VIVA LAS LOGAN

Logan Ramey was four years old when his father, Craig, introduced him to Johnny Cash songs.

But another music icon caught little Logan’s ear—and eye.

“Nobody looked cooler than Elvis Presley,” says Ramey.

Ramey turned 20 on July 23. It’s an evening in early August, inside Taylor’s on Toft, a cozy bar and grill in Antioch. In 90 minutes, the respectful Ramey—clad in a snazzy silver jacket and black pants, and sporting dyed, jet-black hair, eyeliner, and fake mutton chops that look like real sideburns—will start performing as an eerie-good Elvis tribute artist.

“It’s all mine,” he says of his magnificent mane, which isn’t quite arranged in a pompadour but still screams “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

The Beach Park resident, who grew up in the village of Winthrop Harbor, later notes he’s scheduled to entertain 51 more audiences (mostly in the Midwest) this year, including those attending a private event in Highwood in mid-September. Ramey has donned a white jumpsuit for the second of his show’s two acts at annual gigs held at Wilmette Theatre.

“I love performing there,” Ramey says of the 140-seat space on Central Avenue.

Ramey’s road to a career as a professional singer began 16 years ago, shortly after he moved on from Cash and gripped a hairbrush to serve as a pretend microphone during his mini-Elvis shows at home. He won an Elvis contest at a Winthrop Harbor Carnival well before he blew out candles on his fifth birthday and, at the age of 10, topped another field of competitors in Branson, Missouri.

“I learned all I could about Elvis, reading books about him, watching all 32 of his movies, and watching documentaries on him,” says Ramey, whose mother, Shelly, serves as stage assistant for Logan’s vigorous “Tribute to the King” shows. “I studied his look and the way he walked, in addition to his movements and mannerisms on stage. Elvis had so much charisma and commanded every room he entered.

“I’m living the dream, and I’m always looking to honor Elvis’ legacy better as I get older as a tribute artist. Singing Elvis songs brings joy to his loyal fans. The most rewarding part of the day or the night I perform is looking out at a crowd of people in the middle of a song and seeing smiles.”

Ramey’s sense of humor drew rounds of laughter from patrons several times at Taylor’s on Toft earlier this month. As a couple exited the establishment after about five songs, Ramey—in a spot-on Elvis voice—asked, “Hey, where are you going? I’m just getting started.” An International Elvis Tribute Artist Hall of Fame inductee in 2022, Ramey then faced his audience and muttered, “Must be Beatles fans.”

The bulk of that night’s Elvis Presley/ Logan Ramey fans stuck around for the rest of the show that would last nearly three hours.

Elvis Presley had a signature way of acknowledging his adoring fans’ applause after songs. His “Thank you very much” was more of a rapid Thankyouverymuch, and Ramey mimicked it perfectly after several tunes, including Ramey’s all-time favorite, I Just Can’t Help Believing.

Moments after concluding a song during which he danced ferociously while still managing to maintain his powerful singing voice, Ramey, breathing heavily and feigning a wince, admitted, “I’m getting too old to do that.”

More laughter ensued.

Startlingly, especially to anyone who has watched him interact smoothly and warmly with his audience, Ramey says he was “a loner” in high school. He attended Antioch Community High School for two years, Warren Township High School in Gurnee for six months, and then completed his Secondary Education online.

“I was so into researching Elvis and working on my Elvis tribute shows in high school, which meant little time for anything else,” says Ramey, who recently added a blue version to a jumpsuit collection that now numbers 11 and traveled to Tennessee to perform twice and compete in two more Elvis tribute contests. “Did you know Elvis was a humanitarian who donated money anonymously to organizations?”

Ramey also immersed himself in Elvis’ upbringing surrounded by Black musicians in Tupelo, Mississippi, and how it influenced Elvis’ trademark sound and ultimately the birth of rock and roll.

None other than Billy Stanley, one of Elvis’ stepbrothers, is a fervent Logan Ramey fan. Stanley’s moving reaction to a Ramey rendition of an Elvis song appears on Ramey’s website.

“When I heard (Logan) … now if I close my eyes, that’s Elvis,” Stanley begins. “It touched my heart. The only person I’ve ever heard sing like that was my brother, and (Logan) was real close—scary, that’s how close it was.”

For more information about Logan Ramey and his upcoming Tribute to the King shows, visit loganrameyeta.com.