Return to flip book view

Video Clips of 9 Guests

Brant Fricker Producer Singer Musician Israel TV Network I was introduced to Brant several years ago when he was leading worship at the church of Pastor Eastman Curtis I was impressed with Brant then and I am impressed with him now several years later He is such a talented man who is truly humble for all the talents God has given him When he came on the set I told him he plays the keyboard like the famed Jerry Lee Lewis Thankfully he took the observation as a compliment As we started our interview I asked Brant how his musical journey began I wanted to know what made him the man he is today As it is with most talented individuals a deep desire begins to form inside a person that can t be ignored Unfortunately for Brant before he could step into his talents he had to go through some rough terrain As a small child Brant was exposed to a lot of drugs in his home As he describes it his father was sort of a professional bad guy for many years of his life Therefore Brant had to witness a lot of evil things at a very young age The good news is after many years of hard living his father turned his life over to God The change was so dramatic that even his buddies who he used to hang out with while indulging in bad behavior were impressed with the change in his life Unfortunately Brant s father died of cancer at the age of 30 when Brant was only 10 years old It left him feeling a sense of lose like he had never experienced The longing for his father never ceased When he was 12 years old he was going to a church in Oklahoma City All the well known Christian musical artists of the time came through the church to perform Brant played the trumpet and was part of the choir At the time he had no idea how the musical legacy of that church would bring him closer to his destiny The church was known as the blackest white church in Oklahoma City In other words they were a rockin church One rainy night as Brant was playing the trumpet in the church choir he looked over at the beautiful black grand piano and said Lord if you will give me the gift to play the piano I promise I will give the gift back to you in the form of worship Amazingly he walked over to the piano and it was as if the gift of playing dropped down from Heaven He believes God gave a little boy the comfort he needed after losing his Father at such a young age Within a couple of weeks Brant was composing songs because of his ability to play by ear Within a month he was not only composing but performing in front of crowds His musical career continued to expand He was still missing his Father but he knew God had taken an unfortunate situation in Brant s life and turned it around for his good in the form of music He knew the enemy was at the root of those early days of drugs and torment in his family He vowed that as the enemy had tormented him he would use his music to glorify God and minister to people 1

During our interview I saw another side of Brant that I had never had the opportunity to witness His laughter is contagious and he was able to keep everyone in the studio laughing right along with him Brant has led a very successful life with music always in the forefront In 2017 he became directly involved with the Israel TV Network Brant has invited Making It Happen TV as one of the featured programs on the network As I said I am totally impressed with this man of God whose future holds even greater success Brant had traveled a few hundred miles to be on set that day and must have been extremely tired because of lack of sleep However he was determined to give us his best performance When he first arrived he was wearing a nice bomber type jacket He held up two other jackets and asked which one I would like for him to wear during the interview I thought the bomber jacket looked stunning on him even though it wasn t the more formal dressed up look He agreed and we proceeded We split the interview into two segments so he could perform for us on the keyboard in between segments As I expected Brant gave us an enthusiastic performance I had asked him to play something fast and upbeat and he did just that When he came back on set after his performance for the second part of the interview he appeared to be wiping sweat from his forehead Then he gave the great reveal He admitted that his bomber jacket that I had been so adamant about him wearing was fully fur lined The roar of laughter could surely be heard throughout the building Once again Brant had revealed a part of himself that showed us all what a thoughtful ready to please gentleman he really is To his own discomfort he indulged my wishes Thanks Brant for an extraordinary interview Please follow Brant on Facebook 2

