FROM MEMPHIS TO THE MUSEUM: An Interview With Scott Williams and Myself on the Reelfoot Forward Podcast
- Allie West
- Aug 14
- 14 min read
I was at the Illinois Elvis Festival last month, watching the competition, when they started introducing the judges. When they got to Scott Williams, he was introduced simply as the CEO of the Discovery Park of America. I sat there feeling a bit confused. What in the world is the head of a museum doing at an ETA contest?
Naturally, I started doing some digging. That’s when the lightbulb went off, and I realized: I HAVE GOT TO TALK TO THIS GUY!
Not only did Scott work for Elvis Presley Enterprises for over a decade, but he was actually instrumental in creating the official Ultimate Elvis Tribute Contest back in 2007. WHY DIDN'T THEY LEAD WITH THAT?!
So during intermission, I zipped over to the judges' table with a business card in hand and a smile that probably looked a little unhinged. I explained what I did with the blog, handed him my card, and, truthfully, never expected to hear a peep from him. Much to my surprise, Scott reached out, super enthusiastic about doing an interview, and threw out a wild proposition: "How about you come on my podcast and we can interview each other?"
I immediately began to panic. Look, there's a reason these blog interviews are recorded privately in the safety of my own home and transcribed into articles. I can talk to anyone about anything, but put a camera or a podcast mic in front of me and I completely forget how to function as a normal human. I go from being a social butterfly to being utterly socially awkward. But as terrified as I was, I really wanted to chat with Scott, so I reluctantly agreed.
I have to give Scott all the credit in the world. Before we hit record, he told me that the goal was just to forget we were on a podcast. He was so easy to talk to that he made me feel completely comfortable, turning what I thought would be a nightmare into an absolute blast. It was definitely a strange feeling being on the receiving end of the questions for once, but we had a wonderful time trading stories from both sides of the microphone.
Scott: Before we jump into taking care of business for Elvis, tell us a bit about you.
Me: I'm Allie, I'm 29 years old and I live in western Kentucky. I'm actually a third-generation Elvis fan. Elvis has always been in the background of my life, and I'm fortunate to have my grandmother's old records and special collections.
When Scott asked about the first time I ever encountered an Elvis tribute artist, my mind usually jumps straight to the bigger stage shows I saw later in life. But it actually goes back much further than that. I live near Paducah, and every weekend in the summer, there would be live performers downtown by the riverfront. There was an ETA who performed out there regularly. It was so long ago that I couldn't tell you his name—or if he was even just a guy in a Halloween costume—but I vividly remember the feeling. My family would go downtown to listen to him sing, and my grandfather would coax me forward when he started handing out scarves. I remember thinking, I can't just go up to Elvis! But I did, and getting that scarf felt so special. In my mind, that was the real deal.
It wasn't until 2014 that I truly learned about the professional ETA world. Our local performing arts center hosted a show with Shawn Klush and Cody Ray Slaughter. It was advertised as the closest thing to the King in concert, and it did NOT disappoint. I was in complete awe that there were people who could sound like that. To this day, I've never heard another voice as close to Elvis' as Shawn Klush.
It's funny how things come full circle. I learned later that Shawn was actually the very first official Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist champion back in 2007, and Cody had won the title just a few years before I saw him perform in 2014. And when Cody took the stage in that black leather '68 Comeback Special suit? I practically swooned right out of my seat.
As it turns out, Scott had his own jaw-dropping encounter with Shawn Klush back when he was working for Elvis Presley Enterprises. Scott and his team had traveled up to Canada for the Collingwood Elvis Festival—at the time, the biggest Elvis festival in the world. On Sunday, they attended the gospel showcase, which Shawn was headlining.
Scott: I was taking pictures for everybody back in Memphis, and Shawn Klush was up there. I'm looking at him on stage through my camera and, honest to goodness, it just looked like Elvis, it sounded like Elvis, and I was stunned. I took those back and said, "Y'all are not going to believe this, we've gotta figure something out so we can do this in Memphis!"
