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BACKGROUND
When vocalist Steve Chappell was approached by an Augusta, Georgia club owner to front the house band in 1992, he vowed to “never play country. When we were growing up, country wasn’t the ‘happening thing,’” he explains. “It was crying, beer drinking, fist-fighting music.” He accepted the gig under the condition that he would “start with country and if that didn’t work, we could play what we wanted.” Crowds responded instantly to Steve’s delivery, however, and he quickly became the area’s premier country singer.
Growing up in a military family, Steve spent childhood years in Germany, where he remembers watching Elvis movies. Pretty soon, he was emulating his hero, but never with professional goals. Only years later did he take his talent to the stage. “I never sang in a club until a colleague in Augusta was playing in a place called The Carriage House, and I walked up and did ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love,’” he remembers. “Singing had never been my ambition; it was just something that laid back on the fire. It was nice to think about, but I was scared. To this day, I still freeze sometimes because you never know - the entire night depends on how that first song goes.”
Steve has little to worry about. Wherever he performs, the room is packed, and he is the first to admit that talent is only part of the equation. “We are very fortunate,” he observes. “For any band to make it work, the key is: don’t let your audience get bored. Keep them excited, and don’t give them reason to leave by taking long breaks or having empty time on stage. If something doesn’t work, change it! We’re lucky to be able to read our audience when they walk in, and we can suddenly go from country to beach music.”
He also assembles his musicians under strict guidelines, stressing, “I want 100 percent. I don’t allow excessive drinking or any drugs whatsoever. I won’t put up with it. We’re making a living like anyone else. If you take it seriously, you don’t want anything around that makes you look bad.”
Working in nightclubs can be equal parts agony and ecstasy, thanks to the ratio of enthusiastic fans to patrons carrying on conversations and omitting applause as the house band becomes wallpaper to their social activities. According to Steve, this is the sure sign of a problem. “You’ve got to keep on going,” he cautions, “but figure out what you're NOT communicating. Stage presence has a lot to do with it. If you sound good, but are boring, it won’t work. But if you're not the greatest sounding, yet have an exciting show, it gets the crowd going. It’s a visual thing. Again, you’ve got to be able to change your sound according to the crowd. The biggest mistake you can make is to consider it a job. Once you’re there to make your money and go home without getting involved in what you're doing, you’re over. Have fun, entertain, or you’ll never make it.”
THE ELVIS CONNECTION
Growing up an “Elvis addict,” Steve Chappell has seen all the movies and heard all the songs. Over the years, he honed the techniques into an Elvis tribute that won him World Championship 1994 in Memphis at the only Elvis impressionist contest sanctioned and approved by Graceland. But it takes more than talent and a flashy white jumpsuit to be crowned King of Kings.
Steve says “humility, patience, kindness and respect” are the Presley qualities he most strives for. Unquestionably, he has mastered all four. These, coupled with vocal prowess and stage presence, are what earn him fans coast to coast. Between local January and August shows commemorating Presley’s birth and death, and engagements from Las Vegas to Atlantic City, Steve books 30-plus annual Elvis shows that draw sold-out crowds.
He was introduced to Presley’s music by his uncle, Jerry Chappell, and on his sixth birthday, received the “Girls Girls Girls” album from his mother. “The voice appealed to me,” he recalls. “It was all I ever heard. I didn’t know anything existed but Elvis and The Rolling Stones.” Alabama childhood memories include “sitting on Uncle Jerry’s porch - my parents, William and Ruth - the whole family, listening to Elvis.
“Even today, when you put on his records, it’s so different. It just gets to you. As I got older, I watched things change: his lifestyle, marriage, divorce, girlfriends, personal problems. When he took some years off, making movies and not touring, then came back with the 1968 special, it gripped everyone and got things rolling again.
“When Elvis first came along, he was considered risque in a time when you didn’t even think about kissing in public! There were Sinatra, Bing Crosby, then along comes a white boy singing R&B. He had charisma and it’s amazing that he gets bigger and bigger; young people continue discovering him. If a man can remain a star 20 years after his death, there's got to be something.”
Steve’s award-winning presentation focuses on the Vegas years. He appears in any of four custom-made outfits ranging from $1300-$3500. He is not, he stresses, an Elvis impersonator. “That is why I don’t wear wigs, sideburns, or black hair. My show is for music and memories, not to make fun of somebody’s looks. I don’t do it for money, to pick up women, or for popularity. There is no need to do something if it’s not wanted. I do it because the public asks.” He receives daily mail from admirers across the U.S., has appeared on European television, and released a “Memories Of Elvis” album on sale at the shows.
Steve’s philosophy for any endeavor is simply “Do the best you can.” He never envisioned a Worldwide Championship; as a finalist, he guessed he and the runner-up had simply been overlooked for contestant plaques and had to regain composure in order to claim his trophy. Of local and national adulation, he remarks with characteristic modesty, “I don't think I’m near as good as the fans make me out to be.”
With fame, even on a local level, the unassuming, affable singer has a healthy grasp on the trappings of show business and never loses touch with his roots. “By no means am I at the top,” he insists, “but I understand why those who are often feel isolated. No matter how popular you get, without real friends, the rest means nothing. Otherwise, you're going to be lonely. I've had people excited seeing me in public - me, the guy who sings in local clubs!
“Don’t get me wrong - I love what I do and the fans who support me, but thinking you're at the top and treating people like you are simply does not work.”
THE 1996 ATLANTA GAMES
When ACOG contacted Steve Chappell, he “thought it was a joke until they kept calling!” He was chosen to perform two week-long engagements in Atlanta (July, 1996) as part of the Southern Crossroads program of the Olympic Arts Festival, a special celebration of Southern music and culture. Located in the heart of downtown Atlanta, the outdoor fest spanned six acres in Centennial Olympic Park, featuring food, music, dance, a marketplace and hundreds of artists and performers from the 12-state region. Daily attendance was estimated at 400,000.
Steve guessed that ACOG found him through the international Elvis championship. He performed a total of five Elvis shows and ten country shows throughout the Olympic festivities, and was, of course, very excited.
As usual, the vocalist was humbled by his accomplishments. “Did I apply?” he seemed incredulous about the question. “Why would I even think about applying to perform at the Olympics? That’s just something that doesn't happen! I don’t see how anything could ever possibly outdo this. It’s an opportunity that takes place only once in a lifetime.”
--Steve Chappell’s biography and interviews by freelance
writer Elaine Hall
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS STEVE CHAPPELL?
Looking for Steve? Here are a few places to try!
Every year, he performs at the April Redbreast Festival in Midville, Georgia. Likewise, he is the featured entertainer at the Cutting Horse Futurity in Augusta, Georgia and Barrel Horse Races in Augusta and Memphis, Tennessee.
In May, 1998, he spent a week in Las Vegas playing at Sam’s Town Casino, and was booked for several Sundays at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. In August, he will perform at the World Championship Images Of Elvis, held at the Four Points Sheraton in Memphis. In October, he returns to Las Vegas for four dates at The Riviera Casino.
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