Tulsa Locations 3311 South Peoria 918 728 3102 7731 East 91st Street 98 872 9204

Camille and Haley Harris and the whole family have been on my radar for several years I met them around 2010 when I began visiting their church Camille and Haley come from a family of 8 children Their parents are Pastor David and Cheri Harris The girls were part of the music ministry at their parent s church It was refreshing to see how very knowledgeable they were about God at such a young age That of course is attributed to the parental guidance they have had over the years I have great admiration for this family I have mentioned many times they need an inspirational television show so that everyone can experience the genuine dynamics of a strong Christian family and how it operates Camille and Haley have progressed tremendously since our first interview Camille is a polished songwriter who has penned 45 songs so far while Haley has written five Even though Camille is the head writer Haley is very talented in editing their work and making sure they haven t infringed on the rights of other musicians It s no surprise that the girls play several instruments Camille plays the piano guitar ukulele banjo and drums Haley plays the guitar ukulele mandolin and some piano The girls are always ready to jump in and help wherever needed During the 2012 presidential campaign they felt compelled to write a song for then Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum They had no idea what an impact it would make They were simply trying to give a vote of confidence in a candidate that they believed in As a result the media picked up the story and it was circulated throughout numerous news channels The name of the song was Game On a catchy little tune that if that s all that was needed to get a person elected Santorum would have won hands down The girls were given the opportunity to travel with Santorum to five different states during his campaign This afforded them the opportunity to sing their original country music the National Anthem as well as the new theme song for Santorum The video of the girls singing Game On conjured over 1 million views on YouTube in a two week period They also wrote a song titled Slavery to bring awareness to sex trafficking in America I would encourage everyone to look that performance up on YouTube Such a heart warming song that brings a tremendous amount of attention to a horrendous event in our nation and across the world Like the song says It could have been you daughter could have been your mother could have been your sister could have been you Help the girls bring awareness The sister duo is beloved by everyone that meets them They continue to sing and travel to a variety of churches and events They have recorded five original albums Three are country pop one is contemporary Christian and one is a Christmas album 3

I told the girls during our interview that after their family I m their biggest fan They are so totally unique in their approach to life Their dedication to their family and friends and their strong stance for Christian principles gives other young people a strong example to follow I had requested a couple of songs for Camille and Haley to sing when they went over to the music stage I had heard these songs before but they were two of my favorites and I knew our audience would love them as well The first song titled Ain t Your Fool guides especially young people into what to watch out for in a new relationship The second song Wish I Didn t Like You points to something we have all experienced falling in love After they sang those two songs their Dad who shows no sign of slowing down on the admiration he has towards his singing daughters mentioned a song titled What True Love Means Camille had written the song which focuses on marriages being restored Since Camille had never been married she was hesitant about singing the song but we convinced her that it could touch a lot of lives Wow I had never heard the song before Camille did such a beautiful job expressing the break down in some marriages and yet she and Haley brought the song around to a happy ending My time spent with the girls was so enjoyable They never let me down There joy is contagious Their talent is beyond words and there is no doubt that God is taking these girls to greater heights Success isn t measured by a want to attitude it s measured by your desire to Make It Happen 4

Rooms Make yourself at home in one of the 300 air conditioned rooms featuring refrigerators and iPod docking stations Your room comes with a pillowtop bed 27 inch Smart televisions with premium TV channels provide entertainment with wired and wireless Internet access available for a surcharge Private bathrooms with shower tub combinations feature complimentary toiletries and hair dryers Amenities Take advantage of recreation opportunities including an indoor pool and a fitness center Additional amenities at this hotel include wireless Internet access surcharge an arcade game room and gift shops newsstands Guests can catch a ride to nearby destinations on the complimentary area shuttle Dining Enjoy a meal at the restaurant or stay in and take advantage of the hotel s room service during limited hours Quench your thirst with your favorite drink at the bar lounge Buffet breakfasts are available for a fee

