Elvis Presley is the only citizen who ever walked into the White House to meet the president while carrying a loaded handgun. He talked worryingly to Nixon about patriotism, dangerous youth-culture, and fighting the war on drugs. What he really wanted was a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, which Nixon eventually gave him. It was a bizarre encounter. Elvis Presley, the number-one selling solo artist of all time, died a few years later. He lives on not only through his music, but through Elvis Tribute Artists, people like Tim 'E' Hendry, who pay tribute to the man by dressing in full costume, wearing clothes made by Elvis's tailors, and most importantly, singing. Here's a look into their world. ****

SmSh: I’m sitting down with Tim E. Hendry, an award-winning Elvis tribute artist, originally from…

: London Ontario.

SmSh: How’d you get into this?

: …Same old question. My father, Diamond Jim Hendry, he was my inspiration. He was my best friend, and he was the biggest Elvis fan I’ve ever known. And I grew up in an Elvis family watching Elvis movies, watching Elvis concerts, listening to the Elvis Christmas album over and over and over again at Christmas time it was the only thing allowed to be played in our house. And he…he was Elvis. He had so much charisma, so much natural ability to sing, and he just looked cool and was unique, and..he was Elvis Presley.

SmSh: Did you ever get the chance to see him?

: I never got the chance, no. He died when I was ten. He came close, he was in Detroit a few times. A lot of people I’ve met have seen him. And.. I just think that’s the ultimate. “Ah I’ve seen Zepplin..I’ve seen this…I’ve seen Elvis.” Those guys used to go see Elvis. John Lennon, those guys paid to see Elvis in concert. I do meet a lot of people that have seen him, and the biggest compliment I get is “I saw him in concert and it was like seeing him again.” And that’s like, “wow thank you very much”. [in Elvis voice.]

SmSh: So you think he really died?

: [smirks] Oh he’s dead. The people that think he’s still alive, that’s just crazy…he died. I personally became good friends with his best friend Charlie Hodge, and I’ve talked to his road manager and all the guys in his band, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and uh…yeah, he died. Unfortunately he did but yeah. I’m right here man, I didn’t die!

SmSh: There’s people who think Tupac’s still alive too. I didn’t realize Elvis is the number one selling solo artist of all time until yesterday. I would have thought it’d be Michael Jackson but nope.

: Nope, not even close. Like, billions. Back in the 80s, there was an award for when he sold a billion records.

SmSh: A billion fucking records. What kind of music do you think he’d be releasing now, if he was still alive?

: Well this coming January he’d have been 80, so I think he would have become more of a crooner, like a Sinatra kind of thing. He still would have done his hits, but he was also a really good producer. Everybody I’ve talked to in his fold said he’s a great producer in the studio.

SmSh: Whoa.

: What a great thing eh? Well who’s your album produced by…Elvis Presley. Oh, geez, I think it might go number one!

SmSh: Is there anybody who’s come after Elvis who you’d put in the same league? Eminem?

: No. Nobody comes close to Elvis. Like I’ve always said, I’m a huge fan of The Beatles, a huge fan of Led Zeppelin, a huge fan of Frank Sinatra. Where are the Sinatra festivals? The Beatles festivals? There’s Elvis festivals all year round, a hundred of them all over the world, and thousands of people flock there because of Elvis. And that name – ELVIS – you know what I mean? I like Eminem, I really do, but it’s just not even close. We’ll talk when he gets a billion record sales.

SmSh: Why don’t we have any superstars like Elvis now. Why haven’t we since him?

: That’s a hard one to answer. He started rock and roll, and there was something special about him. Natural, god given ability. There will never be another Elvis Presley – it would have happened by now I think. He changed the world, he really did.

SmSh: What’s your most prized piece of Elvis Memorabilia, and how did you get it?

: My father collected a lot of Elvis memorabilia, and I have two pieces. There’s one, a pencil crayon drawing from 1977; this guy in the states [did it], can’t remember his name…it’s framed. I wish I’d brought a picture of it. To see it, it’s amazing. My father was offered ten grand [for it] by the Elvis fan club in Michigan. And also, a freehand pencil crayon color drawing of him [that my mother had commissioned for my dad's 40th birthday]. Those two things will never leave my family. They’re priceless to me. And all my suits…

SmSh: Yeah you mentioned your suits are custom made…

: Yeah most of them are from B&K enterprises, out of Chicago, and they’re the original manufacturer of Elvis’s suits.

SmSh: How do you get the rings?

: You can order them, and when you go to these festivals, like the biggest one in the world The Collingwood Festival in Ontario, 100,000 people go to that one, there’s vendors everywhere. There’s one guy that actually made Elvis’s rings and he made me that one and that one, and a couple of necklaces and the EP one. You’ll get some manufacturers that make 'em and you get the little tarnish things on it, but these ones are gold plated so they don’t...

SmSh: So when you go through the metal detectors you gotta pull all that shit off?

: I don’t wear them around every day [laughs]. I put them in my case.

