Johnny Casino'sTribute To Elvis
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ABOUT MYSELF
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My name is John Maisonet and I live in Chateauguay, Quebec, which is a suburb just outside of the city of Montreal. I have been performing in various local musical groups over the past twenty five years or so. The bands that I have been in have been varied in that the types of music have always been very different in styles from year to year. I have played Contemporary Rock; Hard Rock; Top Forty; Easy Listening; Lounge; Nostalgia of the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, and most recently over the past few years I have been performing a Tribute to Elvis Presley. It is strange how this occured as over the years I have always included Elvis material in some way or another in all of my shows, as I have always been an Elvis fan for as long as I can remember. I grew up as a child listening to all kinds of records around the house on a daily basis so I guess it was hammered into my head from a very early age and was to turn eventually into a singing career. Out of all the performers that I grew up listening to, there was no one that impressed me more than Elvis Presley. His voice and style were something that immediately formed my basis for wanting to become a performer. It is a strange mystery of life that eventually, years later the opportunity would arise as a result of many people seeing me over the years performing Elvis material that I would be given the opportunity to put together a complete show as a "tribute to Elvis" My show consists of mainly the material from the Fifties and Sixties Elvis period, as these are my personal favorite years regarding his repertoire of recordings and performances. The main costume that I wear on stage is a precise reproduction of the gold lame suit worn made popular by Elvis. I do appreciate much of the music he released in the Sevties as well, therefore I do include material from this era as well in my show, although I do not wear the standard jump suit so familiar to many fans. Again, this is just a personal preference/choice on my part as I feel that this has become too much of a standard for many Elvis performers, and as such is no longer unique. I have always tried to be as unique as possible so as not to be compared to everyone else. Just a few of my accomplishments over the last few years are as follows: A cbc television special that was broadcast across Canada concentrating on my musical background and specifically on my Johnny Casino Tribute to Elvis act; Performing for Montreal Elvis fan club conventions; Performing in a special Elvis tribute that was part of the annual Montreal Just for Laughs festival which drew thousands of people who came out for a special Elvis presentation which was not-repeat not played for laffs, but was a special show created due to the popularity of Elvis here in Montreal; Special charity performances for organizations such as The Canadian Cancer Society. Missing Childrens, and Children's Wish organizations; Various night club appearances throughout the City of Montreal, plus many more too numerous to mention here. My personal interests are varied. I am an avid movie-goer,also a music collector in that I have over eight thousand lp records and last count approximately six hundred cd's in my collection. I am also a collector of any/all antiques involving everything, in particularly regarding music and film, from the thirties right through to present day,although I concentrate on the years of the fifties sixties and seventies. I have a wonderful collection of celebrity autographs of people I have personally met and spoken to over the years.These include Sammy Davis Jr, Burton Cummings of The Guess Who, Roger Moore of James Bond fame, Minnesota Fats the famous pool player made famous in the film "the Hustler starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason, and most recently Celine Dion and Garth Brooks. One of my proudest meetings and autographs is from DJ Fontana who played drums on all of Elvis's recording and live performaces from the fifties right up to late Sixties. I was fortunate enough to perform an Elvis show with him a couple of years ago. In future updates I will reflect on these meetings with these people in more detail. So much for a little of my background now onto why I am creating this site.
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ABOUT THIS SITE
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There are a number of reasons why I have created this site. The main reason is to create a forum for everyone out there who is an Elvis fan in that you we can contact each other by e mail and discuss all things Elvis. It can be anything that you want: The music, the films, the mystique of the legend and the man, or anything else you may want to discuss. As I have said my interests are also in anything to do with music and film in general and as such I would love to discuss these topics as well with anyone kind enough to take the time to write me. In fact, I am open to any suggestions you may have as far as topics are concerned and welcome anything that you may want to discuss with me. Be creative! Be contravertial! Be daring! Be critical! Be absolutely anything you want! The whole purpose is to have fun. I promise that anyone who drops me a line will be answered without fail as long as you ensure that your e mail address is clear and precise. Unfortunately this site only allows a certain amount of creativity in that I would love to be able to download some video and sound clips for your entertainment but it appears that in this particular site that is impossible. This is my first shot at attempting to create a page of my own and I plan in the future (once I get it all together) to create a more proper site where I can add in both video and sound clips of my past and present performances. Once I do I will let you all know as to where to find me on the web. Be patient, I'm new to this game! In the meantime I will keep everyone informed as to what I am doing in terms of performances around the City of Montreal in general. Anyone who has signed into this site as a result of my calling cards that I hand out at all of my shows, thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to sign in. Also thank you for coming out to see my shows. I can't begin to explain how much your support means to me and how much I appreciate your support. I always look forward to speaking to you all wherever and whenever it may be. You keep me going and make me always try to make each and every show just a little bit better than the last one. Looking forward to seeing you all again in the near future. So let go!!! Drop me an e mail at my address below and let's start having some fun!
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BRUSHES WITH GREATNESS
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First off, just let me say that the photo to your right is obviously a fake. Just like the majority of many of those Celebrity Nude Sites that are all over the Net these days. I just thought it would be fun to create what it might have been like to meet Elvis and be fortunate enough to have a camera at that moment. As I have mentioned already I have been very fortunate to have met and spoken to many famous entertainers over the years. Unfortunately on most of those occasions I didn't have a camera with me at the time. Of course I always had the person sign something readily available so that I had a momento of our meeting which I would add to my ever growing collection of memorabilia which I have displayed in my home playroom. The reason that this situation always occurs is that obviously these meetings are not planned and also that the majority of times they do happen it is usually at a concert where cameras are not permitted. Two exceptions to this rule were the times I met Celine Dion and Garth Brooks. In the case of Celine it was at the opening of a new chain of her restaurants which she owns across Quebec. I had a video camera at that time and my girlfriend, April was able to catch the two of us in conversation for a short while (as there were hundreds of people in attendance) I was even so bold as to put my arms around her and give her a big hug which seemed to surprise her yet she responded in a very friendly and amusing manner. She is obviously one case where being a celebrity has not changed her fun outlook on life. In the case of Garth I was lucky enough to win a radio contest where not only did I acquire great tickets but was also allowed to visit with him backstage for about a half an hour before he was to perform here in Montreal. April and I were not about to pass up that opportunity and we knew that it is a Garth tradition that he does not prohibit photographs at his concerts, so we brough a camera along with us. We got to meet his wife and kids as well,and he was the friendliest person you could ever meet. He even personally served me a beer, autographed a number of photos, gave us t shirts, programs (also autographed those) and gladly posed for a number of pictures with the two of us while someone else took the pictures. These exceptions to the rule, unfortunately do not happen often, and when they do it is definitely a bonus. Anyway, enough about "Brushes with Greatness" for now. In future updates I'll elaborate a little more on many other encounters and in a more detailed manner. Back to Elvis. Thought it would be fun to start a little poll to find out your personal favorite Elvis songs. How about e-mailing back to let me know:(1)Your favorite Fifties Rocker and Ballad.
(2)Your favorite Sixties Rocker and Ballad.
(3)Your favorite Seventies Rocker and Ballad.
(4)Your favorite Elvis Movie Song.
(5)Your favorite Elvis Film.
If I can get enough feedback I will eventually post the results in a future update. Also, as promised anyone E mailing me will automatically be replied to in appreciation for your time. Any questions you might like to ask, or topics to discuss? Drop me a line. Till then, adios!
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