John is from Tulsa Oklahoma I had never met John until the day of our interview We had been trying to get together for several years to no avail I can assure you the wait was worth it John is a mild mannered man that you instantly find yourself liking He told us he had always wanted to write and wanted to become an author After submitting many articles to numerous publications and receiving a pile of rejections he decided to expand his horizons and try comedy stand up If he was going to be rejected at least it would be face to face rather than on a cold piece of paper He felt compelled to try since the best times in his life was when he was making somebody laugh so why not make a career out of it When the request to perform comedy first began coming in he was still working a full time job in another arena He said it was somewhat difficult to schedule comedy gigs around his work schedule However with a little creativity he was able to get himself booked in enough venues until he was comfortable enough in his pursuit to trust that comedy was his full time job He was willing to pay his dues until the time came when his name was in line with other comedians He believed if he stuck with it he would receive the success he had always desired As John took the stage on Making It Happen TV we realized he had made the right decision to pursue comedy His timing was perfect as he laid out his stories in random order He even tried a couple of new ones on us that made us all laugh My monologue for that day was about Confidence So I asked John how he developed confidence to be a stand up comedian To my surprise he said he went through a lot of pain and took a lot of risks He cautioned our audience not to fall into the Confidence Trap What he meant by that was stop telling yourself that you will try something after you build your confidence Unfortunately if you keep that train of thought you will waste your whole life trying to get ready Excuse after excuse will emerge At some point you must run after what you are afraid of You must muster enough courage to move forward You must try things you ve never tried and you must challenge yourself to find those depths of courage that will take you where you want to go 5

These days John performs his comedy at all types of venues At the time of our interview he had just finished shooting a commercial for Fowler Chevrolet in Tulsa I had the joy of watching his part in the commercial and as always he had a great performance John is such a warm friendly guy and a man that I now consider a friend There is no doubt that success will continue to follow him Whether he is performing comedy skits motivational speaking or comedic commercials he is bound to put a smile on the faces of his audience 6

Tulsa 7111 S Mingo Road Tulsa Oklahoma 74133 Phone 918 250 5999 Tulsa 8112 S Lewis Tulsa Oklahoma 74137 Phone 918 298 9880

I met Jimmy Jack in 2010 as he was coming through Tulsa He wanted to find out more about Making It Happen TV Having heard him play his guitar in my living room I certainly wanted to have him on the set of the show at some point Now eight years later it became a reality I told Jimmy his guitar playing was something I truly admired about him His response was his playing has gotten him more shows to play at and artists to play with but his songwriting has made him the most popular in circles of music Jimmy has a long journey with music Even though his early childhood had a few bumps along the way he was able to make it through the maze and find out what his true purpose was Jimmy was 6 years old when he watched his father drive out of his life His mother who I had the honor of spending time with worked hard as a single parent to keep him his brother and sister together They didn t have much in the small town of Snyder Oklahoma but when he started the fourth grade he wanted to learn how to play the violin His mother always made sure he had both an instrument to play and private lessons The sacrifices his mother made built his musical foundation for the rest of his life In 1978 Jimmy Jack wrote the theme song for the National Farmers Movement and recorded it in Studio One in Nashville The song was titled Ode to The Farmer He moved to California shortly after that and cofounded the Mojave River Band playing fiddle banjo and guitar At the Wrightwood Bluegrass Festival he won the award as instrumentalist and Entertainer of the Year A couple of years later he co founded the Renegade Band while still in Hollywood The band immediately signed a recording contract with Fox Fidel Records and began recording their first album at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood I had never heard of Gold Star so I did some research Jimmy Jack was certainly at the top of the ladder when he recorded at Gold Star In its day Gold Star was a major recording studio from 1950 to 1984 They were one of the most influential and successful commercial recording studios in the world They were responsible for recording some of the major musical artists of our time People such as Sonny and Cher Jimi Hendrix Bobby Darin The Monkees Bob Dylan John Lennon Tina Turner and so many more So Jimmy Jack you definitely got your start with the big boys 7