SmSh: How does this work affect your identity? Does it every get blurry between Tim and The King?

: No, it never does. I’m not Elvis. I only portray Elvis onstage, and as soon as I come offstage, I'm Tim. There are some guys out there that take it to the extreme. The only time I portray Elvis is when I’m onstage. I never get crossed-up, I know who I am. I’m an Elvis fan.

SmSh: I’ve been told there’s a big difference between an Elvis tribute artist and an Elvis impersonator. Can you clear up the difference?

: See that’s a debate…I don’t even know what the definition of that is. I mean, we’re called Elvis Tribute Artists cause we pay tribute to him. Elvis impersonators I guess would be someone who just kinda looks like him, but doesn’t do the show, doesn’t sing…doesn’t do anything…maybe lip synch…there’s a lot of guys that shouldn’t sing. Everybody asks me all the time, what’s the biggest thing you advise someone who’s starting out to do Elvis tribute, and I say voice – learn how to sing. Learn how to sing like Elvis, or at least sound good, keep your pitch. Guys have gotten surgery, they wear wigs – there’s no wig on me – fake sideburns…you can look like him and you go onstage and sound like Tiny Tim and the illusion is ruined. And maybe that’s an impersonator, you know what I mean? Tribute Artists, that’s the term that Elvis Presley enterprises prefers for us to use as well, cause we’re paying tribute to him.

SmSh: How many tribute artists do you think there are around the world?

: I heard at one point there was like 38,000 in North America alone – and about ten good ones [laughs]. There’s some guys who take it real seriously like myself, and there’s guys that just goof around with it. There’s a lot, just in North America alone so I don’t know how many there are over in Europe…in Japan there’s lots. I don’t know if there’s any here in China, I don’t think so. Maybe that’s why I’m getting the double looks.

SmSh: I wonder if there’s any Elvis stuff going on in Africa…anything?

: I’ve never heard of anything in Africa… [laughs]

SmSh: South America?

: Brazil yeah, there’s a Brazil Elvis Festival. Actually he’s really popular [there]. A couple of my friends have gone down to do showcases. I think I’ll probably be the next one to go.

SmSh: Is it mostly straight white guys doing this? Are there any gay Elvis Tribute Artists or female ones?

: I don’t know of any gay Elvis tribute artists, but I do know a handful of female artist tribute artists, and they’re just there to pay tribute to him. It’s hard for a woman to go up there and beat someone like myself because Elvis was a man. I appreciate the women doing it because it’s just because they love Elvis so much. As far as the gay community, I’m sure there’s huge Elvis fans and I got no problem with that. As long as you pay a respectful tribute to Elvis, with integrity and honesty, I don’t care what denomination you are.

SmSh: Any black Elvis tribute artists?

: Yeah, a good friend of mine Robert Washington, he’s a tribute artist. He's won a couple competitions. He loves Elvis very much.

SmSh: How many contestants come out to these contests?

: It depends. It can range from ten to like a hundred. There’s invite-only contests with twenty of the best guys – those are tough ones. I’ve been fortunate enough to be on a bit of a hot streak lately hehe.

SmSh: Nine in a row? What’s the prizes like, big cash?

: Yeah, there’s some big cash. Some of 'em are twenty grand, twenty-five grand, others are five grand…sometimes if I got nothing scheduled and oh there’s a contest in Iowa, and if it’s worth it for me to go, if I come out going home after expenses with a grand in my pocket…ehhhhh, it’s better than digging a ditch, you know?

SmSh: What’s the weirdest contest you’ve been in?

: There haven’t been many weird ones. There’s been one’s where the outcome has been very suspectful. There’s some politics in some of the contests, and you weed out those contests cause you know…come on. If the guy's 300 pounds or can’t sing and he’s just a local favorite and ends up beating out some of the top guys, it’s like…come on. We all know the real thing. They’ve become sort of regulated lately, that used to happen a lot.

SmSh: How many shows a year do you do?

: Wow, I’ll say on average between 30–100. I’ve been really busy lately, closer to 100. And when I’m not doing that, I schedule a drumming weekend with a couple of the cover bands I play with, just to keep playing music. Sometimes I need to take the frustration out on those drums instead of someone else [laughs].

SmSh: How long you been playing drums?

: About thirty years.

SmSh: but when you do these contests, do they have a backup band?

: Yeah they have a backup band. There’s Expense Account Band, they’re phenomenal... There’s the Change of Habit band, also very good…in Canada there’s The Casino Brothers. They know probably 400–500 songs, with these guys there’s so many different songs. They gotta back up 100 guys in a contest, they gotta know their stuff.

SmSh: How’s this band you’re playing with in Shanghai? [Featuring members from Friend or Foe, Round Eye, and other Shanghai bands]

: They’re good. I’m working with them, last night’s rehearsal was good, they’re good players, they’re listening to me, no egos. It’ll be a good show. They’re Elvis fans.

SmSh: What’s your favorite Elvis period?

