Dronfield schoolboy Presley dreaming of chart success with Best Friend Elvis

Twleve-year-old Presley Lewis wrote 12 songs during lockdown, as well as beginning to learn to play the guitar at home.

And, after earning glowing praise from his guitar tutor, he releases his debut single, My Best Friend, this week.

“It’s so exciting,” says the 12-year-old, who is looking forward to the song’s release on June 3. “I hope everyone enjoys it.”

Proud dad James says: “He loves to entertain anyway and he’s always singing.

“But while in lockdown, Presley wrote 12 songs and began learning to play the guitar at home.

“His mum, Emma, and I were so impressed with his songs we looked for a place where Presley could improve his singing and guitar lessons.

“We found Dronfield Music Tuition, where we spoke to Joe Phibbs-Pearson, the owner.

“Since the first meeting, Presley and Joe have recorded five tracks together and now Presley is about to release his first single worldwide as a independent artist.”

And James, aged 51, is hoping to harness the power of social media – and particularly “the nice world” of Twitter pets – to support his son.

James runs a Twitter account on behalf of bulldog Elvis, the family pet – @elvisbulldoguk1 – which has more than 12,000 followers and is backing Presley’s song.

The retired masterchef, who admits to being a fan of the king of rock’n’roll, Elvis Presley, says: “We’re just trying to promote Presley.

“We’re having a massive launch party on Twitter on release day.

“We’re hoping to get #PresleyLewis trending. I have a lot of Twitter friends over in America. We’re trying to get him heard on the radio over there – you never know.”

Indeed, the song, My Best Friend, is about Presley’s relationship with bulldog Elvis.

“That’s who Presley wrote about,” says James, “but the song can relate to anyone’s best friend.”

Presley, a Year 7 pupil at Dronfield Henry Fanshawe School, says: “My doggo is the cutest thing you’ll ever see, trust me.”

After My Best Friend, Presley, who lives with his parents and three of his four older brothers at home on Fletcher Avenue, Dronfield, has a year of single releases planned, culminating, potentially, with a debut album next summer.

James says: “He’s young and wants to see how it goes, as long as he’s enjoying it and wants to do it.

“He’s taking it all in his stride so far.

“He doesn’t say much, but he has people who’ve never spoken to him before at school coming up to him.

“His dream is to get in the charts, even if its number 500.

“If he gets in, people start hearing him – you have got to start somewhere.”