Seeing Shawn on stage in Collingwood really opened Scott's eyes to just how powerful a top-tier tribute artist performance could be. Talking about Shawn's vocal talent naturally led us into a conversation about the different eras of Elvis' career and how ETAs recreate them on stage.
Scott: Do you have a favorite era of Elvis to see recreated?
Me: '68, without a doubt. I love the gruffer sound Elvis has during that special. And I love the "Elvis Unplugged" vibe, just sitting on the stage with his guitar and a few guys just having fun. I saw Dean Z, who, in my opinion, is one of the best ETAs out there, do the '68 Comeback Special in Illinois. When he came out in the black leather jumpsuit, I was screaming and losing my mind like it was 1968. But I do like the jumpsuit years as well, especially the early 70s. I love watching people do "Polk Salad Annie," but it also worries me—sometimes they're wearing a lot of fringe and I'm afraid somebody's gonna hit themselves in the eye!
Scott: What most people probably don't know, unless you're a hardcore Elvis fan, is that there's a little bit of pushback against the whole tribute artist world. When did you discover that?
Me: Right after I started interviewing people, I noticed comments on their videos like, "You're not as good as Elvis!" or "You're just trying to be Elvis!" What people miss is that these tribute artists know they aren't Elvis—nobody is. They aren't delusional; they aren't trying to replace him or diminish his legacy. They're doing this to keep his memory alive because they love him.
Scott: Have you found that they've been lifelong Elvis fans for the most part?
Me: Some of them, like me, have grown up with Elvis their entire lives and are Elvis megafans. I talk to a lot of young tribute artists and what did it for most of them was the recent Elvis movie. Some of them had no idea who Elvis was—which makes me feel like my hair's going to go gray—but they stumbled upon the movie and they were hooked.
Then Scott asked me something that I tend to ask the ETAs I interview: why, after all these years, are so many people still gravitating towards Elvis? To me, Elvis was absolute lightning in a bottle. He hit the music scene in the 1950s and essentially threw a stick of dynamite right into the middle of it. He brought a new sound, a new way of moving, and an entirely new attitude. We are still feeling that butterfly effect today. Plus, his career evolution was unbelievable. The hip-swiveling 50s kid in leather and denim and the 70s powerhouse in rhinestone jumpsuits are practically two different artists. Very few performers in history have ever undergone a transformation like that.
We got to talking about the massive financial investment these guys put into their craft, especially when it comes to costuming. A quality jumpsuit comes with a hefty price tag; the top-of-the-line B&K suits can easily cost upwards of $3,000. And that’s before you even touch the belts, jewelry, wigs, sideburns, or shoes. I actually met some lovely people from B&K at the Illinois festival and picked up one of the belts just to feel the weight. I was stunned! I can't imagine performing under stage lights under the weight of a heavy leather jumpsuit, a massive metal belt, and pounds of jewelry. But nailing that authentic look is a huge piece of the competition puzzle.
Scott: Have there been times during a contest where the person you just KNEW was going to win didn't, and vice versa? I'm certainly not going to ask you who, but have there been people who you felt like shouldn't have won?
Boy, was that a loaded question! I'll take "things I could rant about for an hour" for $500, please! I gave Scott a fairly diplomatic response, admitting that YES, DEFINITELY. Sometimes the judging leaves me scratching my head, but that's true for the audience as a whole. Everyone has their personal favorites, and the chips rarely fall where people expect them to.
That opened the door to a question Scott had for me, and I was more than happy to answer.
Scott: After talking to so many ETAs, have you started to see some similarities? If I were still at Elvis Presley Enterprises, is there anything you're seeing they should be aware of if they're trying to get more tribute artists?
I was practically jumping out of my seat to answer this one, because it led right into a mystery I'd been dying to solve!
Me: The absolute biggest thing that I hear over and over again is that they wish there was a little more transparency about scoring in these contests. These guys are paying several hundred dollars to compete and want to know what they can do to improve, so they're kind of disheartened when they don't get a scoresheet. Some of them have been turned off from competing because they have no idea what they're doing wrong or right. And maybe you can clarify something for me, because no one seems to know for sure: Are the scoresheets property of Elvis Presley Enterprises?
