Bottletree Cafe

In Focus - al.com Karaoke crooner sings on
By Tamika Moore -- The Birmingham News
November 22, 2009, 6:30AM


Kyle Farmer helps Stan Challiss prepape for 'Karaoke with Stan!' at Bottletree. Stan Challiss has always loved to sing. So much so, that his 1957 high school senior classmates prophesized that in 20 years he was th...e most likely to become a rock star. But, instead of the crowds his idols such as the Everly Brothers, Frank Sinatra commanded, he sang hit parade songs to people on trains and the beans he was harvesting on his family’s Michigan farm. Twenty years later he was working in advertising and was raising a family. Now, over 50 years after that high school prophecy, Challiss performs on stage at Bottletree during "Karaoke with Stan!”. In between patrons singing obligatory karaoke Challiss quietly walks on stage, takes a seat. He croons Rat Pack-era hits or country classics or duets with patrons or his kids Brad and Merrilee. At least once a night he’ll dedicate a love song to his smiling wife Suzanne. Although some keys are on and some are a bit off, he sings like it's a packed house of adoring fans. “He puts so much emotion in it. If he really feels it, he can really sell a song,” said Suzanne Challiss.

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