Finally Jimmy moved back to Oklahoma in 1983 and started playing in Coffee Houses and Holiday Inns but before long from the urging of a friend he moved to Nashville He began writing and publishing for a while with Multi Grammy Winner Gary S Paxton During this time Jimmy Jack had several indie cuts In 1993 in order to be the best father he could be and devote the majority of his time to his first son he went to work for the Gibson Guitar Company until 2003 He didn t lay down music completely during that time he was a staff writer off and on for a music publishing company It was very admirable for Jimmy Jack to lay his dreams down for a while to raise his son When the time came that he felt his day to day parenting was coming to an end he decided to jump back into full time music For years he traveled throughout the nation as a one man show with his guitar If he wants to Jimmy can put on a whole concert without ever singing a song He is fluent in classical bluegrass country and rock music I reminded him of the c d he gave me years ago full of love songs he had written His writing is superb The man knows how to put words together He is quick to say in his forty plus years in the music business he s done everything he s wanted to do He s had some medium song cuts nothing that went off the charts but hit songs never the less He s worked with stars he s been in the studio producing music and had number one songs Jimmy said money was never the object Making It was doing what he wanted to do In 2016 Jimmy Jack founded the Jimmy Jack Foundation primarily for kids Over the years he witnessed many kids who wanted to learn how to play an instrument but either didn t have the encouragement from their family or the money to purchase instruments or lessons So the foundation seemed like the best way to make sure some of the kids today would be able to pursue music Jimmy Jack has surrounded himself with like minded musicians and businessmen and is always looking for people who want to partner with the foundation The Jimmy Jack Foundation is based out of Snyder Oklahoma and is a 501c3 nonprofit I have witnessed his performing abilities on numerous occasions Jimmy is without a doubt one of the most accomplished musician and songwriter of our time He not only has a phenomenal list of songs that he s written and performed but you can ask him to play just about any song and he s right on it After learning of his varied accomplishments many of which are too numerous to list I believe Jimmy should be inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame 8

Advertise Here

Once again someone came on the set that seemed like family Juli and her husband Jeff are from Ponca City Oklahoma and when we met it felt like we d known each other for ever I first met Juli over the phone about a month before our interview Justin Peters from Songs of the Planet in Nashville Tennessee is her record producer and the songwriter of the song she sang that day on our stage titled God is Ever True She was so honored that Justin let her be the voice of that song She described Justin as a wonderful guy and a go getter I had never met Justin in person but had been talking to him on the phone for several years I wanted to hear a little background of Juli s life and how she found herself singing and acting She was the youngest in her family of four children and as the youngest she was known as the entertainer or a ham Throughout her school years she was involved in band chorus and drama Then in college she performed in the community theatre So obviously performing was something in her DNA When she met her husband Jeff they decided that the little town of Ponca City Oklahoma would always be there to come back to so in the meantime they wanted to spread their wings and see what else was out there in this big beautiful world They decided to move to Branson Missouri just to see what doors God might open Juli got cast in roles with The Promise and Smoke on the Mountain for 15 years She said she played all three female roles and that was very challenging Then they got their son She excitedly said her lifelong dream was to be a mother She loves the way God does things Their son came to them through adoption not through the usual channels of childbirth That was her first experience of God doing things differently than she expected but so much better than she could have ever imagined One day Jeff saw an audition notice for a film that was shooting in Springfield Missouri He suggested that Juli submit her resume At the time she was still performing in Smoke on the Mountain They had a church ministry and were leading children s worship and raising a son so she felt her hands were full Jeff however continued to bring the subject up Finally she went into the bathroom took a selfie and submitted it and they called her for an audition She landed the role in a movie called Surrender a faithbased film From there Jeff just took that ball and started rolling with it He started submitting her to any and every project he came upon 9

