Harrodsburg resident idolizes, impersonates Elvis

By JENNIFER BRUMMETT

Jason Paul Sester was only about a year old when The King himself, Elvis Presley, died in 1977. But that hasn't kept the Harrodsburg resident from idolizing this legend from a previous era. "I've always admired Elvis," says Sester. "I learned his music - I learned it from when I was a kid on up. I learned how to sing like him, learned the movements, the dances, the vocals. When I was a kid, I always liked Elvis. My adopted mom liked Elvis and encouraged me to live my dream, my goals, and do what I like to do in life. I'd listen to Elvis on the radio - I'd always change it to the oldies station. "When I got up into it more, I started carrying a torch more and following the dreams and goals he'd be proud of me doing."

The performer, who has been an Elvis impersonator for 9 years, learned each key of each song in Elvis' repertoire, and watched his movies and concert appearances when Elvis was in specials on television.

"I thought to myself, 'I'd like to be like him when I get older.'" "Hound Dog" is his favorite Elvis song, "due to the fact that he pointed toward the dog on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1950."

"He was singing to a basset hound," Sester explains. "He had a hat on him. "I also would say there's a bunch of love songs I admired that Elvis sung.

'Love Me Tender' - I like that song pretty well, too." He says Elvis was one of the best, "the one who is the King of Rock and Roll." "Elvis is very, very popular," Sester adds.

"Elvis is a popular idol because he had a great career when he first started out." "A tribute to Elvis" being held this weekend Sester is the main attraction of "A tribute to Elvis," which will be Friday and Saturday nights in Harrodsburg.

The event is produced by Elvis Inc., Sester's business with which he just celebrated a one-year anniversary. He's done some parades and festivals in the central Kentucky area, Sester says, in Washington and Marion counties. He also was in the Lexington Christmas parade last year. Proceeds from this weekend's concerts will go toward an Elvis Memory Theater Sester is working on, which he hopes to establish in Harrodsburg or Lebanon.

The theater will have Elvis memorabilia and souvenirs, concessions and performances, and tickets will be sold for admission. It will be modeled after a similar theater in Pigeon Forge, Sester says.

"The goal is to keep Elvis' dream alive, to follow his dream so that he would be proud," he explains. "The theater itself is going to (hold) 200 to 300 people to start off, and it will be doing nightly performances of Elvis and his career through life.

"Some of my friends are helping me with that," Sester adds. "They're impersonators. My best friend is another Elvis impersonator. ... A couple of friends of mine are doing other legends of rock and roll, like Jerry Lee Lewis and some of the greatest oldies. Fats Domino. We'll have people who are qualified to do this.

And we will have a few country legends. Not many. But I've got a George Jones impersonator. There will be a few."

The Elvis performances will follow The King's life from his early days on up into his later career. "A lot of Elvis fans should love to come and see this, people who couldn't see him when he was around," Sester notes.

(Almost Elvis, Source: The Advocate-Messenger, 10 Feb 2005)