About Me
Joel was born and raised in London, England. His mother, Beverly is a former singing and Cabaret Star, and his father was the lead vocalist in church for many years. He is the youngest of seven children. Joel has performed at venues across, London. the UK, and the USA. Joel has performed at venues in London such as "The Moonlighting" a night spot in the "west end" and he has also appeared on TV in England, and in the USA.Impressions are a big part of Joel's act. Joel has been tipped as "the best Elvis sound-a-like ever" by Kay Wheeler, former girlfriend of Elvis, and founder of the first American Elvis Presley Fan club. He has also been called, "a rising stare on the tribute scene" by Elaine Kleiner, photographer of many famous Las Vegas artists. In June 2002, Joel performed at the first ever Professional Elvis Impersonators Association (PEIA) Convention at the Lady Luck Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas Nevada. His performances on three nights were all met with
standing ovations, as he wowed the audiences with faithful renditions of songs such as 'Jailhouse Rock', If I Can Dream' and 'America The Beautiful'. Joel has the looks, the moves, the voice, the talent, all of what made Elvis the International Legend he became. Joel says of his uncanny resemblance and sound to the King;"I was watching Elvis' 1968 Comeback Special on VH1 in 1997, and I was inspired by his performance... I had already been singing since I was little,
but after seeing him, I decided that is what I want to be for all of my life, a singer.
Soon after that I practised "Its Now Or Never" and I found that I could get my voice to sound remarkably similar to Elvis!"Now, Joel has over 200 Elvis songs in his Elvis repertoire, and has perfected his tribute to the King, right down to the moves, the spiel between songs, and the facial expressions. He wears jumpsuits fit for a King, made by B&K Enterprises of Indiana. Each suit is made from the original designs, which Elvis wore.
Joel performs the young 50's Elvis, the movie years, and the 70's Las Vegas era, and has each song spot on. He says;"When I sing an Elvis song, I sing it like how he would have sang it at that time. So if I am singing "Don't Be Cruel" I will sound like Elvis did in 1956, if I am singing "Moody Blue" I will sound like how Elvis sang it in 1976...I have studied his voice"You'd think that with just this talent alone Joel would be an awesome performer. But there is more! Joel can impersonate various other legends, such as Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis... even Nat King Cole. His Dean Martin impression is also amazing. He picks up the microphone to his mouth and starts to sing "Everybody Loves Somebody" and it is like Dino were in the room!"I love Dean's singing... he's so laid back and carefree.. Its definitely a style I enjoy to perform, and I hope I am doing Dino justice when I sing his numbers"And Joel certainly does do him justice, there is no mickey taking or fun with this impression. He has Dean Martins voice down to perfection, with the slurs, the deep tones, the quavering on the notes. It is just amazing.Joel also sings many of the songs of Frank Sinatra, and does perform tributes to him."Sinatra is one of my favourite artists, along side Elvis and I bet I could give anyone a run for their money singing one of his songs"That may sound over confident coming out of the mouth of a 22 year old, but if you hear him sing "I've Got You Under My Skin" "Come Fly With Me"
or any of Sinatra's hits, you will totally agree with him."Singing is a talent, but being able to sing like someone else is another talent in itself.... There are some great singers out there who could not do impressions. It is hard work though, if you want to be good, you have to practise. Having a good voice to start with is a must. I impersonate the singers I love, the singers I listen to all the time, so I know their voices... I practise every day"Recently Joel has added a new impression to his act, that of Johnny Mathis."I'm still working on it.. I've been told it is very close though... some say "It is Mathis".The music of Nat King Cole has also had great impact on Joel, he says "I remember listening to Nat from when I was a very small child..
He has such a smooth voice and sings some of the sweetest and most romantic songs ever written"Joel sings sweetly though songs such as "When I fall In Love" "Unforgettable" and "Too Young" with the greatest of ease, and its obvious he knows them inside out."I know a lot of songs.. Its important to keep learning new songs all the time, when I am doing a show, I get requests, and I'd like to be able eventually to fill any request thrown at me, whether its a Sinatra number, a Tom Jones, Elvis.. whatever..".Joel's repertoire includes songs from so many musical styles. He can sing rock and roll, pop, swing, jazz, blues, and country, he has the type of voice that is good for all. Recently, he performed "Careless Whisper" and then sang "Unforgettable" right after. The audience were amazed that these two songs, so different in sound and style could come from the same voice. Indeed, Joel does include recent
hits in his act such as "Livin La Vida Loca", and "No Regrets". You would also be surprised to hear him belt out rock songs such as "Karma Killer" a deadly screamer from British singer Robbie Williams.When asked why he does not sing just pop or hiphop, as is the norm today he replies ;"There are enough people to sing those styles.. I mean if I wanted to, I could, but I don't want to. I know my voice, and I know what I sound good singing, and the songs I sing are what I love to sing, they are so much nicer and more full of emotion and feelings than most of what is written today.. The music is nicer too, this is real music, music that lasts and lasts"You can't argue with that.Joel's own singing voice is sweet and sincere, and he will make a name for himself with it. With a voice like his, you would think, why need to impersonate other singers, but he says;"I can do it, so I want to do it, I want people to see me singing as Elvis or Dino,
I will always want to do this, I love it".=============================In 2003 Joel performed in the show "American Impersonators" at the Sunset Station Hotel & Casino, Henderson NV, to rave reviews.Apon returning to England in 2004, Joel has continued to perform his Elvis tribute show, plus shows singing Jazz and swing music. Joel has appeared at many prestigious venues in London, including THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS, THE FOUR SEASONS HOTEL, THE RITZ HOTEL, THE HEATHROW HILTON HOTEL, SELFRIDGES, THE RAGGED SCHOOL and many other local and international shows.Joel returned to Las Vegas again in 2005 to perform on the stage at the FREEMONT STREET EXPERIENCE.In 2007, Joel made 6 appearances on BBC Television, including "WORLDS GREATEST ELVIS" (BBC1), "THE ONE SHOW" (BBC1) "STRICTLY COME DANCING - IT TAKES TWO" (BBC2) and the new years eve spectacular "THE BIG FINISH", hosted by Graham Norton on December 31st 2007.Check out this page for more info, gig listings and new songs!!
