ETA Garry Wesley and Elaine Wesley as Patsy Cline
It was such a pleasure seeing ward-winning ETA Garry Wesley in concert twice this year. In May, I saw Garry for the first time at East Plains United Church in Burlington, ON. If you read the write-up I posted about the May show, you will know that the circumstances that led me to the first show are rather interesting. To briefly recap: Months earlier, in ETA Donny Edward’s interview that I was preparing for Spotlight On (posted June 27th), Donny mentioned that ETA Garry Wesley mentored him early in his career. When Frances, a SB Mag friend and ETA fan, told me she had tickets to see Garry Wesley at a church in Burlington, I was astounded by the coincidence. It seemed unfathomable that an ETA from Wisconsin with a connection to an ETA in Las Vegas, whom I had recently interviewed, should be appearing local church in Burlington, Ontario!
Elaine Wesley, Harmony United Church, Brantford, ON, August 26, 2019
It was a great show at East Plains United Church, and I was extremely happy to hear that Garry was returning to Ontario for an extended summer tour. I was equally happy when I was able to offer a lucky fan a prize package of two tickets, a DVD, and a CD to one of Garry’s shows, through the generosity of Garry Wesley and his Ontario agent, Nigel Husing.
On August 26th, I travelled to Brantford to see Garry’s show and meet with our winners, Ozzie and Dorine from Cambridge, ON. For the August run of shows, Garry was joined by his wife, Elaine, who is a Patsy Cline tribute artist. As a Patsy Cline fan, I was looking forward to hearing Elaine sing my favourite PC songs. I was also looking forward to meeting Elaine, whom I knew only through Facebook messages, in person. Both Lori-Anne and I were surprised to find Elaine waiting at the door as we entered. Off stage and on stage, the talented Mrs. Wesley is charming, warm and friendly.
Elaine’s performance gave me chills. With each song about love lost (“I Fall to Pieces”) and love found (“Back in Baby’s Arms”), Elaine took me back to the days when I played Patsy Cline tapes over and over on my cassette player.
Throughout her performance, Elaine told wonderful stories about her time singing with the Jordanaires; and she shared the highlights of Patsy Cline’s short, but stellar, career. Elaine said that she had the option of performing tributes to other artists—Connie Francis, Loretta Lynn, June Carter, for example; but Patsy Cline stood out among the others. Elaine relayed the story of how Loretta Lynn at age 14 contacted Patsy Cline after Pasty was in a serious car accident and said she would sing for Patsy on radio that night. In memory of that broadcast, Elaine sang the hauntingly beautiful “She’s Got You.”
Irene Lobsinger, SB Mag follower, and her friends.
Elaine, who worked for seven years in Nashville and thirty-one in Memphis, introduced the Patsy Cline/Jim Reeves song “Have You Ever Been Lonely” by reminiscing about her mom playing the song as she did the dishes. Recalling the first time she ever danced, at age four with her dad, Elaine dedicated “Tennessee Waltz” in memory of her dad and to all dads.
As a final tribute to Patsy, who left us too soon in her 31st year in a tragic plane crash, Elaine ended her performance by singing with “Crazy”.
Della, Carolyn, and Sandra.
During intermission, I had the opportunity to say hi to SB Mag’s followers and friends. It warmed my heart to see so many familiar faces. Irene brought along some friends and her cousin, Della. Sandra, whom we know from many ETA shows, was there to enjoy the show with her cousin, Bonnie. Our prize winners, Ozzie and Dorine Bertin, came to see the show and receive their CD and DVD, plus purchase more of Garry’s DVDs, CDs, and 8 x 10s. The church volunteers offered ice cream bars and light refreshments for very reasonable prices, and also sold tickets for a 50/50 draw. Little homey touches such as this are appreciated very much by an audience, and as one fan said in her message, “That’s what I like about smaller shows like at the church…more fun and personal!” I couldn’t agree more.
Reverend Robert Lawson and volunteers.
I missed seeing Nigel Husing, Garry’s booking agent in Ontario; but I had the pleasure of meeting Diane Gordon Markell and Bill Watson, who, in his words, is Garry and Elaine’s chauffeur for their Ontario tour. Bill first met Garry 12 years ago through his distant relative Bernie Jessome who was a Roy Orbison tribute artist who was working with Garry in a tribute show. Bill and Diane have been travelling to Wisconsin for the past four years to see Garry’s Elvis Fest Jamboree. Of special interest to SB Mag readers, ETA Ron Tutor Jr., from Illinois, won the title of Grand Champion at the 2019 Elvis Fest Jamboree. Ron was featured in Focus On in SIDEBURNS Magazine, September 22nd, 2018.
Contest winner, Ozzie Bertin, Elaine Wesley, ETA Garry Wesley, and Dorine Bertin at Harmony United Church, Brantford, ON, August 26th, 2019.
