Better Elvis than dead

It's a dead good idea. Take one Elvis impersonator and get him to sing songs by other dead people. If, on paper, this sounds like just a novel twist on the whole tribute phenomenon, think again.

The Elvis in question is the Belfast singer Jim Brown (32), better known as The King; and by getting his Memphis mouth around songs by Joy Division, Tim Buckley and Nirvana, he has managed to breathe life into the sometimes moribund tribute format.

Now signed to EMI, Jim has brought out an album of his "Elvis sings other dead people's songs" which is tastefully called Gravelands. Apart from the broad range of artists covered - Lynard Skynard to Frank Sinatra to AC/ DC - what shines through is Jim's magnificent sound-a-like voice.

"It's really strange how it all started," says the Belfast father of five, "but we were out one night in a pub where there was live entertainment and my auntie put my name down to sing a song. I was terrified, but the man who ran the place liked my version of Elvis songs and invited me back. "One night I was doing a version of Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry the way I imagined Elvis would have sung it - and the whole idea of doing other dead artists just started from there."

As he got bigger and better at what he did, he acquired a whole repertoire of songs and soon found himself in demand as a cult party guest, singing at music industry gigs in Ireland and Britain. A small indie label brought out the Gravelands album, and it was played to death by DJs like John Peel, Bob Geldof and Chris Evans. "It went from me doing industry Christmas parties to appearing on Chris Evans's televison show very quickly," says Jim. "It all got a bit scary when I found myself playing concerts in Moscow and being invited to perform for Tony Blair at the Labour Party's annual conference. I'm still really shocked by it all. I've actually only taken a year-long sabbatical from my real job, which is working in a post office in Belfast," he says. With a second album, Gravelands II (Return To Splendour) due out in the new year, Jim says the songs work because "there is nothing tacky about the cover versions. I have a lot of respect for songs I do. "I just heard recently that one of the guys from AC/DC heard my version of Whole Lotta Rosie and he said that he thought it would be really bad, but when he heard the song he absolutely loved it. And that's the sort of reaction I'm getting everywhere."

Managed by "Bap" Kennedy, who used to sing with the Northern band Energy Orchard, The King is picking up the sort of reviews not normally associated with the tribute genre. It's not just that he chooses some decidedly unobvious songs to cover (like All Or Nothing by The Faces, and Blockbuster by The Sweet), it's the sheer performance of the material that wins out.

Basically, he's not doing it for a joke - he's serious about Elvis and he's serious about how Elvis would cover these songs. "These songs are from the heart; they're a celebration of rock'n'roll's greatest dead."

The album Gravelands is out now. The King plays the Olympia Theatre, Dublin on Saturday.