The Ultimate Elvis Experience – 90th Birthday Celebration

Shawn Klush:

Shawn Klush – Actor, Entertainer, Recording Artist & Elvis Tribute Artist! “The Closest Thing to the King in Concert”

*As seen on the David Letterman Show *Winner of BBC 1 TV’s ‘World’s Greatest Elvis’
*Elvis Presley Enterprises 1st Ever ‘Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist’ and HBO’s Elvis in ‘Vinyl’
*Portrayed Elvis in the hit TV miniseries “Shake, Rattle and Roll” on VH1 and CBS

Born and raised in the small coal-mining town of Pittston, Pennsylvania, Shawn’s love for music led him to begin imitating his musical idol, Elvis Presley. He performed in the famous Poconos region followed by a tour of Canada where he entered and won the $5,000.00 prize in the “Worldwide Elvis Competition” in Montreal. This caught the attention of the award-winning Las Vegas show, “Legends in Concert” where for many years he starred as ‘Elvis’ in their Myrtle Beach, Las Vegas, Branson and Atlantic City show rooms. Each year he stars in the “Elvis Tribute Artist Spectacular Birthday Edition Tour.”, an extravaganza with Elvis’ own musicians, back-up singers, and friends, in major venues in the US and headlines the Elvis Tribute Artist World Tours throughout the UK.

Shawn has released 5 CDs. He has performed with Elvis’ closest friends, musicians and singers such as JD Sumner and the Stamps Quartet, The Jordanaires, The Imperials, DJ Fontana, Charlie Hodge, Jerry Scheff, The Sweet Inspirations, Joe Guercio, Jerry Schilling and Joe Esposito.

On Elvis’ 70th Birthday, Shawn became grand champion at the $25,000.00 “World Elvis Tribute Artist Competition”. He then received “The Peoples Choice Award” from Gibson Guitar Co in Nashville for “Best Concert Elvis”. Shawn was then named the “World’s Greatest Elvis” by 6.5 million international viewers on BBC1 Television in the United Kingdom. Finally, on August 16th, the anniversary of Elvis’ passing, Shawn was named the ‘First Ever’ “Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist” by Elvis Presley Enterprises at Graceland in Memphis TN. Shawn has record breaking performances in the US, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, the UK and South America. He was named “Worldwide Ambassador of Elvis” at the Las Vegas Hilton where he headlined the annual the Las Vegas Elvis Fest, celebrating Elvis’ historic Las Vegas Performances.

Shawn was a featured performer on the Late Show with David Letterman performing to over 8 million viewers on CBS. He portrayed Elvis in ‘Shake Rattle & Roll’ on VH1 and CBS, appeared on the TV series Impractical Jokers and ‘What we do in the Shadows’ and portrayed Elvis in the HBO TV series Vinyl produced by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger.

Ryan Pelton:

Ryan Pelton is an international, award winning, Elvis tribute artist, actor, and singer/songwriter.  He often refers to himself as the “Forest Gump” of the ETA world, and claims to have been blessed with an extraordinary amount of dumb luck.

In September of 1998, Ryan Pelton was dared by his mother to enter a local Elvis contest in Columbus, OH.  At the time, Ryan was building websites for a living.  Ryan didn’t grow up in an “Elvis” household.  He knew little about the King of rock-n-roll, except for the fact that adults in public often said he looked like a “young Elvis” growing up.  Despite only having one week to prepare, Ryan entered the contest and against all odds, he won.  “I remember having to write the lyrics on my hand because I wasn’t familiar with any of the songs.  And keep in mind, I had never sang before in my life before that first contest.” Pelton’s days as a website designer were soon over, as he wanted to pursue the entertainment world, saying, “I don’t want to be ninety years old one day and look back saying, ‘what if?’”

Over the next decade, Pelton honed his craft becoming an international, award-winning Elvis Tribute Artist.  In 2001 Pelton was declared the “World Champion” when he won the Worldwide Images of the King Contest in Memphis, TN.  He has performed all over the world, from casinos to fairs, theaters to festivals, production shows to professional sports arenas.  Entertaining audiences in the tens-of-thousands, there can be no doubt that Ryan Pelton is the rarest kind of performer – living up to his billing time and time again.

Throughout his career, Pelton has been involved in a number or unique opportunities that have led him to call himself the “Forest Gump” of the ETA world.  Ryan performed with the world’s largest impersonator production show, Legends in Concert, for nearly a decade, including a six year stint in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Early in his career, Ryan appeared in an all-Elvis version of The Weakest Link, where he walked away the winner of the second largest total ever won on the show in the United States.  He has appeared in an international commercial for Volvo, was the featured ETA in a special collector’s “Elvis Edition” of TV Guide, and was the body double for Elvis as he performed a duet of “If I Can Dream” on American Idol with Celine Dion.  During this time he also made his first movie appearance as he played the role of Elvis in the Dakota Fanning move, Hounddog.

In 2011, Ryan Pelton decided it was time to take his career to the next level when he released his first original album, Wash Over Me.  Within a week after the release of the album, Pelton was signed as a song writer by a well-known Nashville publishing company.

Shortly thereafter, Ryan Pelton was offered the lead role in a Hollywood film called The Identical.  Ryan Pelton took on the screen name of “Blake Rayne” for the film, which also starred Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd, and Seth Green. The film, which won the audience choice award for best film at the Nashville Film Festival, and is still a top rental on Netflix.

While he was unable to perform as Elvis during the production of The Identical, Ryan Pelton has returned in 2015, touring again as the King of rock-n-roll.  His entertainment company is launching a new show called The Elvolution, and he has dedicated himself to competing in Elvis Presley Enterprises’ 2015 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest in Memphis, TN on August 11 & 13, 2015.

Ryan still continues to write and record his original music under the name of Blake Rayne, and is currently working on his first original album under that name.   “Blake” also continues to audition for acting roles, saying that, “Acting is one of the hardest things I have ever done… I guess that’s why I like it so much.  It kind of calls to my soul”.  But have no doubt – Ryan Pelton got his first break in entertainment by singing Elvis Presley music, and he has no plans to stop what got him where he is any time soon. In fact Ryan is currently starring in the Branson cast of the hit show Legends in Concert where he portrays the King of Rock n Roll Elvis Presley.

Says Pelton, “Life is like a box of chocolates… and I got the one that looks like Elvis!  I consider myself lucky… and I owe so much to Elvis.  Without the King and his music, I’d still be building websites.”