When God called her away from children s ministry to pursue acting she was shocked even though it fit her perfectly Her first concern was where acting might take her if she continued to pursue it She refused to sell out her relationship with God for the bright lights of Hollywood Slowly God began to take away things in her life that were her excuses as to why she couldn t follow the call She knew she was called to be an actress and a singer because both of those talents came so naturally to her Juli began to realize that sometimes God takes things out of your life so He can prepare you for something else Juli wanted our audience to know that if you are facing a hard time then look for the purpose look for the open door Look for the ways God is wanting to stretch you and challenge you He will do it even if He must do it with you kicking and screaming because sometimes you don t understand what He is doing at the time Those words from Juli were wisdom packed So many people have difficulty knowing the direction God wants their life to go so they just go where the wind blows them Sometimes years are wasted following the wrong path in life when a simple Be Still and Know That I Am God moment would reveal the direction that God wants to take a person When Juli went over to the music stage and began to sing right away you could see what a seasoned performer she is Her gentle sweet voice made the song come alive I had never seen her in an acting role but as her voice rang out you could easily see her theatre experience coming to life Juli is humbled by the gifts that God has given her She had no idea years ago going to school in Ponca City Oklahoma that doors would open for her that brought her such great fulfillment Juli said as a little girl she would dream and fantasize about what she would like to do with her life but to truly have a career in film and music was not something she really thought would happen but it did Juli has been given a lot of opportunities and yet I m sure there are so many more doors that will continue to open for her After our interview Juli provided me with a demo clip of several of her acting roles which I included in her taped interview She is such a versatile actress She is able to make each character role as believable as the next The sky is the limit for Juli Tapken A Second Chance is her latest film and they are waiting for distribution 10

Advertise Here

I welcomed two distinguished gentlemen on the set who I had never met before and really knew nothing about before that day Wow I was so impressed Sometimes you meet people that are just every day folks and that s fine Then there are days when individuals enter the room with a degree of poise and dignity that can t be denied Donald Ryan had been working for Oral Roberts University as a Music Professor for thirty five years and was retiring a week after our interview He is an internationally acclaimed pianist who was a Madeyska Award Recipient in the Chopin Competition I knew when we first met that Donald had a distinct accent in his voice I found out he originally comes from Trinidad Caribbean Island 2 800 miles away and near Venezuela Donald has a unique story of how he came to the United States He and his family listened to the Oral Roberts broadcast nearly every Sunday Morning He had been playing the piano since he was three years old He said he was one of those that it just came like a duck to water He loved playing the piano but hated to practice He said he got a lot of lickings from his father because he failed to practice as much as he should A defining moment came in his life when he prayed and said God I m going to trust you with my life and let you choose for me Once he made up his mind to get serious about playing he realized he was enjoying practicing and wanted to become a pianist In 1967 Donald completed the U S equivalent of a high school diploma but had no intentions of pursuing music at the university level However in 1968 his skills impressed a judge while at a music competition which secured him a place in the third class at Oral Roberts University To add to his journey Donald met his wife Sharon another ORU graduate and began to make a name for himself as a professional pianist To add to Donald s ordered steps while at ORU the teacher who taught him was leaving the university In a conversation with the chairman of the music department Donald was asked if he would like to take his place as the music professor and of course he accepted In my opinion these sequence of events in Donald s life go right along with the scripture which says The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord In ordering my steps Lord I m so blessed to have met Donald Ryan and his son Barron 11

A father and son piano duo must be rare To watch the two of them interact with such smooth musical movements was something to watch I also noticed the similarities in the two gentlemen when it comes to the way they present themselves You could certainly see that Barron was a chip off his father Manners and representation meant a lot to both I asked Barron how he got started playing the piano He said he started taking lessons from his father when he was four years old which was just a year later than when his father began many years earlier Before they became a father and son piano duo Barron used to play drums in his Dad s Jazz Trio After he graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2009 he and his Dad began touring and performing as a duo He admits that being a pianist isn t a walk in the park He has to practice many hours a day to perform the piano pieces that would allow he and his Dad entrance into a variety of venues Toward the end of our interview I asked them what direction they were going with their careers Barron said they aim to continue doing what they sought out after from the very beginning to share the love that they feel for God s people and use music to convey that message Of course if you see the two of them together whether in a performance or speaking one on one you immediately know that their message is coming across loud and clear The interview was well worth my time and as I told them both we are family now 12

