He couldn’t help falling in love with The King, and now he’s preparing for his last year on the Collingwood stage.
We recently sat down with Bill Gallant, who has worked as an Elvis tribute artist and attended the Collingwood Elvis Festival as a performer and competitor for the past 21 years.
Q: Why Elvis?
A: Because he’s the king of rock and roll. He invented music. Anybody that can sing gospel, country and rock and roll, and be successful, is the king. I’ve loved him ever since I was three.
Q: Were your parents Elvis fans?
A: My dad was a Tijuana Brass Herb Alpert fan – like calypso music – totally different from Elvis. My ex-brother-in-law was one of the first Elvis impersonators, so I learned it from him.
Q: What’s the difference between a tribute artist and an impersonator?
A: An impersonator impersonates Elvis, so he doesn’t sing. Tribute artists play tribute to the King of Rock and Roll, to the best ability we can, and we sing. We don’t lip sync. We actually sing to his music.
Q: How did you get started as a tribute artist?
A: I moved up from London, Ont. to Nova Scotia and I started going to karaoke. My friend told me about an Elvis competition at White Oaks Mall, and suggested I go try it out. I rented a jump suit, wore a pair of sneakers, and I won the competition. So I figured, what the heck, I’ll just keep doing it. It’s been 22 years since then, and for the past 21 years, in Collingwood, in a row. I’m the only tribute artist to do it for that many years in a row.
Q: Your kids participate in the Collingwood Elvis Festival now as well. How old are your kids and how did they get started?
A: They’ve followed in dad’s footsteps. They watched me do it, so they wanted to do it. My son Aaron, he started when he was five in Collingwood. He’s now 17, so he’s been doing it for 12 years. My other son Jesse has been doing it for four years. My daughter Katie has been doing it for three years. They wanted to compete with dad in Collingwood. We were the only family that had a father, two sons and a daughter ever compete. All three kids made it to the finals (two years ago) and dad didn’t. (laughs)
Q: How long does it take you to get dressed up?
A: I have some perspective now of what women go through when they do make up. (laughs) On average, it takes a good half hour to 45 minutes. That includes getting tuned up singing-wise. I have fun with it. I’m a good MC.
I host my own festival every year in Simcoe County as well. We’ve been doing it for six years. All the money we raise goes to Kerry’s Place (Autism Services). If I can do Elvis stuff with charity stuff, that’s basically what I do. My business is irrigation and landscaping. My hobby is doing shows for charity.
Q: How has the Collingwood Elvis Festival changed over the last 21 years?
A: I have good feelings and bad feelings. They’ve taken the car show away... that’s a bad feeling. That was one of the greatest events on the Saturday, was the classic car show. We’ve gone from competing in the taverns/clubs to the curling club to the downtown to Eddie Bush Memorial Arena to the side streets. We went from competing in front of hundreds of thousands of people down to just thousands of people. Two years ago you had to send a CD, a DVD, a picture of yourself and an interview so you could get accepted to come to Collingwood. That was tough on a lot of guys.
To me, the Collingwood Elvis Festival will always be the grandest stage of Elvis competitions. It used to be the top of the rollercoaster, and now it’s gone down.
Q: Do you dress up as Elvis for other events?
A: My festival is called Elvis and Friends, it’s a rock and roll show we put on. We’re doing one this Saturday night (July 21) at the ANAF Club in Barrie, raising money for the kids Christmas. I do lots for breast cancer (research), I do lots for veterans. I’m ex-military myself in the air force, for over 10 years. We do lots of shows for the kids, charities, birthday parties, weddings... A few years ago, I was doing too many shows, 48 shows a year. Now, I like to do 18 to 24 (a year). We still compete in other festivals as well, but we try to keep it in Ontario.
Q: Are you bringing anything new this time around (to Collingwood)?
A: I’m bringing a new jumpsuit. My son is finishing his last year in the youth category. He’s going to be an adult next year. So, this will be my last year of competing in Collingwood. I don’t want to be competing against my son in adult competitions.
It will be more fun for me to cheer him on as a father behind him, rather than a competitor. My son is amazing and I want him to continue on.
I also know that if he beats me, it will be weeks of me not living it down. (laughs)
Q: What’s your favourite Elvis song?
A: In the Ghetto. To me, it talks about a child’s life, how hard it’s been, and that life carries on again by having another baby. Life goes on again. That’s what that song’s about.
A lot of them are all my favourites. (laughs)