: 1970s concert. He just was fabulous. The band was amazing, his voice was huge…effortless.

SmSh: I have some weirder questions…have you ever had any requests from women who wanna sleep with you in full costume?

: [laughs] No…no. That’d be very difficult. How!? It zips up, man. There’s been after-parties sometimes, [and girls say] “can I wear one of your suits?” No…first of all it’ll be too big on you, second it’s all sweaty…you don’t wanna get inside that thing. And they’re expensive. I’ve let them wear my belt, my rings…I’ve never had anybody ask to sleep with me in the suit.

SmSh: Are there groupies in the Elvis Tribute World?

: Yeah..there is. We call em “sideburn chasers.” Not too many. More than anything they’re Elvis fans, and they’re there to pretend they’re seeing Elvis. There are some out there, for sure. You just gotta keep your distance from some of them, and some of them you probably don’t wanna keep your distance from.

SmSh: It was also rumored that Elvis was really into young women, and he started dating Priscilla when she was 14…

: Yeah but it was different back then, but he was very respectful. Nothing happened between those two until she turned 18, and then they got married. He liked all kinds of women. It was not just young women; he liked older women too. He loved women in general, but he was always very respectful towards them. All they wanna do is tear his clothes off, and he probably didn’t stop them from doing that, but he also never treated them badly.

Lulu The Photographer: Have you ever considered making your own music?

: I’ve already done that in the past. I was a drummer in a band called Mankind, in Canada, and we had a couple albums; we toured across Canada and part of the States, and I’m proud of it. It’s more like metal, like a Alice and Chains meets Soundgarden kinda thing. I’m still an old metalhead. Who knows, I never thought I could sing. I was a drummer. And I write my own songs; we’ll see where it takes me.

Lulu The Photographer: How long do you wanna do this?

: As long as I possibly can. As long as god gives me the ability to keep doing this. As long as it’s fun and I can do a tribute with integrity and the body holds up. I try to work out as much as I can, I play ice hockey a lot. It’s a workout - the show's a workout, you know what I mean? When I get a little older, I think I can be a show producer or manage up and coming Elvis Tribute Artists.

SmSh: Are there young people in the game?

: Yeah, one guy who’s a 50s Elvis in the Life And Times story concert in Canada, he’s 19. He does the very young, Sun Records Elvis.

SmSh: Yeah I was reading a really early interview with Elvis and he was saying “I hope I can marry a nice girl sometime soon. I love my car so much” and he seemed like this really nice…kid.

: He grew into Elvis, but he was still very humble. Like, why me? He always said it never ceases to amaze me, I don’t know why I’m so special, I just like to sing.

SmSh: Was his transition into the pelvis-thrusting we know Elvis for, is that comparable to like, Miley Cirus and Justin Bieber starting out as this innocent teen star and then…

: I guess it’s something like that. The pelvis thrusting, he just said “I don’t do it on purpose – I feel the music. I just get going.” It wasn’t like he planned it.

SmSh: I read one of the talk show hosts saying “we saw him performing, he’s wearing tight pants, and he seems to have taped a coke bottle in his pants to make it look like his cock.”

: That’s just rumors. That’s crap [laughs]. He was a shy guy, Elvis wouldn’t…I know what he wear in his jumpsuits, that’s what I wear underneath. Respectful – he was always respectful towards the audience and never treated them poorly. That was his bread and butter. He was always so nervous before every show, he says “new audience – you don’t know if they’re gonna like us tonight.”

SmSh: Even up until the end?

: Yep, always very respectful, right up to the end. His last show, everybody says he was fat. He wasn’t – he was sick, he was bloated. He couldn’t go to the washroom properly. He was supposed to have surgery before his last tour, and they said “we’re putting it off until this tour is done.” The Colonel said that, and it killed them. The last show, that CBS show where he was all bloated, he goes “if you think I’m nervous – you’re right.” He always was, but then he’d get into it once he got comfortable. He said in an interview, and I’ve always done this, when he walked onstage, the first thing he did was look down at catch the first eye, and then look at all their eyes, and the nerves went away.

SmSh: Are there ever times when it’s not fun? Like, I’ve done this so many times, here we are again tonight, let’s get through it.

: I’ll be honest with you – no. Because I feel I’m privileged and lucky to be able to do this, so I never take it for granted. They’re there to see me, to enjoy themselves, so I gotta put on the best performance that I possibly can. Even if I’m under the weather. Still, when the show is on, you just count your lucky stars – you could be something way more backbreaking.

Lulu The Photographer: Do you think your life has changed a lot?

: Yeah, tremendously. I was a musician, a computer technician…but I’m in Shanghai – never in a million years, I never thought I’d come here to be a performer. Thanks to Bryan and everyone else that’s made it possible. *** World champion Elvis Tribute Artist Tim 'E' Hendry performs this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at The Pearl, backed by a full band featuring members of local rock acts. He's also doing a gospel brunch Sunday at The Melting Pot. More info about The Pearl shows here. *** All photos by Lulu. Check out her website right here.