Category: Guests (Page 11 of 11)

K.C. Clifford
Air Date July 24, 2011

K.C. Clifford is a three-time Woody Guthrie Award-winning folk singer-songwriter from Oklahoma City known for her powerful voice, stage presence and courageous lyrical style. Orchid, her fourth independently produced album, is scheduled for release on March 2.

Music has always been a guiding force in K.C.’s life, and her talent and love of performing on stage revealed itself at an early age. She was two when she first sang in public and composed her first song at age seven. Early musical influences included artists such as Paul Simon, Carole King, The Beach Boys and the popular bluegrass band Mountain Smoke, founded by her father in the late 1960s.

A life-long battle with weight loss and depression began with her first diet when she was eight, following a family crisis. K.C. was bulimic, and lived with the disease for 12 years before being diagnosed and hospitalized during her junior year at Indiana University, where she was training for a career in opera.

After a lengthy recovery, she refocused her life, transferred to Belmont University in Nashville – a school she says she found serendipitously – and completed a degree in vocal performance. She found her voice in folk music during this time, and wrote and released her first full-length album: Times Like These (2000) to critical acclaim.

As K.C.’s career continued to bloom with the release of her second album, Teeth-marks on my Tongue (2004), health threatening food issues resurfaced, this time in the form of overeating. By 2007 she had become morbidly obese, tipping the scales at 278 lbs. With the help of friends and family, she began a fight for her life.

Her story was the focus of a special segment on the NBC reality television show “The Biggest Loser” in March 2009. During the previous year she had lost more than 100 pounds, on her own, and wrote a powerful song about hunger for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma called “Raise Your Voice.” The experience has led to a series of performances at food banks across the country.

Overcoming personal demons has fueled a prolific 10-year career marked by a long list of awards and achievements, and a devoted fan base she treats more like extended family. K.C.’s family of fans financed Orchid by donating to her internet-based “Be My Record Label” campaign.

Those who have experienced one of K.C.’s live shows know this is where she shines brightest. Laying bare every bit of strength and insecurity, she sings the songs of her life with grace and ease – and a disarming smile – bringing audiences to laughter and tears often enough she has considered making handkerchiefs a permanent fixture at concerts.

“It is hard not to imagine every female singer currently promoted by Nashville begging to record them, but these are the kind of songs that are best brought forward by the person who wrote them. …this songwriter’s lyrical approach is direct and personal, and her melodies are instantly memorable, never falling into pattern or formula. It certainly doesn’t hurt that she has an extraordinary voice, but the songs themselves steal the show.” – George Lang, The Oklahoman.

Kurt Abraham
Vice President, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers
Air Date July 17, 2011

Kurt Abraham joined the Texas Alliance staff in July 2007 as Director of Professional Development.

Previously, he was Managing/International Editor for World Oil magazine at Gulf Publishing Co. (Houston), where he was responsible for daily oversight of editorial content. During more than 22 years at World Oil, he also headed the magazine’s statistical and forecasting efforts. His compilation of oil and gas reserve figures for countries around the world was re-published annually by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Abraham earned a B.A. in journalism and business administration from Texas A&M University in 1980. His journalistic background is extensive, having worked in all four major media—magazines, newspapers, radio and television. He has traveled extensively to most of the world’s major oil-producing regions, and also serves as an expert commentator on E&P geopolitics to several TV and radio stations in the U.S. and Canada.

He is a Past President (2006) and Regent of the Houston-based National Oil Equipment Manufacturers and Delegates Society (NOMADS) and is a member of the Supply & Demand Committee of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, and of the British-American Business Council.

Gray Frederickson
Air Date July 10, 2011

Academy Award-winning producer Gray Frederickson received an OSCAR for producing THE GODFATHER PART II and was nominated for an Academy Award for producing APOCALYPSE NOW. He also won an Emmy in 2007 for producing the documentary, DREAM NO LITTLE DREAM, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ROBERT S. KERR.

