Elvis Plus 25 Impersonator Nye helps to continue Presley’s legacy

Twenty five years ago today, “The King” was found dead, shocking millions of his fans around the world. Bruce Nye remembers where he was when he heard Elvis Presley had died on Aug. 16, 1977.

“We were living in Blue Hill, and I heard it on the radio,” he said. “My reaction was disbelief.”

He’s been gone a quarter-century, but fans remain all shook up about Elvis.

“He changed the culture of music back then,” said Nye, 51. “When you do that, it’s going to last forever and ever.”

What of Presley’s qualities has helped him to endure?

“His voice, from the raw energy of the ’50s to the tender ballads of the early ’70s,” Nye said.

In his own way, Nye has contributed to the continuation of Presley’s legacy, working as an Elvis impersonator for the past several years.

Billed as Bruce Nye, the Elvis Guy, Nye, who splits his year between Phillips Lake and St. Petersburg, Fla., doesn’t claim to be a perfect Elvis. He performs to backing CDs played by his wife, Darleen. He wears one of nine different costumes, ranging in cost from $600 to $1,200. He uses a cordless mike, and spends about half of each show in the audience.

“I incorporate things Elvis couldn’t do into the show,” he said. “You learn what makes the audience feel good. Making sure they have fun is the critical part.”

Nye grew up listening not only to Presley, but to other popular acts as well.

“Like every other teen in the ’60s, I liked Elvis, but also the Beatles and the Dave Clark Five,” he said. “Over the last couple years, I listened to Elvis [more], studying tapes, to make my craft better.”

Why did Nye leave behind a banking career to become Elvis several times a month? Blame it on the karaoke craze of the ’90s.

“We got a karaoke machine, and people would come over for parties,” he recalled. “Friends said I sounded like Elvis. So I practiced and practiced.”

Nye had a friend make an Elvis costume for him, a white, sparkling outfit with a cape. He entered and won the Bangor Rotary Club’s 1998 talent show, and a new career was born. He was a part-time Elvis for four years before going full time over the past year.

He has gone to Las Vegas to study other Elvis impersonators (he estimated there are hundreds across the United States, with very few making a living at it).

“Very often, they can look like the young Elvis or the older Elvis but they can’t sing like him,” Nye explained. “They can imitate the moves, but they don’t sound like him. They can sound like him, but they don’t look like him. Very few have the looks, the moves, and the voice.”

Nye averages 100 shows a year. He performs at more private events in Maine, and more public events in Florida. This summer, he has performed Wednesday through Friday nights at three different Mount Desert Island campgrounds. Upcoming public shows are 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, at the Gateway Lobster Pound in Trenton and a dinner-dance Friday, Sept. 13, at the Lucerne Inn.

Nye has a repertoire of 120 songs sung by Presley, including some of his cover songs.

“I never get tired of it,” he said. “I mix it up and I don’t get bored. It’s fun, the pay is good, and it beats the heck out of banking. It’s like going to a party every night.”

Nye told of an experience that illustrates the lasting appeal of Elvis Presley.

“Two years ago, I played a Sweethearts Dance at the Brewer Auditorium, with 350 people there from various nursing homes. At any time, there’d be 50 to 75 people in wheelchairs ‘dancing’ with their attendants. A couple days later, at the State Student Council at MMA, high-school students were singing along, and dancing up on stage.

“Eight or 80, it doesn’t matter, Elvis is well recognized,” he concluded.

For more information on Bruce Nye, the Elvis Guy, call 843-5723 or e-mail bnyel@yahoo.com.