BIG INTERVIEW: Elio Pace presents Elvis Presley at the Brewhouse in Taunton

His love of music started when he was nine and listened to his very first LP Elvis in Concert.

A love affair with music and Elvis began and the flames have been burning ever since, never diminishing merely getting brighter and brighter.

The singer said: “I have never stopped being nine-years-old and the connection between me now (50-years-old) and me when I was nine-years-old has never gone away.”

In 2017, Elio did two performances of Elio Pace presents Elvis Presley. He did one show at the Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton on August 17, the first being at The Capitol in Horsham on August 16.

He combined his love of music and Elvis together in one show.

This one off or two shows as it turned out, has in 2018 metamorphosed into a tour of the UK-Part of Elio’s dream came true.

Thinking about his childhood and dreams for the future Elvis said: “When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer.

"I read comic books, and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies, and I was the hero in the movie.

"So every dream I ever dreamed has come true a hundred times.

"I learnt very early in life that without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain’t got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend - without a song. So I keep singing a song. Goodnight. Thank you.”

Thanks to LPs, cassettes, CD’s and downloads it has keep Elvis singing and his songs were the spark which turned Elio Pace into a singer, performer and a musician.

Elio said: “It (Elvis in Concert) was the first proper album I ever had. It was a recording of his very last concert in June 1977, as two months later he was dead.

“I loved the power of his voice, I loved the songs as they are so ingrained in my DNA.

"This show for me is like going back to being a nine-year-old who listened to the band, the power of the harmonies and the music.

"There was his voice, his accent and the songs he chose to sing which were rock ‘n’ roll, country, gospel and blues.

"All these genres are there on the album.

"What you are asking me is difficult as you are asking me now but having to think about what that nine-year-old thought.

“The sound of it was exciting and this excitement was what I wanted to achieve when I became a performer and there is nothing like stepping out in front of people who have paid to come and see you.

"There is a real privilege being on stage, there is a buzz and all that has come to me thanks to Elvis Presley. For me, without putting any sugar on the words there is a fundamental joy to what it means to be a performer.”

This performer in Elio will come to the fore when he appears at the Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton at 7.30pm on Friday, July 13.

Through his career, Elvis recorded 483 songs and both Elio and Matt Daniel-Baker had to shift through the ones which are in the show and which are not.

The only criteria for songs which made the cut were Elio had to have a connection to each and every song. There are two which mean more to him than most.

These are Way Down and Such a Night.

He said: “Way Down was my first Elvis single. I did a swap with my friend to get it.

I swapped it for gloves in the playground with him for this 45rpm single. I played it and played it and still have it to this day.

"The other song Such a Night resulted in me hearing my name on the radio for the very first time.

"My parents has written into Junior Choice and Tony Blackburn who was presenting the show read out the request and I heard my name and this song.

"In 2010, I played and sung Such a Night in Hyde Park for a special Elvis Presley concert and standing in the wings were Priscilla Presley on one side and the other Tom Jones.”

There are what fans see as the different ages of Elvis, where you might like 1950s Elvis more than 1960s movie Elvis or 1970’s Elvis in his white jump suit period.

Elio laughed and said he had been trying to work out the answer since he was nine years old and now he is 50, a total of 41 years thinking.

Tickets for Elio Pace presents Elvis Presley cost £23.50 and £25.50.

Buy online at thebrewhouse.net or call the box office 01823 283244.