Advertise Here

I have been so fortunate to interview some of the best and most interesting people around On the day of my interview with Marty Tipton it was like visiting with a long lost friend and yet I had never met him until that day He brought with him his beautiful wife Jill and his two charming and talented daughters Bristol and Bella Marty is known as the Oklahoma Kid He is a Trick Roper and Cowboy Humorist He is also a fourthgeneration lasso spinning artist He s been perfecting his talent for over 30 years since starting at the very young age of nine One of the things that intrigued me about Marty was the fact that he has ties to the late great Will Rogers It can t be a coincidence that he is a roper since Marty s Grandmother McSpadden was a cousin to Will Rogers Looks like it was all in the genes For generations Marty s family has been involved either by performing in or directing cowboy events Some of the events included Pawnee Bill s Wild West Show 101 Ranch Wild West Show and Tom Mix Circus leading all the way back to the late 1800 s Marty s great grandfather worked with Buffalo Bill Later Pawnee Bill came along and Marty s grandfather got involved Marty started performing at rodeos when he was in the first grade in what they call Little Britches rodeo association I asked Marty what drew him to roping was it simply because it was part of your family heritage or did you feel obligated to carry on the legacy He said he just got bored one day while standing out in the field waiting for the cattle to be worked He didn t have anything else to do so he started spinning his rope and continued to get better at it Someone suggested he try roping on stage He just happened to be at a roping performance one day when he was nine years old and the gentleman performing asked him to come on stage and show the audience what he could do That performance began his journey 13

Marty has toured all over the nation and been on numerous television shows displaying his skilled performances One of the tricks he performs is spinning a hundred feet of rope at one time which is rare Normally ropers only spin 40 feet and sometimes up to 65 feet of rope There are only four or five cowboys in the country that can spin 100 feet of rope Marty said the reason he likes to spin the bigger rope is the bigger the rope the bigger the audience seems to be Of course by the time he gets to 100 feet of rope everyone is standing up and clapping loudly Marty said the best part of his career is meeting so many people everywhere he goes Trick roping is not an easy task He said he could have two doctorates with the hours he has spent perfecting his talent which he says takes a lot of skill The degree he earned in finance would be a much easier job but it doesn t fulfill him in the same way that mesmerizing an audience does As Marty performed some of his tricks on our stage I noticed that the rope that appeared to be flimsy when he picked it up suddenly seemed rigid almost like it had a wire running through it I questioned Marty about it He said it has to do with the speed in which you spin it It s not how fast or how slow you spin the rope it s how precise you spin it just the right speed He said it takes 30 days to stretch and treat a rope until it is ready and then 3 or 4 years to get the rope broke in exactly the way you want it Not only is Marty a seasoned performer he is a very personable and caring man I imagine all his audience members are anxious to talk with him after a performance He really is like the guy next door and as Will Rogers once said I never met a man I didn t like another example of it s in the genes Marty might be entering another arena someday that of acting He s already advising people on western movie sets He s been offered a few parts but doesn t know when or if he will take the leap He gets such a thrill out of working with live audiences that it s hard to break away from something he loves The day of the interview and performance Marty gave his daughters the opportunity to show us how much they have learned about roping as well I declined to make a fool out of myself by picking up a rope However one of our staff members Andrew Rohde felt confident and believe it or not he learned a few amateur spins rather quickly It goes without saying Marty has forged a path for himself Along the way he has made countless friends one of which is yours truly 14

