Elvis Presley’s only living, touring relative is a Lexington native. See him at The Burl

“I’ve got to follow that dream wherever that dream may lead,” sang Elvis Presley on his 1971 hit “Follow The Dream.”

That same mantra applies 50 years later to Lexington native Nathaniel Paul Presley, the King’s first cousin, once removed who’s been grinding since the 1990s to make his musical dream a reality.

That dream recently took him to Europe for a tour and will bring him home for an album release show at The Burl on March 27.

Born in 1980, three years after Elvis’ death, Presley is the only current living, touring blood relative of the legendary artist. After declining to embrace his Elvis connection throughout his childhood, Presley eventually had a change of heart in his early 20’s after stumbling upon some of the King’s acting, of all things.

“Films like ‘Flaming Star’ really helped me to appreciate my connection to Elvis and jump down the rabbit hole into his other movies and music,” said Presley. “It was a trigger to get me to start exploring his music because I had either ignored it or had it forced on me for so long.”

One of those people pushing Elvis on Presley was his mother Paula Marie Helton, a cousin of Elvis and a musician herself who toured with the King in the mid-1970s. Primarily a country artist, Presley said his mother helped expose him to artists like Conway Twitty, Tanya Tucker, Sylvia Gale and others during his youth, although he was more drawn to punk and rockabilly music at the time.

“I’ve always been into rockabilly and greaser stuff,” said Presley. “It started with the movie “The Outsiders” and built from there. Since I was a kid it’s always been a dream of mine to be that person, which led me to listening to a lot of rockabilly and rock n’ roll growing up. The first music of Elvis’ that I really got into was his early cuts from the 1950s when the Jordanaires were backing him up.”

Touring independently as early as 1993 with punk band Infected, Presley released 13 albums with the group before forming the spinoff group under his own name in 2015. His music still features much of that same punky angst along with elements of rock n’ roll, country, metal, hip-hop and more. While most of that doesn’t align with Elvis’ musical landscapes, Presley has found other ways to subtly pay homage to him.

The first iteration of his band was called NP Presley & The Ghost Of Jesse Garon, a nod to Elvis’ older twin brother Jesse Garon who was stillborn. That band name has since given way for the new moniker of NP Presley & The Criminal Enterprise Band, but Presley has hinted at incorporating other ways to honor the King through his art.

Long shying away from performing any of Elvis’ songs, Presley is slowly starting to reconsider. A fan of deep cuts, Presley expressed interest in potentially putting his own unique spin on some of Elvis’ deep cuts in the near future like “Too Much!”, “A Cane and a High Starched Collar”, “(It’s A) Long Lonely Highway” and “Any Way You Want Me (That’s How I Will Be)”.

“(‘Any Way You Want Me’) always brings me to tears or violence,” said Presley. “It’s just so powerful. His vocal inconsistencies make for a very raw and honest vocal performance. It’s vulnerable, just like me.”

In the meantime, Presley and the CEB — Leah Connolly (background vocals), Chandler Nathan Davis (guitar, background vocals), Richard Brinegar (bass), Brent Carter (lead guitar), Thomas Daily (rhythm guitar) and Sherri McGee (drums) — just returned from a month-long European tour in support of their new album Seven & A Half Heads Tall.

Before leaving, Presley was hopeful for a tour that had to be rescheduled twice due to COVID-19.

“I look forward to seeing the response to our music overseas, meeting new potential fans and visiting a new part of the world,” said Presley. “That being said, it’s going to be tough work. We’ll be playing 29 shows in 32 days. After trying to make this happen for two years now, I’m happy to see it finally coming to fruition.”

NP Presley album release show

With the Rachel Crowe Band, FBA and Kageman

When: 5 p.m., March 27

Where: The Burl, 375 Thompson Rd.

Tickets: $10; theburlky.com

This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 6:00 AM.