The princess of rock 'n roll is coming to Nanaimo.
Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis, the King of rock and roll, will hit the stage at The Port Theatre on Nov. 15, after showing her stuff in Victoria the day before.
Presley, who now has two albums under her belt, is touring cities in the United States and Canada for her LMP Autumn 2006 Tour that has already played venues in New York, Nashville and Austin.
Presley's sophomore disc, Now What, follows her 2003 debut album To Whom It May Concern. The answer to the question posed by her second album's title, Presley says on her website (www.lisapresley.com), came during the tour for To Whom It May Concern.
Presley was on stage in New Jersey and performing her first real headline show.
"I felt that energy for the first time, moving people somehow," she said. "I'd kind of got lost in the whooped-di-do or interview and explosion after explosion."
Presley found herself re-inspired.
"I realized this is what this is for - not me talking everywhere and being all over the place. It's what I was originally doing, being a music lover and putting out music and hoping people would hear it and it would help someone somewhere."
That inspiration and dedication is infused throughout Now What, a personal and powerful collection of songs.
Some tracks were born from new friendships (Presley wrote some songs with former Four Non-Blondes front woman Linda Perry and performed a duet with Pink), while other songs are about loss.
Presley lost one of her closest friends, punk icon Johnny Ramone, when she was making Now What. The album is also touched by joy and love (the song 'Raven' is a tribute to her mother Priscilla Presley) and by naked anger on things both cultural (in a version of Don Henley's 'Dirty Laundry') and personal (in 'Idiot' featuring Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones).
For her follow-up album, Presley again teamed with Eric Rosse, who had produced most of her previous album. Also joining her team was guitarist Mike Lockwood, who anchored the recording band and co-wrote three songs.
Presley now knows that people will respond to what she has to say.
She also knows there are more challenges on the way.
"Have I climbed the mountain entirely? No. But it's possible to have fans of the music and that speaks larger then anything. Music will override anything else if someone's listening."
Tickets for the Nanaimo show are $54. The Port Theatre's ticket centre can be reached at 250-754-8550 or online at www.porttheatre.com.