If you saw Chris Shupe walking down the street, you probably wouldn’t think anything of it. Middle-aged guy, wife and kids, works in real estate . but underneath his business casual attire there lies patiently waiting polyester and sequins. Lots of sequins.

Shupe holds the proud title of Athens’ own Elvis tribute artist. He wears the outfits, he does the moves, he sings the songs. He’s got muttonchops that Mr. Presley himself couldn’t snarl at. By day, he is Chris Shupe. but by night, he calls himself the Athens King.

Shupe has been seriously performing at parties, clubs, store-openings and anywhere that needs a little swagger for the past six years. But his tribute performances and his passion for Elvis have been life-long affairs.

Shupe’s first introduction to Elvis was through his grandmother. Gospel music was a favorite of Shupe’s early on.

“[My grandmother] said if I liked that sound there was ‘another guy’ I might like,” Shupe said.

It was all the things that made Elvis the original rock star that drew Shupe in so early.

“I saw all these cool suits, the cars, the mansion… I mean, for a 10-year-old kid, Elvis was kind of like a real-life super hero,” Shupe said.

And therein lay the beginnings of Shupe’s alternate identity. Shupe has been paying tribute to the King by carrying on his show since he was 10 years old.

“I mean I truly believe that Elvis was the inventor of the live concert. Without him we would all still be watching groups just walk out on stage, play their songs and leave,” Shupe said.

To Shupe, the show really does seem less of an act than an alternate persona. He has studied concert footage and documentaries in hopes of adopting all of Elvis’ subtle (and not so subtle) idiosyncrasies. He’s been doing it so long, he’s almost as much Elvis as he is himself.

Recently Shupe has been playing with a live band, the TCB band (from Elvis’ slogan, “takin’ care of business”), but he also performs to a recording depending on the occasion. Just as with the original King though, a performance by the Athens King is hardly only about the music.

“There are karate moves, extravagant suits, the scarves, the charisma, the humor, the sexuality,” Shupe said.

According to Shupe, it’s not just people who remember Elvis who have been turning up at shows and getting into the hip-swingery. “I get a cross-section of everything from people who actually saw Elvis live to little kids who are simply impressed, just as I was, by the superhero-like persona that was Elvis Presley,” Shupe said.

The show is now a monthly staple at Buffalo’s Café, and the last three shows have sold out. Sell-out crowd or not, being on stage for Shupe is natural.

“I love to entertain people, I love to know that what I am doing is making them happy,” said Shupe.

Any given night at one of Shupe’s performances you may see his 10 year-old daughter selling t-shirts, his son, 12, (who already is working on his own Elvis tribute show) working lights and his wife managing the stage. But on stage, sequins glimmering, hips swaying, voice dipping and diving, he’s not just a dad or a husband. He’s the Athens King.