Frederickson has the honor of having three of his films listed on The American Film Institute’s top 100 films.

In 2000 he started a technical film and video program at the Oklahoma City Community College where he serves as An Artist in Residence; however, he also continues to produce movies. Recent movies produced by Frederickson have been CLOUD 9 starring Burt Reynolds, THE HUNT, a sci-fi horror film, SURVEILLANCE, a thriller starring Armand Assante, SOUL’S MIDNIGHT, a vampire tale, and FINGERPRINTS, a supernatural thriller which was based on a well known urban legend. Gray also produced the drama, IVORY, in 2008, about life in a music conservatory, starring Martin Landau. His most recent films are JUST CRAZY ENOUGH, a comedy starring SNL alum, Chris Kattan; and a documentary about Natural Gas called THE GRAND ENERGY TRANSITION.

Frederickson has also produced MY FIVE WIVES starring Rodney Dangerfield and Andrew Dice Clay and SOUTH OF HEAVEN, WEST OF HELL starring Dwight Yoakam, Vince Vaughn, Billy Bob Thornton, and Bridget Fonda. Frederickson was Executive Producer of HEAVEN’S PRISONERS, starring Alec Baldwin, which was released by New Line Cinema in May 1996.

A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Frederickson later attended the University of Lausanne, in Switzerland before moving to Rome, Italy. There he served as Production Manager and Producer on a variety of Italian films such as THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY starring Clint Eastwood, and CANDY, starring Marlon Brando and Richard Burton. Frederickson then moved to Hollywood where he was Associate Producer on LITTLE FAUSS AND BIG HALSY starring Robert Redford, and Twentieth Century Fox’s MAKING IT. He was also the Executive Producer of the Paramount Film HIT, directed by Sidney Furie.

Frederickson began a 20-year association with Francis Ford Coppola as the Associate Producer on the Academy Award-winning THE GODFATHER. He also produced ONE FROM THE HEART and THE OUTSIDERS while a part of Coppola’s famed Zoetrope Studios. He was Co-Producer on the Academy Award-nominated THE GODFATHER PART III. He also was Executive Producer of UHF starring Weird Al Yankovic, and was Executive Producer of LADYBUGS for Paramount, starring Rodney Dangerfield.

Frederickson has been Vice President in Charge of Feature Film Production at
Warner Brothers/Lorimar. He also wrote the original story for the Twentieth Century Fox film BAD GIRLS, directed by Jonathan Kaplan and starring Andie MacDowell, Drew Barrymore, and Madeline Stowe. For television, Frederickson has produced the ABC television pilot THUNDER GUYS; Mickey Spillane’s THE RETURN OF MIKE HAMMER, and the Columbia Television Series HOUSTON KNIGHTS. He also developed and Executive Produced STAYING AFLOAT, starring Larry Hagman, for Tri-Star Television and NBC.

Frederickson also has a part ownership in, and is Executive Vice President of, Cinema Management Group, an International Film Sales Organization based in Los Angeles.

Frederickson is an Executive Producer with Austin based, luzworks. He is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The Academy of Television Art and Sciences, The Directors Guild of America, and the Screen Actors Guild.

Mary Eisenhower
President and Chief Executive Officer
Air Date July 3, 2011

Mary Jean Eisenhower, President and CEO of People to People International (PTPI), was born in Washington, D.C. during her grandfather, Dwight Eisenhower’s, first term as U.S. President. Her PTPI experiences have included everything from meeting first families to diverse cultural, educational and humanitarian exchanges at home and abroad. In 1999, she established PTPI’s International Friendship Fund, inspired by a visit to an orphanage in Morocco. The fund is a way to assist PTPI in global humanitarian efforts. Mary received an Honorary Doctorate in Letter of Humane from Schiller International University. She also was awarded the Knight of Peace Award from the International University in Assisi, Italy.