Mr. Thrill DJ PLUS

09/02/2024

Wow

09/01/2024

Living with Cancer as Elvis Blog 9.1.24

I’m not sure how many Elvis gigs I’ve done over the last 20 years, but I will guess a 1000 which would be 50 a year or 4 a month average. That sounds about right. Now gigs have increased in recent years to a 100 a year or so, so it’s an estimate or rounding off.

Many of the Elvis shows are one hour shows at a retirement home, and many are weddings, birthdays, private parties, corporate parties, clubs and restaurants.

Over the years I’ve done a few funerals. People always seem to be amused by this. I don’t really advertise to get funerals, but when they pop up I place a bid, and sometimes land a celebration of life where they want an Elvis. I’ve only done a handful of funerals but each of them were noteworthy.

I remember the first funeral I did. It was done for a lawyer who had suffered from a long illness, and the story is she didn’t like Elvis and had a good sense of humor. So I just sat in the crowd, and may have sung a song, but really I was just there for humor. They also asked me to play “Amarillo by Morning,” as she also hated Amarillo too. The brother who organized it also had door prizes for guests. He had placed numbers under seats and those who had a winning ticket got different prizes. OK it was pretty weird, but probably the deceased was a little strange too.

The next funeral I remember doing was a for a guys mother who had died. He called me and wanted me to sing at a graveside service, “Blue Christmas,” “ Hard Headed Woman,” and “My Way.” I said I would do this but I asked if he was sure he wanted me to sing “Hard Headed Woman.” He said yes and explained she was very stubborn and had died because she wouldn’t to go to the doctor.

Well we discussed details, and he wanted me to set up ahead of time at the graveside. Well I did. There was a tent covering the casket and chairs set up. I set up a small pa, so I could walk up and start singing.

I was set up and waited in my car, and the funeral procession came from the church. The hearse and multiple cars lined up on the circular drive and mourners took their places, family seated under the tent and others standing.

I had a black coat over my white jumpsuit and I walked up behind the event and no one saw me as I was in the back. I was watching and it seemed to be a pretty sober event. I was beginning to question if this was a good idea as the minister threw dirt on the casket, and chanted, “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

Well the time came for me to sing. Only the son and the minister knew I was coming. I got the cue and went to casket near my PA, took off the black coat, hit the music for “Blue Christmas.” The song took on new meaning to me as I sang, “I’ll have a blue Christmas without you.” I sang the other songs and ended with a high note on “My Way.”

The crowd was seemingly quiet with no reaction, and then the son stood up suddenly and said, “ what was that?” And the crowd broke out in laughter.

He then explained that his mother loved Elvis and if anyone wanted a picture with Elvis, it was a good time for that.

The funeral director came to me and said, “This is my first Elvis funeral. “Can you get a picture with my staff by the hearse.” We lined up for a photo shoot next to long white hearse.

I have done other funerals since. Most times the deceased was a fan and it brought good memories and comfort at a difficult to family and friends.

I’ll be writing about different gigs that stick out in my memories. It certainly has been fun being an Elvis Tribute.

08/17/2024

Living with Cancer as Elvis Blog 5 8.17.24

I started doing Elvis about twenty years ago. I was playing in a cover band, the Kopy Kats, at around age 40 and excited to be playing classic rock hits like Hotel California, Feeebird, and others. I had never played in a band before and I was excited to be singing.It was a total new experience for me. Believe it or not I was pretty reserved as I had mostly only sang in church and choirs.

We started out playing for fun and then we decided to try to play out and make a little money. A guy in the band knew an agent and they said learn four hours of material and get back with us. Well we started learning songs and because we didn’t have clear direction we ended up with a mix of classic rock, acoustic, and some dance music. Still we had a long way to go and without knowing it we were creating a variety band, so you had to play a little bit of everything. We practiced in the garage of a member and his wife wanted us to do a few Elvis songs. We reluctantly did; we learned Heartbreak Hotel and Jailhouse rock. I put on some Elvis glasses with sideburns and when we played these songs, we got a pretty good response.

Well I worked on trying to book the band, and that wasn’t easy. It seemed there were plenty of bands in the Austin area. I called around and we played some dive bars and I was just happy to be doing it.