Thank goodness I got right under the wire before Los Angeles became Steve s home and he moved out of Oklahoma to continue his pursuit of acting Steve is originally from Ponca City Oklahoma He first began performing magic tricks when he was 6 years old after being mesmerized by the Great Houdini When Steve was in high school a hypnotist came to perform for the students The principal introduced them thinking Steve might want to work for the agency that the hypnotist was involved with They decided for the hypnotist Dr Roy Bellows to come to Steve s home so they could discuss what direction to go in Steve was on his way to a successful career Steve learned how to escape from handcuffs and boxes and perform dare devil escapes He perfected the upside down water escape of which Houdini eventually died from Steve said he always took baby steps as he was learning and as time passed he would increase the danger I asked Steve what his parents thought of his career choice His dad was an executive for Conoco Oil there in Ponca City and because of his upbringing and life style he questioned the wisdom in Steve s decision He wasn t too keen on the idea of him becoming an actor either even though Steve was pursuing that avenue as well and had been awarded several acting scholarships His father suggested he take the acting scholarship for two years and then change his major to something that would for sure pay the bills Fortunately there came a day when his father agreed that Steve had made the right career choice He admitted that Steve was making as much money as anyone else was and that being a self employed man seemed to fit him perfectly He knew that he had come from a background that focused on security and benefits from a company He wasn t comfortable not having a planned out day to day schedule but he could see that Steve thrived in that environment There was only one draw back for his parents They wouldn t attend his escape performances He had to agree to call them just before and just after an escape There were mishaps occasionally but all in all everything went as planned On the day of our interview Steve performed a few tricks for us The escape from handcuffs left you scratching your head How in the world did he escape that fast I was the one that tightened the cuffs on him so it was amazing to me that he could get out of them so easily 15

He did a few other simple tricks as well but the one that caused us all to gasp was when he trapped Deborah in a guillotine and lowered the blade She was one brave young lady To this day I don t know Steve s secret Steve has won numerous awards and traveled across the nation He has shared the stage with Henry Winkler and opened for rock stars like Alice Cooper He s also worked for Evil Knevil Steve won the Nabisco Unlock the Magic award which is a national competition involving hundreds of magicians He was also voted one of the Top Three Actors in America s Cast Me Competition and Reality Show and received the coveted Sharp Acting award Steve holds the world record for speed escapes from handcuffs in less than 2 seconds and is the former TV star of Fox TV s Magical Mystery Tour He was also featured twice in 2015 on the History Channel for his escape tribute to Houdini Steve is an incredible guy with amazing talents The risks he has taken over the forty plus years that he has been entertaining has not been with out some physical pain along the way but it has never stopped him He knew what his career path was from a very young age Despite the questions his parents had in the beginning Steve has proven that he knew what he was doing Steve has stayed the course when so many people give up on their dream and never see it come to fruition Now that he has moved to Los Angeles and has already had open doors for acting parts I m anxious to see where it all goes He is such a versatile person no doubt we will see him on the big screen before long For further information you can check him out on Facebook or his website 16

Royal Wade Kimes Cowboy Country Music Artist Royal is another gentleman that I ve been in contact with for several years and finally had the opportunity to schedule him for an interview He has such a unique name so I had to ask him how his parents chose that name To my surprise he said his Dad was sitting in a restaurant drinking a cup of coffee and looked up on the wall and saw a sign that said Royal Crown Cola Right away he knew that was the name they should choose as they waited the arrival of their son I then asked Royal if his middle name Wade was a family name I was surprised when he said No that came from a comic strip Interestingly his unique name goes along with how unique he is as a person As he jokingly said Don t you see the glow Very often in the music or acting world producers or key executives change the names of their celebrities to fit a specific genre The executives were looking for a name that would fit for someone singing Cowboy Country Music When they found out Wade s name was Royal Wade they knew they didn t have to look any further His name was a perfect fit Royal Wade Kimes Royal said he knew when he was four years old that he wanted to be a country singer He dearly loved his cousin who he spent many hours with on the porch that was lit by a small yellow light His cousin played a guitar which was just about the only means of entertainment they had since their family was so poor The influence that his cousin had on him created a desire to play the guitar and it has carried him throughout his life When Royal Wade was 15 years old he worked at his Dad s saw mill during the summers That year he saved his money so he could buy a Stella Guitar for twenty five dollars I took the time to research about Stella Guitars since I wasn t familiar with that brand Apparently it was a well recognized guitar in its day The company began in 1899 and was dissolved in 1974 An interesting bit of trivia is this brand of guitar was at one time played by Willie Nelson Elvis Presley and B B King as quoted by Wikipedia Royal said it was too bad that he didn t still have the guitar because who knows it might be worth a lot of money Royal Wade is very proud of the fact that he is the last cowboy of the last generation to ride on horseback in the Boston Mountains of Arkansas where his family was from He rode in those mountains while it was still open range I can picture the scene of a western movie titled Royal Wade on the Open Range Royal decided when they closed the range he would pack up his guitar and move to Nashville for the next phase of his life Of course just like many other young musicians he thought the doors would open wide for his talent He soon found out it wasn t that easy He found a job at a horse ranch because tending horses was something he did quite well Two years passed before his big break came He was walking down the street one day and happened to run into the famed Eddy Arnold Eddy was a country music artist who performed for six decades and everyone seemed to love not only his music but the person he had become Eddy Arnold scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts second only to George Jones So when Eddy took interest in Royal Wade it was a major move forward 17

