvis) that's still there. Nobody knows why, but it is. You have 8-year-olds saying, 'I never got a chance to see the guy.' The audience is completely mixed. At Collingswood you get 50,000 to 75,000 people at the Blue Mountain Ski Resort. It's the biggest thrill to stand on stage in front of 15,000 people. In Santiago, Chili, I was standing there and I had to stop because the audience was singing back to me in perfect English. Elvis is dead? Not down there, he isn't," Klush said.
His back-up band varies, depending on the venue, but Klush often works with musicians and vocalists who worked for the King.
"The number varies from six to 24. We use the Sweet Inspirations, Elvis's female back-up vocalists, or the Imperials, or James Burton and Scotty Moore, his two guitar players," Klush said.
As for his title of tribute artist, it is a moniker Klush is proud to wear.
"It's not something I take lightly. It's amazing the number of people touched by it years later. I know a lot of people who said, 'I'll catch him next year,' but after 1977, there was no next year. The guy died at 40. Dying as he did, in the tragic way that he did, he left the world too soon. We should have had him for longer. You have to look at it that way because the fans do," Klush said.
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