This week is one of my favorite weeks of the year at work... and I'll tell you why. Every August, ASF puts on a rock n' roll show, with an incredible performer, Scot Bruce, and his back up band. This is the week they perform with us. It is the only "live mix" I do regularly, and the only show mix I don't share with my engineers - these guys are all mine.

Now that I've said this... you should know... Scot is an Elvis Tribute Artist.

Now, before you guffaw as much as I did when I first was introduced to this idea, let me say that, although Scot dresses, plays a classic leather clad Martin like the King's, and performs very much like Elvis Presley, what makes him a tribute artist as opposed to an impersonator, is that in his show he never claims to "be" Elvis, and references Elvis's original band members to his own band as parts "played by."

What makes this show among my all time favorites to mix is that Scot and his band - a four member ensemble comprised of a bassist, drummer, guitarist, and piano man - are all gifted musicians and performers in their own right. All of them are professional music makers - their time with Scot is simply a side project, because like him, they admire and enjoy the legacy of music left to us by the records, movies, and concerts of Elvis, the King of Rock n' Roll. Each time these guys perform this show - which is a tribute to Elvis's early years, Scot talks about how great the music is. He reminds those in attendance that music trends change - that what's "hot" now may or not be "hot next week, and that the newest and latest trend isn't predictable - but that the music Elvis made IS still good, and is still "cool," and will be for years to come.

And he makes a really good point. Elvis has been dead (or living with aliens or in witness protection, or in Vegas, if you prefer) for over 30 years - and yet songs he recorded and made popular, are still used in movies, commercials, played on the radio... most of the time if not an actual Elvis recording, certainly in the style he sang and made popular. No, he wasn't a song writer (which we seem to value very highly among modern artists) but what he recorded changed music - forever. As a rock junky, how can I not appreciate that...

Which is what Scot's show is really about. It is an act of appreciation - an art - of the musical legacy of Elvis Presley. Scot doesn't talk about Elvis's personal life, his money, his clothes, the controversy he caused by gyrating on public TV - just the music, and how it was created, how it has become a lasting part of our culture.

If you're anywhere near Montgomery, AL this weekend... you should come see for yourself what it's all about.