MINERAL WELLS — Kraig Parker didn’t set out to become yet another Elvis Presley Tribute artist.
It just kind of happened.
Having performed for years in Dallas-area rock bands, Parker’s musical career wasn’t really taking him where he had hoped. In the mid-1990s, while working as a graphic artist for Hunt Oil Company in Dallas, he was asked to sing and perform as Elvis at an office party.
“That room exploded,” he said. “There were about 50 people in there and there was electricity in the air. People said, ‘you have to follow that, keep doing that.’”
And a career was launched.
“I was nearly 30 years and was looking for a new musical challenge,” he said. “It just took off. I had a lot of contacts in music and formed a band. Before I knew it I had this professional, traveling Elvis-type show.”
Parker said he is looking forward to coming to Mineral Wells on Saturday and leaving concert-goers all shook up.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I have not performed publicly in Mineral Wells. It’s for a great cause for disadvantaged students and the vets. It’s going to be fun, we’re all looking forward to it.”
The 43-year-old North Richland Hills resident is bringing his Elvis Presley tribute act, complete with his 10-piece Royal Tribute Band, to the Mineral Wells High School Auditorium for a benefit concert. Proceeds from the 7:30 p.m. show benefit MWHS disadvantaged and disabled students and the National Vietnam War Museum. This event is being sponsored by disabled veterans of Fort Wolters.
Tickets are $25 and available at Mineral Wells Area Chamber Of Commerce, Bennett’s Brazos Printing, Cole’s Flowers, Century 21, Awards & More, First Financial Bank, Nancy’s Italian-Texan Grill and Baeza Check Cashing, or by calling (940) 325-1205. There will be a limited number of tickets available at the door Saturday night. Rooms at the Holiday Inn Express and Best Western are discounted for out-of-town travelers.
Parker will have a full day in Mineral Wells on Saturday. He is scheduled to tour the National Vietnam War Museum at 12:30 p.m., followed by lunch and a public meet-and-greet and autograph session at 1:30 p.m. at Nancy’s Italian-Texan Grill. Parker will also be available after the show for autographs, pictures and memorabilia sales.
The show will open with a patriotic theme. The 301st Honor Guard of the Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth will present colors, with the “Pledge of Allegiance” led jointly by a representative of a local boy scout, cub scout, girl scout and brownie troop. The Travis Cadets will sing the National Anthem, Lee B. Downs, Chief Petty Officer, USN, Retired, will give the invocation.
While there are dozens, if not hundreds, of Elvis tribute artists, Parker is considered one of the best. At least that’s what his manager, Charles Stone, says about him. Stone knows a little something about Elvis. He was Presley’s road manager during the 1970s. Stone says Parker has “the looks, the sounds, the moves of Elvis. He has it all.”
Loanne Parker, the wife of Col. Tom Parker, who managed Elvis, said she avoided going to Elvis tribute shows but was talked into going to one of Parker’s performances, accompanied by four people who worked with Elvis, including two of his bodyguards. She wrote, “There will never be another Elvis, but Kraig Parker conveys the excitement and the feeling of being at an Elvis show.”
Parker said that’s what he tries to deliver with each show.
“People believe it,” he said. “It’s not just a hokey Elvis impersonation. You just have to put aside your skepticism and come and be a part of the show.”
Parker grew up in Irving, graduating from Irving High School. He has two children and his wife has two children. “We’re a full house,” he said.
He said he first started playing guitar around the age of 12. Parker said his grandmother also played guitar and was a big Elvis fan. She taught him how to play one of his first songs on guitar – Presley’s “That’s All Right,” which happens to be the first single released by Presley.
“That just kind of got me started and hooked on Elvis,” Parker said.
Once in high school he played in various cover bands, playing classic rock or heavy metal. Parker rocked on, but nothing took off for him musically.
“Of course it’s nearly impossible to make it in the music business unless you get hit by lightning twice or something,” he said.
Today Parker’s Royal Tribute Band includes a four-piece rhythm, two female singers a three-piece brass section. Parker on guitar – for about half the show – makes 10.
Besides playing Elvis songs growing up, Parker said he watched some of the movies. He went back to those as well as concert footage of Presley to refine Presley’s sound and movements.
But Parker said it really isn’t that hard for him.
“It really comes naturally,” he said. “It’s not something I feel like I have to go out there and put on an act, even though it is an act. I kind of goofed around with it my whole life, in front of the mirror like we all do. People back then used to say you have the Elvis thing going on.”
At age 43, Parker notes that he is now one year older than Elvis was at the time of his death Aug. 16, 1977.
The Elvis that Parker portrays on stage is what he called the “Las Vegas-era,” when Presley “started wearing the glitzy white suits and practicing the martial arts – the golden years of Elvis. He started practicing martial arts later in life, and working it into his shows, doing karate kicks and more upper body movements besides just swiveling his hips.”
Parker has gone on to play large venues and concert halls around the world. One of his first regular gigs was at Hard Rock Café in Dallas, which is where he said Stone met him. He now does on average three shows a week, either with his band or solo. He still does a weekly show at “Tuesday Night at the Plaza” in downtown Carrollton, a Dallas suburb, which was also one of his first regular Elvis show venues.
While reluctant to accept the title of best Elvis tribute artist, Parker said, “I say I work the hardest. I do have a successful show.”
He says one of his favorite venues played to date is an opera hall in Paris.
“I would say that and maybe Bass Hall, now that I have played there,” said Parker regarding the recent sold-out show at the Fort Worth music hall on Jan. 23. “That was a milestone for me.”
One of the lager crowds he played for was about 25,000 people as part of a lineup in Salt Lake City, an “oldies” concert featuring groups like The Beach Boys and The Monkees, among others.
This year Parker will embark on a tour of Australia and Asia. He said it is amazing as popular as Elvis is in America, he might be even more popular in other countries.
“It’s just as big or bigger overseas,” he said. “Elvis never got to go overseas. We try to give them what they want."
What also amazes Parker is that new generations of fans are helping keep Elvis and the music alive.
“That’s what’s amazing,” he said. “It’s come back around full circle. Girls 12 and 13 years old tell me they have Elvis rooms. He is the greatest entertainer of all time. I haven’t seen it fade out at all. It just seems like a forest fire out of control. It’s wonderful and people love it.”
Parker’s favorite song to perform?
“‘Suspicious Minds,’” he replied. “That song just cuts deep for me. ‘My Way’ is a lot of fun. I usually get a standing (ovation) on that.”
Parker said crowd favorites seem to be “My Way” and “How Great Thou Art.” He said “My Way” is a crowd favorite likely because, “It’s near the end of his life and people start to relate to that.” He said “How Great Thou Art” represents Presley’s gospel recordings, noting Presley’s only Grammy Award was for his gospel album.
Want to learn more about Kraig Parker, his show and concert tour dates? Go to: www.thekinglives.com
David May can be reached at (940) 325-4465, ext. 3419, or editor@mineralwellsindex.com
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