From the Pine City Pioneer, September 18th, 1997

It'a a long way from Beroun, MN to Memphis, TN and Graceland, the mansion where "The King" lived.  But you don't have to make that trip again. Kevin Luedtke grew up in Beroun and he was only nine years old on Aug. 16, 1977, when Elvis Presley died. Uncannily, he and Elvis had something in common, the same voice. If you hear Kevin talk or sing any of the approximately 429 Elvis songs he knows, you would swear you were listening to the legendary singer himself.

"You sound just like Elvis Presley!" People have been telling Kevin that since he was a young kid. Now, at age 29, if you ask Kevin what he does for a living, you'll hear about Luedtke's rather unusual occupation.  "I'm Elvis," he says "on the weekends. That's what I do for a living."  As an Elvis impersonator Kevin is now finding enough engagements to keep him going, and he was able to quit his full-time job in Security at the Public Safety Department of Rosedale Center last May.

It's a lot of work being Elvis Presley every weekend. It calls for much preparation, rehearsing and researching.  Kevin's parents are Dick and Carol Luedtke. They ran Luedtke's Tavern in Beroun for many years and all four Luedtke kids, Greg, Scott, Lyn and the youngest Kevin, were raised in "downtown" Beroun. The tavern is still in the family, in fact, with Lyn (Anderson) as owner.  Upstairs from the tavern is where Kevin first heard Elvis singing on record albums both his mother and sister played. It's where he actually saw Elvis for the first time, on television.  "I remember seeing this guy with about 300 women around him," laughed Kevin, "and thinking 'I'm going to be like that someday."

Kevin displayed musical talent at a young age. Singing around the house and at school, where he says he "was always singing Elvis songs," as well as songs by other favorite recording artists.  But that was as far as it went for quite some time. Kevin graduated from Pine City High School in 1986 and spent the next four years as a U.S. Marine. He was part of the detachment that traveled around the world on an aircraft carrier to guard nuclear weapons. He's been to Turkey, Greece, Israel, Egypt, Spain, Italy, France, Cuba, South America, Jamaica and the Virgin Islands to name a few.

After being discharged, he took the job at Rosedale Center and he stayed with that for six years. Every once in awhile, he would do his Elvis impersonation at a wedding dance, class reunion or the like and then about three or four years ago, Luedtke started making money through his appearances. Since then, he has performed at the State Fair, done radio voice-overs, TV commercials (like the one for Great Clips) and TV interviews, all in his Elvis mode. Today, he has an agent and is on the roster of Celebrity look-alikes, a Minnesota based agency. He performs at social functions like birthday parties (some of them with a "surprise guest" who creates quite a stir when he enters the room in full Presley regalia), banquets and corporate parties. He has been "all over the Twin Cities" and as far away as Wisconsin Dells, performing in various establishments and he also puts on local appearances. Probably his most faithful fans are his parents, who try to make it wherever he is performing.

He sounds so much like Elvis that people think he's lip-synching. No Way! That's Kevin singing. He will do from a half-hour-to a full two-hour performance, complete with several costume changes. He not only sounds like Elvis, but he looks like him too, with his natural black hair swept back in true Elvis fashion, his sideburns, and his outfits, black gabardine with fringe, gold lame fleck and jeweled insets, the flared legs, the shades, capes, the gold lame jacket with the crushed velvet shirt and of course, the black, zip-up leather boots.

"It takes a lot of attention to detail," said Kevin. "I have listened to every possible combination of Elvis music and concert videos... studied his mannerisms... the walk, the smile, the eyes, the way the fingers move."   "When I am onstage," he continued, "I AM Elvis. But when the show's over, I'm just me again. I have no problem confusing the two. It's exciting and fun to perform, but it's just an illusion."

It's also a whole lot of work, requiring amazing stamina and coordination. Elvis Presley recorded 429 songs. Kevin feels comfortable performing between 22-30 songs per hour show. The song list for each show is different and preparation time for each show totals six or more hours. Plus Kevin is always working on new numbers, always trying to improve and keeps looking for "ways to make it better."

I couldn't do it without my right hand man, my sound technician and manager Steve Ouradnik," explained Kevin. "We grew up together. He also gets me a lot of the shows, along with my agent. He does all the legwork, sets everything up, and determines the timing. All I have to do is show up and sing."

Steve is the son of Bob and Sonja Ouradnik of Beroun. He lives in Forest Lake and also works as a full-time electrician.  Another longtime friend of Kevin's, John Myers, has a lot of input into the endeavor, too, sitting in on rehearsals and videotaping performances.

Kevin starts each show with "C.C. Rider" and ends with "Can't Help Falling in Love" just like Elvis did. In between, audiences are treated to some of the early rock n' roll like: "Hound Do" "Heartbreak Hotel" "Don't be Cruel," "King Creole," then maybe a rendition of other favorites like "Suspicious Minds," "Treat me Like a Fool," or "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" He moves on to some of the gospel tunes recorded by Elvis in the 70's. Kevin's personal favorite is "An American Trilogy" and it's a showstopper.  "When the audience gets into it," he said, "That makes it fun. I love people and I love making them happy. I am creating an illusion that makes the legend of Elvis live on."  "If I can make people smile and feel good for one moment, that's the best payment I could receive."

And people do feel good. They do have fun. If Kevin just sort of, kind of, sounded and looked like Elvis Presley, it wouldn't work. But no, this is as close to the real thing as anyone's going to experience 20 years after Presley's death.

Kevin, who is single and has an eight year old daughter, Ashley, plans on going with the flow as long as people enjoy what he does.  "I'm going to do it till it stops being fun," he said.

[Note: Much has been happening in Kevin's life and the "Tribute to Elvis" performance since this article was printed. Contact a representative to get updates about performances.]