Eddy invited Royal to his house after Christmas that year There Royal stood with a worn out tape filled with songs he had written He didn t want to take advantage of Eddy s hospitality so all he requested was for Eddy to tell him if he was good enough to pursue a singing and writing career I m sure Royal must have been holding his breath as he waited for Eddy s opinion When he did speak it was the words Royal longed to hear Eddy saw greatness in Royal and right away got on the phone and called one of the high powered music executives and told him he was sending him a young singer that he needed to pay close attention to That phone call was all Royal needed to convince himself that he was good enough for Nashville Royal and Eddy formed a long lasting friendship that lasted over 20 plus years Royal Wade s demeanor is that of a rugged and yet polished cowboy who had the aura of a man s man However when he got on the stage with his guitar and started singing a beautiful love song I saw a whole other dimension to this talented gentleman During the remainder of our interview he told me about a few of the eight books he had written I said why did you start writing books His answer my wife said why don t you write some books Jokingly I said do you always do what your wife says Once again I saw another dimension to this talented and yet extremely funny cowboy singer He looked straight into the camera and said there s only two kinds of men in this world There s them what is hen pecked and then there s them what lies about it Needless to say I cracked up with laughter as everyone else did Since Making It Happen TV is an inspirational show I was anxious to hear an incident that happened in Royal s life that he assured me would inspire our audience Because of the rise in technology things had begun to change in Nashville Royal had to make a decision about which direction he was going to go in his career He had been in Nashville for 27 years and had experienced a lot of success and yet he could feel there was a change coming and wasn t quite sure which direction to go One day as he walked out to his barn he said Lord if you want me to go I will but you re going to have to send me an Eagle because that means I m free to go Three days later he was out in his barn and he heard his wife yelling from the house which was 100 yards away She said Wade there s an eagle The Eagle had been circling the barn four or five times When Royal came out of the barn the Eagle flew up into a tree and cocked his head to one side starring at Royal In return Royal cocked his head and stared at the Eagle and then said I ve been waiting on you ole boy Of course it was a very emotional exchange between himself and the Eagle Walking back up to the house blinded by tears he realized God had given him the answer to his prayer and the direction he was to go with his career Right away he put a For Sale sign in his front yard The next day he informed the rest of his team that he would be moving back to Arkansas to form what he was going to call the Pro Country Music Association Royal has had great success with the association and broadcast an award show every year The award show is high rated and airs on Dish Network RFD Cowboy Station and Cox TV going into 25 million homes out of Fort Smith Arkansas What a blessing it was to interview such a seasoned performer author songwriter and all around good guy 18

Locations 51st S Memorial 7877 East 51st Street Tulsa Oklahoma 74145 918 270 4777 Broken Arrow 1150 North 9th Street Broken Arrow Oklahoma 74012 918 286 1777 Cherry Street 1419 East 15th Street Tulsa Oklahoma 74120 918 582 4777 KingsPointe 5966 South Yale Avenue Tulsa Oklahoma 74135 918 492 4777 Owasso 12903 A E 96th St North Owasso Oklahoma 74055 918 928 4777 South Memorial we have moved 10461 South Memorial Drive Tulsa Oklahoma 74133 918 366 4777 Tulsa Hills 7549 South Olympia Avenue Tulsa Oklahoma 74132 918 609 6777

Victoria Lee Author Speaker TV Host