After awhile we realized wedding bands did pretty good, and we did a few here and there, but I was seeking more contacts, so I hit the wedding market and networking events. I met a guy who owned a DJ company, and he told me they were booking 100s of weddings a year. I was impressed because I was starting to want to make a little more money and playing for $50 for a lot of work was getting old fast.

I contacted the guy, trained to be a wedding DJ, and within a few months I was DJing weddings. I quit the DJ company and started my own company and within a few months I was making more by myself than the band did for most gigs. I still sang with the band, but the money became a factor for me. You could say greed, but I call it a capitalistic spirit. That is trying to to make more and work less. Now I wasn’t getting rich as a DJ, but I was getting close to matching my teaching salary Djing, bands, and singing.

A teacher should always had to have a side hustle. I always did, whether tutoring, coaching, summer school, delivering newspapers, phone books; I always did whatever I needed to. With two young children and foreign expenses, we always needed more money. I didn’t complain about my teacher salary I created my own raise.

Doing Elvis grew out of these experiences. I saw what Elvis Impersonators were making in an hour was equal or more than what I was making a day teaching. I decided to figure it out.

I had never seen an Elvis impersonator, but I saw a local Elvis guy at Chuy’s in Round Rock, Victor Solimine. Chuy’s for years had Elvis Impersonators at each of their locations. I went to see this guy and I thought I could do it to. I had already been singing; I had learned to use a basic pa, cordless mic and musical tracks playing in a band and DJing.

I’ll stop there and get back with you on my next blog.

08/16/2024

Living with Cancer as Elvis Part 4 August 16th, 2024

I was diagnosed two years ago with stage 4 pNET, pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. It mistakenly is called pancreatic cancer. And though my primary tumor is in my pancreas and has spread to my liver and most recently to my hip and lower back, it is not pancreatic cancer, but pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Well it’s hard to explain and it’s hard to understand so I’ll just tell you I haven’t had any major side effects from the disease or the treatment, so far. I’m running a marathon,not a sprint.

Today is the anniversary of Elvis death, on August 16th, 1977. I was getting ready to go into 8th grade that year. I hear people talk of where they were when Elvis died and how emotionally moved they were. I honestly don’t have a vivid memory of that day. I liked Elvis but I wasn’t a huge fan, like the fans that I meet. I remember when John Lennon was shot and I was moved as I was a big Beatles fan.

Today I cancelled a partly outdoor gig which was a big celebration of Elvis and back to school. My doctor and I knew I was having symptoms from the heat, and possibly my treatment, and now a new surge in my cancer. I had to cancel and make the best decision for my health.

Now I’m still doing Elvis gigs, mostly retirement homes, I have an Elvis wedding on Monday, a few others. I’ve been also making doctor’s appointments, preparing for a pet scan, meeting a new oncologist to administer PRRT, radiotherapy, and taking care of myself in this Texas August heat.

Today I’m going to the dentist to have some basic care done as my doctor wants me also to take something that will strengthen my bones. Getting cancer on the bone is not good, and we are just monitoring as it is relatively small at this time.

I have not been sick most of my life, actually nothing serious for sure. I think of children who get cancer, lose their hair and battle this disease. I don’t think I ever even broken a bone. Well I guess it’s my turn.

How I deal with it is a struggle, but really I try to live in the moment. I see a lot of cancer drugs in my future, but I can only live one day at a time.

Elvis struggled with addiction. I have had my struggles with that also. I am seven years sober and the principles to stop drinking and drugs are the same principles as I live out my life with cancer as Elvis.

I wake up everyday and give thanks that I am alive; that I can breathe; that I have cancer, yes I give thanks that I have cancer; I give thanks when I am sick and when I am well.

I live one day at time. It’s all I can do.

08/15/2024

Living with cancer as Elvis part 3 8.15.24

This is Living With Cnacer as Elvis blog. I’ve never done a blog before but I plan to write about adventures as an ETA, Elvis Tribute Artist, and dealing with living with pNET cancer.

I listen to a lot of Elvis Tribute Artists. Some are better than others. Some look like more like Elvis than others. Some sound more like Elvis than others.

