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The hair is fake, but the sideburns are real. So is the chest hair.

Potomac tribute artist Elvis E, also known as Richard Ernst, 58, hosted a free concert in his kitchen for neighbors and friends Sunday.

"We'll see how polished these floors are," he said crouching into something resembling a split. "I hope this suit don't tear up, baby," he sang to the tune of "Suspicious Minds."

The second Elvis Week concert honoring the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death on Aug. 16, 1977, was supposed to be hosted on his lawn, where 150 people converged last year. The concert was moved inside because of rain on Sunday.

"There are some songs you just get goosebumps from," said Edythe Runett, 68, of Potomac. She went the free concert last year and had this one marked on her calendar since she heard about it.

Runett got a front-row seat as Ernst, clad in his red sequined "burning love" jumpsuit crooned a medley of Elvis songs and played some faux guitar while gyrating to a backing track.

"I'm not an Elvis fan per se, but I provide a service for those who are," Ernst said. He has performed hundreds of times per year since he began in 2004, often at birthday parties or assisted living facilities.

Impersonating Elvis now is a full-time job for Ernst.

"It was embarrassing at first, but it's a good conversation starter," said his son Michael Ernst, 24.

Elvis has a staying power in American popular culture that will continue for several generations, said Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University in New York.

"It's hard to get through a day without some kind of Elvis reference," Thompson said. "He really is part of the American vocabulary."

Elvis done well by today's standards is usually seen as funny, but most good Elvis impersonators take themselves seriously, Thompson said.

Ernst, a former disc jockey and database and software system support specialist, didn't grow up idolizing Elvis. He fell into performing after singing at karaoke in a bar in New Orleans on a business trip in 1996.

"He's got entertainment in his blood," said his wife, Inez Ernst, 58.

The cost to be Elvis, such as each of his five authentic replica jumpsuits that can cost more than $1,000, are tax deductable, she said.

"It's a business for us," Inez Ernst said.

Because the music industry has become so fragmented, fewer artists have the broad appeal Elvis had in his heyday, Thompson said.

Ernst is working on expanding his repertoire, and his wardrobe, to include Neil Diamond, but said he just doesn't have the demand that Elvis does.

"There's this real mystique and allure about Elvis," Ernst said.