Fri, November 17, 2006

Royal treatmentUPDATED: 2006-11-17 01:06:38 MST

Presley comes into her own after two albums

By KEVIN WILLIAMSON, CALGARY SUN


Interview Lisa Marie Presley and typically a publicist will tell you to refrain from questions about her dad, Elvis, and her freaky ex-husband (that would be Michael Jackson, not Nicolas Cage).

Then, just as typically, you'll ask anyway.

It's not like anyone's really interested in her music, right?

At least that's how interviews have predictably transpired for Presley since she released her first album, To Whom It May Concern in 2003, followed by last year's provocatively-titled Now What.

Slowly though, she tells the Sun during a phone interview, that's begun to change. Fewer questions about Papa Presley and the ex. More about her music and where she sees herself in the industry.

Now What made it to No. 9 on the Billboard 200 last year and was certified gold.

"That's just happened over the course of the two records," says the 38-year-old singer-songwriter.


"The credibility I got from them helped."

Still, of course, she adds, "There is always a percentage (of interviewers) who are into the sensational side of things."

No surprise there. Being the progeny of rock 'n' roll royalty alone would be enough to provoke those personal queries without factoring in Presley's personal travails and tribulations.

There is the short-lived marriage to Jackson, of course, highlighted by a famed mid-'90s liplock during the MTV Music Video Awards, and a subsequent video in which the pair frolicked about like lovers. (For the record, Presley has always said, when asked about Jackson, that she felt used by him and knew nothing about any activities that led to molestation charges.)

Add to this another short-lived marriage to actor and Elvis aficionado Cage, as well as her tumultuous relationship with her mother, Priscilla, and her belief in Scientology, and there has always been more than enough fodder to write about without ever touching upon Presley's musical ambitions.

Now, though, things have settled down for her. This year, she married her guitarist and longtime boyfriend Michael Lockwood, a friend of her first husband, Danny Keough, who is the father of her two children, Danielle Riley and Benjamin Storm.

And she and her mother are now, she reports, "closer than we've ever been."

Still, she understands the continued fascination with her father -- and why she'll always have to struggle in his legendary, hip-swivelling shadow.

"I'm walking up such a tough mountain. I refuse to do anything everyone expected. I'm not doing covers of his songs. I'm not on his label. It's not an easy path."

Easy or not, the particular path she's on now -- namely, touring in support of her album -- brings her to Calgary this Sunday when she'll play a gig at the Whiskey nightclub.

As you'd expect, Presley says her shows attract all kinds.

"(Touring's) really been great; there's always a diverse crowd. It's an amazing potpourri of people."

With one of two exceptions, of course.

"Every other occasion, I'll see one or two sideburns (in the audience)," she says of the fans of her father who show up, as if they're hoping the ghost of Elvis will swagger out on stage for the encore.

"It's such a strange, weird thing. They'll be holding up some Elvis thing and you immediately lose me (when you do that).

"I was talking to my mom the other day and saying, 'If I were at a Sean Lennon concert, would I be there with a John Lennon T-shirt while he's working?' In the last week, we did five gigs and on either side of the stage, I saw the sideburn."

Still, as time passes, she says she is now approached by fans born long after Elvis died in 1977.

"I've had tons of girls say to me that they didn't even know who he was before me," she says.

"And I have a very large gay following which is great because I know I've made it. If I'm popular there, I've made it with my own talent."

Interestingly, she reports her daughter Riley, a model and the new face of Dior Perfume, is now stopped by fans who want to know about, not her grandfather, but her mother.

"They'll tell her, 'We love your mom' if she's working. She gets it from that angle."

Speaking of mothers and daughters, Presley says Priscilla has been spending time on the road with her during this tour.

"It's been a lot of fun. I really like it, it's really cool -- we're like best friends, sisters and mother and daughter.

"We hang out and the band loves her. She's a road mom."

Thanks TX_Pixies

GREAT INTERVIEW!! Thanks for posting

You are both welcome!

Ppl should have decency enough not to hold up Elvis banners or whatever at her shows.

Thats an awesome interview. Good to hear journakists who actually appreciate her music!

Great interview!! Thank you for posting!!

Very welcome!

lol thats funny how they ask Riley about her mom though, judging by the rate Lisa's going though and in a few more years miss Riley will have her own fans.

thanx pixies, where do u find all these cool interviews?

quote:

Originally posted by JadedAngelB:
lol thats funny how they ask Riley about her mom though, judging by the rate Lisa's going though and in a few more years miss Riley will have her own fans.

thanx pixies, where do u find all these cool interviews?

You are welcome! I find them by typing in Lisa Marie Presley on my homepage and then NEWS search.

Thanks for posting TX

thanks much for posting tx

Thanks! Great interview!!

Most welcome!