Life – and music – changed for Ben Klein one day in 2002.
That's when he took the first step down the road to his career as an award-winning Elvis tribute artist, he recalled.
His accidental discovery of the magnetism of Elvis' repertoire and persona fuelled what has become a more than 20-year career, he said.
Klein, together with his wife – equally gifted singer Vanessa Klein – will take the stage at Peninsula Productions' black box studio theatre in Centennial Park (14600 North Bluff Rd.) Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5 at 7 p.m. with the show From Swing To King.
It's a show that, while it includes some of the Elvis classics, also includes nods to some of the other great crooners of the past, including Crosby, Sinatra, Dean Martin and Nat King Cole, and also the more modern interpretive twist on their work supplied by Canada's Michael Bublé.
"And the addition of Vanessa means we can also do some duets and some of the music Ann-Margret did with Elvis in Viva Las Vegas," Klein said.
"She's such an excellent singer – it's always great doing a show with her."
For someone for whom Elvis has been so important, Klein has a slightly shocking admission – he didn't start out being an Elvis fan.
"I was born in 1981 and I'd been into alternative rock – I'd never really liked Elvis," he said.
"But my parents were huge Elvis fans."
His dad, Randy, had been an Elvis tribute artist himself, once upon a time — journeying to Las Vegas to see his idol in person numerous times.
"He got to see Elvis and Tina Turner, and all these other famous people up close."
Klein said he had believed he was immune to the appeal of the "King." But that changed when his father was given a CD compilation of the original recordings of the Elvis hits.
"I actually gave it to to him for his birthday," he remembered.
"Then, one day, I was in by his desk at home and saw that he had converted the disc to files on his computer. Seeing the CD case sitting there, for some reason, I said, "Do you mind if I just borrow this?'"
Whatever the 21-year-old Klein had on his mind, a seismic shift occurred as soon as he started to listen in earnest.
"I fell in love with the music," he said, simply.
He dates his fascination with recreating the Elvis repertoire and career highlights from that moment. Along the way, his skill in evoking the King in music and appearance has won him international attention and numerous awards.
"And, here we are, 23 years later," he marvelled.
But that discovery of Elvis' raw talent and authenticity also opened his ears to a whole world of music from the pre-multitrack, pre-autotune era, back when songs were recorded live 'off the floor' and 'mixed' largely by how the musicians and singers were arranged around a couple of studio mics.
And his subsequent appreciation of the classic crooners of the '40s and `50s who had, themselves, influenced Elvis, has led to his current show, From Swing to King, he said.
"I'd started looking at the crooners and the Great American Songbook era and thinking perhaps I could add this as another dimension to what I do," Klein said.
"I also like what Bublé has done – he's kind of modernized the crooners, and I think its important to relate the music to new generations. If they don't get to hear it, the music dies."
Revisiting the music of Bing Crosby has also given him a new appreciation for someone who was really the granddaddy of all crooners, he said.
"In terms of his sound and his tone, he was really in a league of his own," he said.
"I love doing old music shows, keeping it free and accessible, but also authentic," he added.
"There was so much about it, the artistry, the emotion of the music. And it was real. They had to go out there and do it right the first time.
"Music today is so produced, everything has to be so perfect. Don't even get me started on autotune...
"But nothing is perfect – the human voice is never completely in pitch. But that was where the artistry of the performers came in, how they approached the notes, swooped up to them and around them, played with them."
Being true to that spirit is one of the rewards of doing his shows, Klein said. So too is the reaction of his audiences – whether it's young people discovering the music for the first time, or older listeners in whom it evokes a magical nostalgia.
"You do these shows for the people who come up to you afterwards and say 'You reminded me of sitting in front of the TV with my parents listening to these tunes.'
"That make me feel I have some purpose to my music, evoking those memories. Because if those memories die, they're gone forever."
Tickets ($42.48) are available at peninsulaproductions.org or Showpass.