After intermission, award-winning ETA Garry Wesley hit the stage wearing a dazzling white fringed jumpsuit. Performing songs from the concert years, starting with “CC Rider” and “Burning Love”, Garry honoured the King of Rock ‘n’ Rock with every movement and note. Asking if there were any Beatles fans (“Wrong show!”), Garry superbly sang George Harrison’s “Something”. Reminding us that Elvis considered “You Gave me a Mountain” as a gospel song (perhaps because it is sometimes credited as “Lord, You Gave me a Mountain”), Garry’s singing of the classic song earned a hearty round of applause. As with the East Plains United Church show, the Harmony United Church audience, which was mostly church members who were there to support the church event and not specifically Elvis fans, was starting to really enjoy themselves. You can always spot the dedicated Elvis and ETA fans at church shows because they are the ones who will shout out titles of songs they want the ETA to sing, and they know when to participate in songs like “Sweet Caroline”and “Stop, Look, and Listen”. They also have no qualms about getting up to dance if the music moves them. Whatever the mix people or their reason for being there, this palpable shift in an audience’s response at church shows is my favourite part of the evening. It is the moment the entire audience “gets into” the show.
Leaving the stage to hand out teddy bears during “Teddy Bear/Don’t Be Cruel”, Garry made lucky ladies like Joyce, who is pictured in the photo holding her bear, feel very special and happy.
Back on stage, Garry paused to take a drink and joked with the audience about what was in the bottle. Someone in the audience shouted, “Moonshine.” Garry quipped that if he was drinking anything but water, he would be doing Dean Martin and wearing a black suit…lol. With that said, Garry wowed the audience with “Johnny B Goode”. After the song, which received rousing applause, Garry told the audience that he still has some trepidation about performing rock and roll songs in his Elvis tributes held in churches.
When Garry was just starting out on his ETA path as a teenager, he was invited by his friend to her church so he could practice on the piano in the church basement. Garry was learning to play “I Can’t Help Falling in Love”, when his friend took over the keys and pounded out “Tooty Fruity”. Within two minutes, the pastor appeared at the door and adamantly announced, “That stuff does not play in church!” From that moment onward, Garry always felt hesitant about playing rock music in church…until he made his first appearance at Uxbridge Trinity United Church a few years ago. Still scared to pay rock and roll in his church shows, the Reverend at Trinity United church said, “Go for it!” And at his Harmony United Church show, and at all of his United Church shows in Ontario, Garry did go for it, singing some of Elvis’s greatest rock and roll songs. As Reverend Robert Lawson, minister at Harmony United Church aptly stated, “Elvis is making money for churches one hip swivel at a time!”
Garry’s set also included “In the Ghetto” and “Why me, Lord”, which touched many hearts, and “How Great Thou Are” that brought audience members to their feet.
SB Mag follower, Susan Hughes, whose two passions are Elvis and horses, was at an earlier Garry Wesley show, but missed getting a scarf. Susan has a room in her home where she displays her horse memorabilia and her ETA scarves. She has almost every colour of scarf, except for purple, and pink, which is her favourite colour. On August 30th at the Uxbridge Trinity United Church show, in the company of her grandson, Wyatt, who knows all of Elvis’s songs, Susan received a lovely pink scarf. At the Harmony United Church show, another happy recipient of a scarf, this time in blue, was our friend Sandra. It was her first ever ETA scarf! On the same night, Bernice was presented with a red scarf. Thank you, Garry, for making my SB Mag friends and ETA fans very happy!
Perhaps one of the most difficult songs for an ETA to sing—so difficult, that some ETAs leave it out of their shows, is the song “Hurt”. Garry sang the song with such power and conviction that appreciative audience members cheered.
Nearing the end of his splendid set, Garry dedicated “Don’t Stop Loving Me” to Elaine. Garry and Elaine, who celebrated their 31st anniversary on August 20th, closed the show with a duet. Garry thanked the audience for making them feel so welcome, and gave a special nod to conductor and musician, Julian Warme, for looking after the music for the show.
After their show, Garry and Elaine spent a generous amount of time chatting, signing autographs, and taking photos with fans and friends. It was a great ending to a wonderful evening of entertainment.
“It was excellent!” (Sandra)
On behalf of everyone who had the pleasure of seeing your Ontario shows, thank you, Garry and Elaine Wesley, for sharing your love of performing with all of us. We looked forward to your return. Love from your fans, friends, and family at SIDEBURNS Magazine. C.M.
Photo Album
(Photo Credits: Lori-Anne Crewe, Bill Watson, Garry and Elaine Wesley, Susan Hughes, and Carolyn MacArthur).
“It was excellent!” (Sandra)
On behalf of everyone who had the pleasure of seeing your Ontario shows, thank you, Garry and Elaine Wesley, for sharing your love of performing with all of us. We looked forward to your return. Love from your fans, friends, and family at SIDEBURNS Magazine. C.M.