When Larry G. Jones hits the stage at the Muckleshoot Casino's Club Galaxy on Monday for a week-long run of his one-man celebrity impersonation show Legendary Voices in Concert, you can bet his incredible luck won't be far from his mind.
Not only has the 46-year-old Auburn, Ala. native managed to hammer out a successful show business career, thrilling audiences with his four-octave range and hundreds of voice impersonations, but he's also managed to cheat death, surviving cancer, near drowning, even kidney failure.
"God has blessed me with a chance to live every day, and I think about that," Jones said. "It's changed my overall attitude about life. When problems arise, I just let it ride. It doesn't all matter. Life is too short to take it all too seriously."
Jones always knew he could sing. And by the time he began attending Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, his voice, honed by hundreds of happy hours singing to classic rock tunes, was already a fine instrument.
At school, Jones' vocal ability grabbed his roommate's attention.
"(He) was a drummer and he decided I could sing really good, so I became the singer in a classic rock band," Jones said.
Performing struck a chord in Jones immediately. After graduating with a bachelor's in mechanical engineering in the early 1990s, he moved to Hollywood with his band ? Love or Money ? and begin playing the club circuit on the Sunset Strip.
"It was right at the end of the hair-band era," he said. "We played at clubs like the Troubadour. We were kind of like Bon Jovi. I had the long hair, but not the big hair, though."
Love or Money never broke out of Hollywood, but the experience was a stepping stone for Jones.
"I started doing 'sounds-a-likes' for radio, that's how I started with the impressions," he said. "I worked for a big company that did stuff nationally. I started by sending them recordings of me doing Elton John and The Phantom of the Opera, and they asked if I could do Hootie and the Blowfish."
Jones said he nailed his impersonation of Darius Rucker, lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish, then parlayed that success into several recorded parodies of the bands' 1994 hit "Let Her Cry."
Even as he worked as an impersonator during the 90s, he was creating a one-man show centered on his vocal prowess.
"I wrote the one-man show for about three years and planned to move to Vegas to audition," he said.
Jones made the most of a two-week trial run of his show. Soon he was in demand on the casino circuit. Eventually, he performed his show more than 2,400 times.
"It ended up being a 10-year run," Jones said.
Just before he began his Vegas run, Jones had his first brush with death.
"I was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma (cancer) in 1998 and given six to 12 months to live," he said.
After major surgery removed the cancerous melanoma and nine-months of chemotherapy, doctors declared him cancer free.
"Now it's 14 years later, and here I am," he said.
It would not be Jones final close call.
Exploring at Lake Las Vegas in 1994, Jones saved a swimmer and drowned.
"Somebody had fallen into a wash, and I could see they were caught in a current," he said. "I figured they needed some help, and I was an expert swimmer, so I went in and got them out. The current was too much for me though."
Swept downstream, Jones said he stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated after being pulled from the water. His kidneys failed, but after months of dialysis his kidneys returned to full function.
Like many people who experience near death, Jones said he also felt like he touched the other side for a moment.
"Let's just say I know there is something better beyond this place," he said.
Now, hopefully with all his close calls behind him, Jones spends his time performing at corporate events and doing the occasional casino show. His wife of two-years, Andrea, runs the sound board.
"We get to travel together and see different places," he said. "It's great."
His experiences, he said, and the way he lives his life, shape his performance.
"Laughter really is the best medicine," he said. "I never added the title 'comedian' until after the cancer. I believe that really played a role in what I do. Somebody just had something better for me to do."
Legendary Voices in Concert runs from March 12 to March 18 at The Muckleshoot Casino's Club Galaxy. For showtimes, visit www.muckleshootcasino.com.
Source: http://feeds.soundpublishing.com/~r/aubentertainment/~3/N5dNwlPTv0Y/142154003.html
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