Jeff Isaacson (born July 14, 1983) is an internationally elite curler from the United States. He graduated in 2001 from Mesabi East High School in Aurora, Minnesota.

He currently plays Second on John Shuster's team which won the US Olympic Trials in February 2009 and earned a spot on the 2010 United States Olympic Team. In addition to John Shuster his other teammates are John Benton and Jason Smith.^[1] Chris Plys joined the team as alternate after the Olympic Trials.

By winning the 2010 US Olympic Trials, his team also qualified for the 2009 Curling World Championships held in Moncton, Canada. Isaacson and his team finished with a 7–4 record. They lost a tiebreaker match against Team Norway to qualify for the semifinals and finished fifth overall.

Teammates[link]

2009 Moncton World Championships

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

• John Shuster, Skip
• Jason Smith, Third
• John Benton, Lead
• Chris Plys, Alternate

References[link]

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Rodney Colin Williams (born April 25, 1977 in Decatur, Georgia) is a former American and Canadian football punter who last played for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.

College career[link]

Williams, who played from 1995 to 1998, left Georgia Tech as the school's career leader in punting average at 41.1 yards a kick. His single-season average of 45.64 yards a kick in 1997 set a school record that still stands. That same season, he had a school record 553 punting yards against Florida State. In November of 2011, Williams was inducted in to the Georgie Tech Sports Hall of Fame.

Professional career[link]

He was in the NFL, trying out for many teams over several years landing a job once, in 2001 with the New York Giants. At the time, Williams was the only starting African-American punter in the NFL, and was just the fourth in the league's history. Williams set a team record with a 90 yard punt on Monday Night Football on September 10, 2001 in Denver against the Broncos.^[1] He is now out of the league after not signing with a team since 2006.

References[link]

External links[link]

• nfl.com profile

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Steve Richard, born in Providence, Rhode Island, living in St. Louis, Missouri is an American Christian Country music singer. He is on the Force MP Entertainment record label.

Steve Richard has toured with musicians, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Dickey Betts, Dierks Bentley, Montgomery Gentry and Craig Morgan^[1]. His Goodwill Radio Tour raised funds for local and national charities, including Toys For Tots, the National Cancer Society and the Salvation Army.

Steve has released two albums to date, "Steve Richard" (2008) and "Up to Somethin'" (2009). "Up to Somethin'" was produced by Phil O’Donnell, whose producing and songwriting credits include Craig Morgan, Justin Moore, Montgomery Gentry, and Clay Walker. The recording was done at Reba McEntire’s Starstruck Studios and at Nashville’s Legends Studio.

For his self-titled first album, Steve moved to Nashville, TN and worked with both producer/musician John Rich and producer Michael Bradford (Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker) with whom he wrote seven of the songs. The single, “Stomp,” was used for a line dance^[2] and became an interactive video game^[3][4], while his “ Bridge Back Home” was used by the National Wrestling Alliance.

Steve currently lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with his wife, Rachelle, and his daughter, Marion (born 2007).

Influences[link]

Major influences include the music of the '60s, from the Beatles and other British invasion bands to the folk/rock of Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul & Mary, soul music influences including the Temptations and Stevie Wonder. His country influences include Gram Parsons, Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens, and Porter Wagoner.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 2008 – Steve Richard / Produced by Michael Bradford, John Rich
• 2010 - Up To Somethin’ / Produced by Phil O’Donnell

Singles[link]

• "Love's Gotta Go Somewhere" (2011)
• “Eighty Acre Church” (2010–2011) – Reached #1 on the Power Source chart in December 2010^[5]
• “Invisible Hand” (2010–2011)
• “Make It Into Heaven” (2009–2010)^[6]

Reached #3 on the Power Source chart, July 2009^[7]

Nominated for Song of the Year at the 2009 Inspirational Country Music Awards^[8]

• "Never Leave You Behind," (2009) Reached Top 15 on the Powersource Christian Country Chart^[9]
• "Stomp" (2009)^[10]

Awards[link]

• 15th Annual Inspirational Country Music Awards “New Artist of the Year”^[11]
• 15th Annual Inspirational Country Music Awards “Song of the Year” Nomination for “Make It Into Heaven”^[12]
• 16th Annual Inspirational Country Music Awards Final Round Nominee for Christian Country Song of the Year, "Eighty Acre Church"^[13]
• 16th Annual Inspirational Country Music Awards Final Round Nominee for the Entertainer of the Year^[14]

Music Videos[link]

• "Eight Acre Church, FFA Remix" (2010)
• “Eighty Acre Church” (2010)
• “Invisible Hand” (2010)
• “Stomp” (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

• www.steverichardmusic.com

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2008)

Jeffery Wayne "Jeff" Bates (born September 19, 1963) is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Records in 2003, Bates released his debut album Rainbow Man that year. A second album, Leave the Light On, was released in 2005 on RCA. He left RCA in 2006. This album was followed by Jeff Bates in 2008 on the independent Black River Entertainment. Bates' two RCA albums accounted for seven chart singles on the Billboard country charts, of which three reached top 40: "The Love Song" (his highest, at #8), "I Wanna Make You Cry" at #23, and "Long, Slow Kisses" at #17.

