Elvis Grey seeks market for songs

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"I went to jail, lived on 'the skid' in old cars - anything - and I did a lot of drugs. But that's a bad side of my life. I just want to focus on my music now," confessed singer Elvis Grey, who appeared on the January 24 episode of Native Nashville North this year.

The entertainer lost his eyesight when he was nine years old. "Apparently I wasn't immunized right and came down with the measles. I was taken to the Charles Camsell Hospital in Edmonton and stayed there for about 18 months recovering.

"A nurse brought a guitar in one day and that's when I got interested in music...but I didn't get serious 'til I was about 18," he said.

Grey tilted his head upward, looking as though he was pondering something amusing, and a smile formed across his weathered face. The singer let out an easy chuckle and said, "can you imagine a blind guy riding around on a bike. I mean like my friend had a 10-speed and I had one. He'd tie an oil can to his bike and let it drag around on the ground so I could hear it, and we'd just ride around Edmonton in the middle of the night.

You might think Grey, who is also partially deaf, would be hindered because of his misfortune. But it's been just the opposite, according to this 29-year-old from Whitefish, Alberta. He's hitch-hiked across Canada four times and has travelled up and down the western coast of the United States. It was on one of these trips that Grey worked as a freelance writer for a CBC affiliate in Whitehorse. His vocals are complemented by his other musical talents which include piano, guitar, drum and saxophone playing and songwriting.

"When I was 16, I went to a little part of Vancouver called 'Gastown' about two blocks from 'skid-road.' I used to play guitar down there on the streets. You know, I used to make about $20 to $30 an hour. People would drop $5 bills and change and whatever in there.

"Then in, oh...'77, I went to Whitehorse and started playing bluegrass music. A bunch of guys in bands would get together on Sunday and 'jam' all day. And, that's when I started playing music seriously...playing wise. I didn't really sing that much 'til I was 22.

"I sang before and people said I sounded good and all that, but I didn't have any confidence in myself," said Grey, who eventually gained self-confidence in Montana where he learned stage presence and how to pronounce lyrics correctly.

"For three winters I played in piano bars developing my voice. Right now, I'm just working on a Willie Nelson type of music. It's jazzed up country music, what they call three-quarter country, like Hank Williams music - the older style."

Grey sang "Knocking on Heaven's Door" and "Wine-stone Indian," a song he wrote himself, on his Native Nashville North appearance.

"Maybe the show will open up a few doors for me. I hope somebody out there in Canada will pick up my ability to write music. I've written about 20 different commercial songs - songs that can be sold easily - but I haven't gone out there and tried to sell the songs. I'd rather produce and sing them myself," said Grey.

"I sent letters to federal government agencies and to my reserve three or four times in the past four years. But I've been turned down for financial support because they all keep saying entertainment is not a business," he explained.

"So, I guess what I'm looking at is trying to get sponsorship from a big corporation or Native organization. If I can't go that way, then I'll try to do a benefit concert for myself...just more or less to get a few boys together to play, and go from there."

Grey says he is "more interested in putting a band together with some boys well trained in music."

You can reach Elvis Grey at 452-7266, or #10, 12525 - 118 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T5L 2K5.