I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A ROCKSTAR. I’ve got entertainment in my family. It started with my grandfather playing on Broadway and my father was a piano player. In high school I wanted to become a rockstar. And you know the rockstar’s always got the ladies; you know that’s really what it’s all about.

I STARTED OUT PLAYING DRUMS, believe it or not and one time I got up with a friend of mine’s band and I decided to sing, and this Elvis thing kinda came out. I would show up at the end of every one of their shows and I’d sit in and sing “My Way”, which we’ve of course continued to do for almost 21 years now in Dread Zeppelin. It’s probably the most beautiful song ever written.

THE GUYS IN THE BAND have been friends of mine for a long time.

WE ALL GOT INTO A ROOM and started doing a reggae beat to a Led Zeppelin song. We all killed ourselves laughing and go “let’s go with this.” It was kinda funny.  Then I said, “Hey let me put the Elvis thing on top of it.” It worked.

NOTHING IS REALLY REHEARSED TOO MUCH. Somebody will say, “You know ‘Hound Dog’ will fit here with ‘Heartbreaker’, and then we’ll put the two songs together. The guys in the band are such good players that they just figure it out. I think that’s one of the reasons the band has been able to perform for so many years; the playing is good and it’s not just a one-joke thing. These guys, excluding myself, are really good musicians.

I JUST HAVE TO GO UP THERE AND SAY THANKYAVERYMUSH and my job’s done. And they love it.

I DO SOME OF ROBERT PLANT’S MOVES and some of Elvis doing Plant’s moves. In fact I’ve developed what I call The Claw. Robert Plant does that little finger thing “does anybody remember laughter” and he kinda puts his fingers in the air and then Elvis has this move he’d do with his hand; he’d kinda push it out almost like a karate move. I kind of melded them together. We’ll show up to a club and we’ll start the show and you’ve got all these people doing The Claw and people who haven’t seen our show before think that maybe some of the people in the audience are flipping us a bird or something and I have to explain, “It’s The Claw. It’s alright.”

WE DO “MOBY DICK” and I get up on the drums and people say, “Oh my God there’s Elvis Presley playing ‘Moby Dick’.”

I HAVEN’T ACTUALLY MET ROBERT PLANT in person but I have talked to him a couple of times. I did a Rockline Replay interview with him years ago. They had it set up where they were talking to Robert Plant and I called in. He was very excited to hear from me, believe it or not. He really got a kick out of it. He actually thanked us for doing what we’re doing to his Led Zeppelin stuff and he really appreciated the fact that we’re doing a whole different take on it.

PEOPLE SEND ME [ELVIS] STUFF ALL THE TIME. I usually just sign them and put them on eBay. That’s really how I make my living.

I’VE GOT A YOUNG LADY out of L.A. who actually custom makes all of my outfits and my jumpsuits for me. But if I need a pair of glasses...

I CALL 1-800-GRACELAND. I’m not kidding about that. You can order any kind of Elvis stuff you need [laughs]. It’s great.

WE’VE BEEN PLAYING THE COACH HOUSE for almost 20 years now. It really is a wonderful place to play. That’s one of our favorite places.

AFTER EVERY DREAD ZEPPELIN SHOW we’ll go backstage with a piano we’ll sing gospel songs until dawn. That’s one of our rituals.

WE’VE PLAYED OVER 2,000 SHOWS. We were hitting it hard there for a long time on the road. Now we’re out playing every other weekend. We’re all getting a little up there in years; we’ve all got children and house payments and all that kinda stuff. Gotta mow the lawn and take the trash out. We can’t tour like we used to but we’re still out there doing it. 

WE REALLY NEVER HAD A GOAL other than to have fun and I think that’s why its lasted so long.

WE’LL MAKE OUR PILGRIMAGE every couple of years and play in Memphis downtown on Beale Street; and of course we’ll head over to Sun Studios and we’ll go over to Graceland and sit at the grave.

I LIKE TO JOKE that I was born in Tupelo, Mississippi and raised in Memphis, but I’m actually a Southern California boy.