I don’t consider myself the greatest Elvis impersonator but I get the job done. I have done 1000s of shows over a 20 year period. Now most of the shows are not that glamorous. It would be nice to be playing at a coliseum with a big band backing me up, but most gigs are at a retirement home, a restaurant, somebodies back yard, and occasionally a club gig show with an generous audience and many times a very small audience. I play restaurants, weddings, funerals, parties, etc.

I’ve stayed pretty busy in the Central Texas area using Bash and Gigsalad to get gigs from people looking for ETAs. At first I couldn’t compete with the three or four other Elvis’s or Elvi, in this area, but as I got better, got more contacts, got better promotional materials, I began to gig pretty regular and it has never really slowed down except during the pandemic.

Now I’m not getting rich, but I’m making good part time income which allows me to do other things.

I grew up with Elvis but I never was a finatic. I watched his movies, listened to some of his music, but I certainly never considered to do what I’m doing today, that is performing as an Elvis Tribute Artist.

I’ve never entered a contest. They have a big one at Graceland every year. I think I considered it one time, but they really didn’t have any interest in me. I guess I was feeling like I was getting pretty good and people were telling how good I was. I looked at some of these guys, and they were pretty serious, but it seems they have the ringers in there that become part of Legends in Las Vegas and touring Elvis bands. I never got to that level, full time touring with a band across the country in premier events. So I never entered a contest. I’m working too much and it seemed kind of silly anyway as I was already doing the thing.

Really I didn’t want to travel anyway as I was getting enough business here and I was teaching full time so I didn’t see enough money on the table to go big time, even if I had the contacts, promotion, desire and talent.

Now the local market in the Central Texas area , has a million plus people so there are plenty of opportunities for a willing Elvis Impersonator. It’s amazing how many retirement homes there are in this area too. I average $300 for an hour performance, usually at 3:00pm. Now for part time income, it’s a sweet deal. Now I am retired from teaching and have other income sources so this is a sweet deal for a retired teacher. Doing four or five retirement homes a month, play a few restaurants
and clubs for promotion, and then booking $500-$750 one hour private parties generally on weekends. It’s a good deal and I’m good at it. Again I built a business and co facts snd referrals over the years. I didn’t start out making that. Probably started at $50 an hour if I was lucky.

Two years ago, 8.30.24, I thought my white jumpsuit days were over as my doctor called me and said I had pancreatic cancer. He said it’s not good news. That was bad day for this side-burned dude.

I’ve never written a blog before, but I’m combing stories of being an Elvis tribute with my journey with pNET cancer.

Uh thank ya, uh thank ya very much

08/14/2024

Living with Cancer as Elvis Part 2 August 14, 2024

This is my second entry into this blog. As I write I may make corrections when discussing the disease and terms such and treatment, such as pNET, PRRT, adeno carcinoma, and pancreatic cancer.

I have pNET or pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors. This is the same cancer Steve Jobs had. I read his autobiography many years before my diagnosis and looked at what he did and did not do with his treatment. I joke that this disease affects eccentric geniuses.

Well back to being Elvis. At the first of this month I had 14 gigs and some of those were outside in August heat in Texas. It’s brutal. I had gotten sick once in May and again in July, and the again in August.

I was seeing a pattern of getting really sick, with sweats, and mild fever. I tested negative for Covid and the flu each time and then going back to the oncologist on August 5th, 2024, they informed me my cancer was growing again after a weekend of being sick after a very hot humid outdoor couple of gigs.

Cancer is a partly a really big mental game. It messes with your mind. If you get a positive report that the cancer has stabilized, then you worry, when will it come back. I’m not sure if the sickness I had this summer was heat related or related to my cancer.

Well I cancelled four outdoor gigs. Since I got my diagnosis two years ago, I haven’t cancelled anything. I just kept performing. I wasn’t sure if the treatment was going to make me sick or the cancer, I just lived one day at a time, expecting that one day I may wake up sick and be sick the rest of my life. So far I have not been majorly sick and the side effects to the treatment have been minimal.

The show must go on. Though I cancelled four out door gigs I kept the indoor gigs. I have two Elvis shows today at retirement homes, one yesterday, and another tomorrow. But even in the air conditioning it is still hot as hell in a polyester suit with high humidity. I still pour sweat in AC, but it’s manageable. I booked a couple of telegram parties where I just enter in with a portable pa, sing a couple of songs and Elvis has left the building.