Biography[link]

This section requires expansion with: more biographical info.

Jeff Bates was born in Bunker Hill, Mississippi, a community in Marion County. He went to East Marion High School in Columbia.^[2]

Musical career[link]

[edit] Rainbow Man

Before signing to a record contract, Bates co-wrote Tracy Lawrence's 2002 single "What a Memory". Bates signed to RCA Records Nashville in 2003, releasing his debut single, "The Love Song" that year. Peaking at #8 on the Billboard country charts, it was the first of three singles from his debut album Rainbow Man,^[2] which also produced a #47 in its title track and a #23 in "I Wanna Make You Cry". Bates co-produced the album with David Malloy, Kenny Beard, and Scott Hendricks.

[edit] Leave the Light On

His fourth single, "Long, Slow Kisses", was a re-recording of a cut from his debut album. This re-recording was the third Top 40 hit of his career, peaking at #17 in 2005. It was also the first of four singles from his second album, Leave the Light On.^[2] However, none of the other three singles from this album — "Good People", "No Shame" and "One Second Chance" — reached Top 40, (However, "No Shame" did reach top 40 at #40 for Mediabase, which is used by Bob Kingsley's "Country Top 40" show), and Bates was dropped from RCA's roster.

[edit] Jeff Bates

He signed to Black River Entertainment in 2008 and released his self-titled third album. The album's first three singles were "Don't Hate Me for Lovin' You", "Riverbank", and "One Thing". In January 2009 he released his first Christmas single "That's What Christmas Is" with Jimmy Fortune of The Statler Brothers fame singing background vocals.

[edit] One Day Closer

Jeff's second and first EP for Black River, "One Day Closer" was released February 15, 2011.

Personal life and charitable efforts[link]

After signing a contract with Warner-Chappell Publishing, Bates developed a methamphetamine addiction in late 1999. To feed the drug habit, he sold everything he owned and then resorted to stealing, including a guitar from his friend Kenny Beard. On March 14, 2001, he was arrested for drug possession and grand theft. After rehabilitation and jail time, he was given a second chance and signed to RCA. The song "One Second Chance" was inspired by this part of his life.^[3]

In August 2006, a $3,500 guitar that was a gift to Bates from the Takamine guitar company and used in his video "One Second Chance" was stolen from Bates' garage. When Bates called the Nashville police, Det. Rick Mavity was sent to investigate. Mavity was the same officer involved in Bates' arrest in 2001. Mavity located the stolen guitar in a pawn shop and returned it to Bates.^[4]

Bates has been active in his works of compassion, collecting for organizations such as Toys for Tots and others. In 2005, a concert in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, raised $25,000 for Hurricane Katrina relief in his home area.

In May 2007, Bates married his girlfriend, Kelly Vaughn,^[5] in an outdoor ceremony. A year later, he signed to Black River Music Group and released his self-titled third album.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jeff Bates at Allmusic
• Official Jeff Bates website

Sonya Melissa Isaacs (born July 22, 1974) is an American country and Christian music singer. Isaacs grew up near Morrow, Ohio, and graduated from Little Miami High School in 1992.

She has released one album on Lyric Street Records, and has charted five singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. Three were included on her self-titled debut album, released in 2000. A fourth was a Christmas single included on the label's multi-artist collection No Wrapping Required: A Christmas Album. Her highest-charting single, "No Regrets Yet", peaked at number 36 on the country charts but did not appear on an album.

She parted ways with Lyric Street in 2004.^[3] Isaacs, along with several of her family members, also comprise a gospel music band called The Isaacs.^[4] Sonya recorded the song "The Battlefield" for the soundtrack to the 2006 film Broken Bridges. She and Vince Gill contributed guest vocals to a cover of "Misty" on Cledus T. Judd's 2007 tribute album Boogity, Boogity — A Tribute to the Comedic Genius of Ray Stevens.

Isaacs is married to singer-songwriter Jimmy Yeary, with whom she co-wrote Martina McBride's 2011 single "I'm Gonna Love You Through It".^[5]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Other charted songs[link]

Music videos[link]

References[link]