Ron Foss, also known as Captain Fantastic Detroit, has been an Elton John fan since childhood and enjoys portraying the singer-songwriter.
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METRO DETROIT – Beloved singer-songwriter Elton John is brought to life through the talent and passion of Captain Fantastic Detroit, an Elton John tribute band.
Ron Foss, also known as frontman Captain Fantastic, has been interested in Elton John since he was a child. His career as an Elton John tribute artist began when he played in a duo with his friend, performing the song “Your Song” from Elton John’s album of the same name.
“He said, ‘Man, you sound so much like Elton John. Well, just play it yourself,’ so he backed out,” Foss said. “At one point he said, ‘You know, you really should start your own Elton band.'”
Another case occurred when a customer at Guitar Center thought Foss looked like Elton John. When he went to the mall the same day, something similar happened. This all happened seven years ago.
“That’s when I knew I should probably start a band,” Foss said.
Captain Fantastic plays in Oakland and Macomb counties, and they have played out of state as well.
Foss found his other bandmates through previous experiences with the members. The first step he took to find some of the other members, including the bassist, was to search for musicians on Bandmix’s online classifieds.
“A local thing where musicians connect with each other,” Foss said. “A bass player contacted me and then he knew a drummer and a guitarist. We’ve changed since then. My latest band is really good.”
He further said that the guitarist, bassist and drummer are all excellent. The current lineup consists of Jo Jo Moceri on drums, Larry Socha on guitar, Shellie Gambino, Foss’ wife, on percussion and background vocals and Marty Esselink on bass.
When Foss was about 6 years old, he started learning to play the piano. He took lessons from age 7 until he was 14. Foss said he started really paying attention to songs on the radio around age 12. He also started getting interested in music around that time.
“I had some albums that my dad had gotten from a co-worker, used albums,” Foss said. “I got a couple of Elton albums from her and then I liked them so much that I bought ‘(Elton John’s) Greatest Hits.'”
He recalled that Elton John’s album “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” was released in 1973.
“When I heard ‘Benny and the Jets,’ I was hooked. I bought the sheet music and played the song over and over on the piano,” Foss said.
He went on to say that he bought the piano sheet music for the album and learned most of the songs as a teenager.
“So, yes, I’m a huge Elton fan,” Foss said.
Foss is grateful for the fan base the band has gained over the years, and he said they have made “quite a name for themselves.”
When the band plays, the setlist changes and the playing time varies from show to show.
“Because we have so many Elton songs, we have almost three hours of material,” Foss said. “And it’s pretty difficult to cut out about half of the set list when we’re playing for an hour and a half. So we have to cut out almost an hour and a half of material with Elton songs to fit in an hour and a half show.”
Foss said they would love to play the St. Clair Shores Music on the Lake dates and they recently played there in July. In 2023, they have been canceled three times due to rain.
He ordered the 15 costumes he uses for his shows, as well as the eight pairs of Elton-like prescription glasses, online. Although Foss said some of his costumes are no longer available, 10 of them are still in the lineup.
Foss said he hopes to meet Elton John one day.
“He’s definitely one of my idols,” Foss said. “Great songwriter. Great piano player.”
His advice to anyone who wants to start a band or do something similar to him is to persevere. He said that to start with, bands should record a video to get themselves known to venues and potential listeners.
“Find musicians who are dedicated to your band and go out and promote yourself,” Foss said.
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