All my suits are custom made costing from $1000-$2000 with suit, belt, and boots. They have paid for themselves over and over. I have five suits and looking at getting a new one soon. Not a luxury, a business expense.

I continue to perform mainly for the income, but obviously because I enjoy doing it. I retired from teaching six years ago. My plan was to entertain and make part time income while living a wonderful retirement, until I could do it anymore or the well dried up.

Cancer did put a dent in my finances. I have TRS insurance which is pretty good, but as my doctor said I will meet my MOOP, max out of pocket, every year, which is about $7000. This is not a fundraiser. I am fortunate to be able to work and take care of expenses along with traveling and living a wonderful retirement. Still $7k a year is a chunk. It will change at 65 when i qualify for Medicare, but hopefully i can keep working as Elvis and live off the crumbs of the King.

Some of you will ask how much do you make. Well it varies, on day of week, season, type of gig. But it is $250-$750 an hour. Again that’s not a 40 hour week but mostly weekend work and retirement homes are weekday gigs paying $250-$400 an hour. To some that’s chump change, but to this retired teacher it’s a blessing.

Well I’ll stop there.

There is so much to write about.

One day at a time

Uh thank ya, uh thank ya very much

08/14/2024

Living with Cancer as Elvis Part 1

I am starting a blog called “Living with Cancer as Elvis.” Now I’m not Elvis but an Elvis Tribute Artist and have been doing an Elvis tribute for over 20 years.. I was diagnosed with cancer two years ago on my 59th birthday. The first diagnosis was pancreatic cancer/adeno carcinoma, but after a biopsy, I was rediagnosed with pNET, or pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors. The difference is pancreatic
/ adeno carcinoma cancer is a faster growing cancer that many people die quickly while pNET is a slower growing cancer and is treatable, so many people live with this cancer and I am one of these lucky ones.

Now why do I say living with cancer as Elvis? Well cancer comes uninvited and affects every aspect of your life. I was performing regularly in a white polyester jumpsuit doing 10-12 events a month at luxury retirement homes, private parties, restaurants and clubs. I got the call no one wants from my doctor, and among other things I didn’t know if I was going to get sick, if the treatment was going to make my hair fall out, if the treatment was going to make me sick.

Well it’s two years later, and I am beginning another round of treatment at my 61st birthday on August 30th. I get a pet scan on the 8.29.24, and prepare to pour some poison, targeted radiotherapy, PRRT into my veins. I’ve had four treatments and it worked to stabilize my cancer, but the cancer is growing again and I have to get more treatment to stabilize the cancer.

In this blog, I plan to talk being an Elvis Tribute Artist while going through cancer treatment and living with cancer. I plan to use humor, real life experiences, go in and out of being an Elvis Tribute Artist, being a cancer patient, and how the two mesh together.

I’m not sure how often I will post this blog. I will first post it on my Mr. Thrill DJ PLUS page, and then Medium, and possibly some other sites.

Well One Day at a Time and uh thank ya, thank ya very much.

07/22/2024

It’s not the cover of the Rolling Stone but I’ll take it.

07/04/2024

06/07/2024

A few tickets left

05/19/2024

Last night I finished my third prom in May. I have been DJing high school homecomings, proms, and dances for going on 20 years.

I wear multiple hats at Mr. Thrill DJ PLUS from emcee, sound engineer, visual effects coordinator, multiple music genres technician and more. Sounds fancy but really I try to play the right music at the right volume at the right time with minimal announcements.

Of course besides being a DJ, I am also an entertainer doing multiple tributes and sometimes combining DJ and entertainer.

I love doing what I do.

05/17/2024

On Memorial Day weekend I will be in Dripping Springs on Friday Suds Monkey Brewing doing Elvis and more. On Saturday, I will be at Buck's Backyardin Buda with Tumnlimg Dice. This weekend I have a prom in Salado.

04/27/2024

Wordle 1,042 3/6

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04/25/2024

Hey that’s me!

04/13/2024

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs Gold!

04/12/2024

https://www.boho-weddings.com/245325/how-to-choose-the-right-elvis-impersonator/

Find the perfect Elvis tribute for your event with our guide on choosing the right Elvis impersonator. Learn how to select the best Elvis impersonator.

04/07/2024

Fun gig for grand opening of Putt Vegas