OXFORD, Mass. – Monday would have been Elvis Presley’s 89th birthday, and while people haven’t been able to watch the "King of Rock and Roll" perform in decades, the spirit of his music lives on through a local musician making a name for himself as New England Elvis.

Dan Fontaine grew up in Worcester, spending his Sundays at Hillcrest Church in Oxford, where his father has been a pastor since 1999.

In a sit-down interview with Spectrum News 1 at Hillcrest Church on Presley’s birthday, Fontaine credited it for providing the spark that would eventually ignite his career as a tribute artist.

“I started singing here when I was 16 years old,” Fontaine recalled. “I remember that my dad had a cold, and I was like ‘Well, do you want me to back you up and do some singing?’ So I did. And that was literally the start of me even knowing I could sing.”

Fontaine was raised listening to the music of Presley, so once he got his singing chops, covering Elvis songs came naturally. And so did the rest.

“I just thought he was the coolest guy ever,” Fontaine said. “He became almost a pattern or a template for myself on how to do anything, you know? ‘How do you dress? Elvis. How do you talk to girls? Elvis. How do you how do you do your hair? Elvis.'”

About a decade ago, in Fontaine’s early days performing Elvis songs, he played with a band called "Fellowship of the King," but it wasn’t quite the spectacle he’s managed to develop in the years since.

“It wasn’t a full on, authentic Elvis Presley tribute. It was a cover band,” Fontaine said. “We were playing Elvis music, but we weren’t paying tribute to Elvis… I didn’t have the clothes. I wasn’t dressing up like him. It was just playing the music and introducing it to an audience.”

It wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that Fontaine began to discover the expansive world of Elvis tribute artists. With so much spare time at home during the lockdown, he watched videos of Elvis festivals, competitions and other tributes, and had a realization.

“This is something I could do,” Fontaine said. “I was pretty overweight at the time, so I actually lost a lot of weight because I wanted to do Elvis respectfully. I started buying all the replica clothing and the suits he would wear… That’s when I considered going at this professionally.”

For the past few years, Fontaine has been touring across New England with the Memphis Sun Mafia Band, a group Fontaine praises as some of the most talented musicians and singers in the region.

On Saturday night, he played a sold-out show at Samuel Slater’s Restaurant in Webster, performing for two hours as the first flakes from last weekend’s snowstorm began to fall outside.

“People still came out, and it was a wonderful night and really fantastic,” Fontaine said.

Throughout the show, Fontaine balanced singing, dancing and guitar-strumming with handshakes, pictures and hugs with his fans, including some who had traveled to see him dozens of times already.

Fontaine compared the spectacle to professional wrestling, which he’s been a fan of since his youth.

“In the same way pro wrestling is a show, when it’s good, people suspend their disbelief and buy into it just like a movie or anything else,” Fontaine said. “And it’s very similar with our show under the right circumstances. It’s this wonderful bit of pretend and make believe that happens.”

When he isn’t playing for larger crowds with the Memphis Sun Mafia Band, Fontaine has managed to make Elvis his full-time job by performing solo at retirement homes and communities throughout Massachusetts.

“The joy on their faces and what they get out of it, it makes me feel really good. And it’s a great way to give back,” Fontaine said.

In the wake of 2022's box office hit "Elvis," a film starring Austin Butler which chronicles the King of Rock and Roll’s life from early success to early death, Fontaine has also noticed a younger crowd taking interest in his performances.

“Sometimes, you get a chance to ask them after the show, ‘How did you start listening?’ Fontaine said. “They say ‘I saw the movie and it was fantastic, and then I went and listened to all his albums.’ So the movie did have a drastic effect on the culture today, knowing who Elvis was, why he’s important, and what he represents to popular music.”

Fontaine, who was born a decade after Elvis died, is grateful others who weren’t around for his career are also taking an interest in his music.

He’s always had high regard for the impact of Elvis and other artists who rose to prominence in the Memphis area during that time, including Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison.

“All of those guys and that period in Memphis, it’s like they literally changed the world,” Fontaine said. “I think it’s important that we don’t forget that, and tribute bands, when they’re done correctly and authentically, can be a good way to remind people and make new fans of other people.”

If you’d like to see Fontaine and the Memphis Sun Mafia Band in concert, there is an upcoming show scheduled at the BrickBox Theater in Worcester on Sunday, Jan. 14. For more information, visit Fontaine’s official website.