Scott: Yes, that is correct. In our early meetings, we brainstormed and talked about this. Let me clarify, I haven't been there in about 15 years. In those early days, some of the fan clubs would get really upset over scores and placements. There's really no perfect answer, and it's hard.
It was satisfying to finally get an answer to that! After navigating the ins and outs of the contest world, Scott turned the spotlight back on me with a question about my own background and how Beyond the Jumpsuit came to be.
Scott: So what do you do for a living? What was your skill set that you were able to lean into for this great accomplishment of creating a website and doing all of this?
Here's something that might come as a surprise if you don't know my backstory: I am actually medically disabled. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I got very sick and ended up with permanent lung damage and a 75% collapsed airway. It's a condition that will never heal, and surgical options are practically nonexistent. I can't work a regular job like I used to, and physical exertion is nearly impossible.
I was only 23 or 24 when I first got sick. While most people spend their twenties building careers, traveling, and figuring out who they are, I spent the majority of mine in and out of hospital rooms, being a human pincusion, and making constant trips back and forth to Vanderbilt. It was heartbreaking to feel like life was moving forward for everyone else while my world completely stopped. Watching those years slip through my fingers, taken away by something completely out of my control, was deeply painful. It completely turned my life upside down.
I was previously a librarian, so reading and writing have always been my anchor. When I was stuck at home sick, I picked up writing as a hobby just to keep my mind active and give myself an outlet. As I started getting heavily into the ETA community, I noticed a lot of video and podcast interviews, but not a lot of written content. I'm the kind of person who often prefers reading, and I just wasn't finding what I was looking for. Combining my love for writing with my newfound passion for these artists felt like a natural spark. I quite literally woke up one morning and decided I was going to start a blog—regardless if anyone read it or not.
I whipped together a website using Wix, reached out to a few ETA friends I'd made, and just launched it. These guys have such fascinating backstories, and I wanted to shine a light on who they are as people and musicians beyond the jumpsuit—hence the blog's name. I only started doing this back in January, and here we are in August: I've published nearly 40 interviews, made wonderful friends, and somehow wound up as a guest on the Discovery Park podcast. If you had told me a year ago I'd be doing any of this, I would have thought you were crazy!
Part of the reason the blog has resonated with the artists is that a lot of these guys aren't naturally comfortable on camera either. On stage, they can channel the King and command a crowd, but sitting down one-on-one as themselves requires a different kind of vulnerability. My goal is to make them forget they're answering interview questions and just make it feel like a cozy, relaxed chat over coffee.
When Scott asked me what's next on the horizon for Beyond the Jumpsuit, I had to admit I'm still figuring that out as I go! Beside continuing the interviews, I'd love to compile an "ETA Toolkit"—a practical guide covering the business side of the craft that nobody talks about, like insurance, music track licensing, and retirement planning. There isn't really a playbook for turning this into a full-time career, and I'd love to build one for them.
Then, at long last, I got to flip the script and dive into Scott's incredible history. Knowing he helped launch the official EPE contest back in 2007, I had to ask: how on earth do you even BEGIN building a global competition from scratch?
Scott: You do it the same way you start a new job: you drink from the firehose. I attended probably 20 contests all over the place. Of course, none of these were official and they all had different rules and different things they did. Some of it was good, some of it was bad. We pulled from all of that and put it together, then talked it through. We took it very seriously, and the most important thing was that, no matter what, we had to be respectful. And if you're going to have 20 contests around the world that are all supposed to follow your rules, you have to be pretty rigid about it. If you enter an official EPE contest, you get the rules when you pay your fee. You get the guidance, support, and advertisement that comes with it. And they're still using most of the same materials that we put together to this day. We interviewed a ton of people doing contests who were willing to share with us what they thought worked and didn't.
Me: So were you an Elvis fan before you started working for EPE?
Scott: No, actually. I lived in Memphis, Elvis and I had the same dentist! I was little bitty at the time. My mother drove me down Elvis Presley Boulevard and she said, "Look, there's Elvis over there!" He was riding his horse through Graceland, so I did lay eyes on Elvis as a little boy. Of course, the more I learned about Elvis, both the person and his music, then I became a fan. It's hard not to!
