Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada
September 1, 2001

I'm back at the Bonanza Gold Motel and RV Park. It's become my second home and all because of Gail,the owner, and her sister Lee, who've adopted me. They've set me up with the same bunkroom I stayed in last before I went north to Inuvik, and as it's raining hard outside, I'm grateful to not be camping.

Well, not many can say that they saw Elvis in the Yukon. And now I can. Tagish Elvis, from Tagish, Yukon. I saw his tapes and CDs for sale in a Dawson City gas station four years ago. I'd just missed an event that they still talk about-- Tagish Elvis played an impromptu concert in the parking lot of that very same gas station at the request of a little girl. The station owner recalled the experience quite fondly, mentioning that the man had legally changed his real name to Elvis.

He's currently on a five-city, five-day tour. A documentary film crew is making a movie about him. They made a special stop here at the Bonanza Gold before the concert and I spoke with him about his life. We sat on facing couches in the lobby, surrounded by two cameramen and a few friends.

He told me about how he and his then girlfriend were abducted by a UFO several years ago. During the experience he saw a vision of Elvis Presley on stage, and felt himself merging with that man. Shortly thereafter, he legally changed his name to Elvis and started performing around the Yukon, releasing numerous CDs. Some of the songs are originals, and every distributor in town has sold out of his music. Gail gave me a bumper sticker left over from his last tour. It says: I Saw Elvis Presley in the Yukon, But Not the UFO.

After our meeting, Gail, Lee and I went to see his show at Dawson City's own Snake Pit ("The Pit") bar and lounge. The place was at over-capacity, and we joined the crowd outside. Women from their early twenties to late sixties were chanting his name, eager for the show to start. And no one seemed to care that Elvis had a Canadian accent.

We stayed for several songs, peeking through the curtained windows, trying to see the man with the legendary voice. Tagish Elvis sang love songs to us that night, melodies that curled around the room then slipped outside beyond the smoky lights of the bar to those of us waiting silently for him in the darkness.