The ETA Spotlight is a column written by ETA’s themselves (ranging from those just starting out to those who are fully established in their careers)........about something they’ve accomplished, an experience they’ve had, something that might be of value to other ETA’s, or -- if just starting out -- simply to introduce themselves. Suitable photos should also be provided. Some of the articles will be in response to invitations we issue to ETA’s whose stories we feel will be of interest -- while other articles will be initiated by ETA’s who feel they have an interesting topic to write about. LadyLuckMusic/ETARadio will make the final selection for this feature. We look forward to hearing from ETA’s around
My name is Travis LeDoyt and I am currently touring the US and overseas doing a tribute show featuring the music of Elvis Presley in the 50's.
I really didn’t take an interest in singing or performing until I graduated from high school in the small town of Greenfield, Massachusetts. I saw a documentary on Elvis Presley and I have been hooked ever since. My dad was a big fan of 50's music and played that a lot while I was growing up though I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it until I actually saw Elvis performing on the TV. That really got me excited and I went out and bought the Sun Records collection of Elvis songs. I played the CD every day. If they had been records I would have worn them out.
The following Christmas my father bought me a karaoke machine with an Elvis tape. I practiced on it so much that when the school talent show came around my friends talked me into entering it. I never really got into this thinking I looked or sounded like Elvis and to be honest a lot of this seemed to come naturally to me. Anyway, I practiced up some moves and performed at the talent show. The response was unbelievable and people started asking me to sing at various local functions.
I put together a band and started doing local events and eventually went to Jackson, TN to perform at a Rockabilly Festival there. I met a lot of great people there including D. J. Fontana, Elvis Presley’s drummer in the 50's, and W. S. Holland, who was Johnny Cash’s drummer. I got to perform with Marty Stuart and Stan Perkins, the son of Carl Perkins. I also met with Dick McVey who was helping promote the Rockabilly Festival and after several months of discussions he became my manager, so it was a very exciting and successful trip.
One of the first things that happened when I started working with Dick was a photo spread in the New York Times. They were looking for someone who looked like Elvis to actually be photographed in Sam Phillips’ offices in Memphis and they called us to do it.
Since then we have traveled all across the United States performing in casinos, at fairs and festivals, arts centers, and car shows. It has been a wild ride for the past three years. We spent the summer of 2004 at Busch Gardens in Tampa and performed for more than 100,000 people. We have also done a few shows internationally in China and Chile, and have a tour of England, Ireland and Scotland scheduled for February 2006.
I made the move to Nashville about 4 years ago and I recently bought a home about 20 miles outside of Nashville. I love everything about Nashville. Dick has a recording studio and when we are off the road I am writing and recording my own songs. I have enough songs now for an original album and hope to have that completed by this fall. I have to say I really have been blessed to be able to do what I do and I just hope we can continue to entertain people for a long time to come.
I really do love the music and the man and I hope that I honor his memory and can bring a part of him to fans who never got to see him, rekindle great memories for those who did and share his music with the next generation who never knew him at all.
www.travisledoyt.com
I really didn’t take an interest in singing or performing until I graduated from high school in the small town of Greenfield, Massachusetts. I saw a documentary on Elvis Presley and I have been hooked ever since. My dad was a big fan of 50's music and played that a lot while I was growing up though I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it until I actually saw Elvis performing on the TV. That really got me excited and I went out and bought the Sun Records collection of Elvis songs. I played the CD every day. If they had been records I would have worn them out.
The following Christmas my father bought me a karaoke machine with an Elvis tape. I practiced on it so much that when the school talent show came around my friends talked me into entering it. I never really got into this thinking I looked or sounded like Elvis and to be honest a lot of this seemed to come naturally to me. Anyway, I practiced up some moves and performed at the talent show. The response was unbelievable and people started asking me to sing at various local functions.
I put together a band and started doing local events and eventually went to Jackson, TN to perform at a Rockabilly Festival there. I met a lot of great people there including D. J. Fontana, Elvis Presley’s drummer in the 50's, and W. S. Holland, who was Johnny Cash’s drummer. I got to perform with Marty Stuart and Stan Perkins, the son of Carl Perkins. I also met with Dick McVey who was helping promote the Rockabilly Festival and after several months of discussions he became my manager, so it was a very exciting and successful trip.
One of the first things that happened when I started working with Dick was a photo spread in the New York Times. They were looking for someone who looked like Elvis to actually be photographed in Sam Phillips’ offices in Memphis and they called us to do it.
Since then we have traveled all across the United States performing in casinos, at fairs and festivals, arts centers, and car shows. It has been a wild ride for the past three years. We spent the summer of 2004 at Busch Gardens in Tampa and performed for more than 100,000 people. We have also done a few shows internationally in China and Chile, and have a tour of England, Ireland and Scotland scheduled for February 2006.
I made the move to Nashville about 4 years ago and I recently bought a home about 20 miles outside of Nashville. I love everything about Nashville. Dick has a recording studio and when we are off the road I am writing and recording my own songs. I have enough songs now for an original album and hope to have that completed by this fall. I have to say I really have been blessed to be able to do what I do and I just hope we can continue to entertain people for a long time to come.
I really do love the music and the man and I hope that I honor his memory and can bring a part of him to fans who never got to see him, rekindle great memories for those who did and share his music with the next generation who never knew him at all.
www.travisledoyt.com
ETA Spotlight on Travis LeDoyt