So how does someone who wasn't initially a huge Elvis fan land a job at Graceland? Scott's extensive background in digital marketing made him the perfect fit at a time when the internet was rapidly expanding.
Scott: Elvis is the only entertainer that comes with flavors and colors. Peanut butter and banana—bacon is not part of that, by the way. Green shag carpet. Pink Cadillacs. He was an actor, a musician, and his reach was incredible. I was working in healthcare in digital marketing, and I was brought on to work on the website and social media. We didn't even call it social media back then. AOL was huge at the time, and they were trying to find entertainment brands to work with. We did the very first livestream of the Candlelight Vigil for people who couldn't make it to Memphis. Of course, because everything was so slow at the time, I don't know if anyone actually ever got to watch it live!
We wanted to use these new digital tools to connect Elvis fans from all over the world. We started the Collector's Club, and the people in it got access to an exclusive message board. This was before Facebook—you could get on there, make friends, and talk to people. There were multiple marriages that came out of the Collector's Club. Babies were probably born because of the Collector's Club. It was amazing to see.
Transitioning from Elvis Presley Enterprises to leading the Discovery Park of America might seem like a massive leap, but for Scott, it was a natural evolution. While at Graceland, he collaborated with the Newseum in Washington, D.C., on an exhibit exploring Elvis and free expression. As a self-proclaimed history buff, Scott fell in love with D.C. and eventually accepted a job at the Newseum, where he spent seven years. But as a Tennessean at heart, nostalgia eventually pulled him back home. After visiting Discovery Park and being blown away by its scale and vision, he reconnected with contacts in Tennessee and took the helm as CEO—a decision he hasn't regretted for a second.
Naturally, before wrapping up our conversation, I had to ask the one shameless, burning question I swore I wasn't going to ask.
Me: Did they let you touch the jumpsuits?
Scott: No, I was always really respectful of them. In a museum, some things you touch with gloves, but everything is better off not being touched, period. I never touched anything I wasn't supposed to and I never even went upstairs. I always kept a very respectful stance when it came to that, and I felt lucky to be there, so I was very careful.
Me: You didn't get to touch things?! I'd want to touch a jumpsuit. I guess, working in a museum, you'd probably frown on that. I would definitely want to touch one. I guess that's why I don't work in a museum.
Scott: Yeah, you wouldn't last very long if you touched things!
Sitting down with Scott was such a full-circle moment for me. To go from sitting in the audience as a fan, completely fascinated by these competitions, to trading stories with one of the people who built the official Ultimate contest from the ground up was an unforgettable experience. Even though Scott and I come from entirely different walks of life and took very different paths to get here, it’s proof of the undeniable power of Elvis’ legacy. Whether you're running a massive regional museum or writing a blog from home in western Kentucky, Elvis's story and music have a way of bridging those gaps and bringing people together. It was an absolute honor to sit down with Scott, and I am so grateful for his time, his kindness, and the opportunity to share this conversation.
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With a career spanning influential cultural institutions, Williams has led teams at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., and at Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis. He is currently the CEO of Discovery Park of America in Union City, Tennessee, a museum and heritage park dedicated to inspiring discovery and curiosity in visitors of all ages. During his time in Washington, he also served on the advisory board of Destination DC and as co-chair of the board of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., as well as on the board of the local chapter of the American Advertising Federation.
He currently serves on the boards of the West Tennessee chapter of the American Advertising Federation and the Tennessee Hospitality and Tourism Association, and on the advisory boards of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development and the University of Tennessee at Martin College of Business and Global Affairs. Williams is the incoming chair of the board of the Friends of the Tennessee State Library and Archives.
His fourth book, "Townmania: Marcus Winchester and the Making of Memphis," is scheduled for release on Nov. 21, 2025. Williams is also the author of “The Accidental Fame and Lack of Fortune of West Tennessee’s David Crockett,” “An Odd Book, How the First Modern Pop Culture Reporter Conquered New York" and "The Forgotten Adventures of Richard Halliburton: A High-Flying Life from Tennessee to Timbuktu."
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