CooperTalk

After vaulting to stardom as a charismatic presence and chief collaborator in Kid Rock’s Twisted Brown Trucker Band, Uncle Kracker, kicked off a stunning solo career of his own. His 2000 major label debut, Double Wide, fittingly went double-platinum and yielded #1 smash “Follow Me”. Its 2002 follow-up No Stranger to Shame reached gold status and spawned cross-format hits such as “In A Little While” and the powerful cover of Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away” which set a Billboard record for most weeks at #1 on any chart, topping their #1 run on the Adult Contemporary radio charts for a staggering 28 weeks. Before Uncle Kracker flew up the charts for 5 weeks at #1 with “When the Sun Goes Down”, a duet with good friend Kenny Chesney, country music might’ve seemed an odd place to find the Detroit-based good-time Kid Rock alumni. But after a few summer tours with Chesney, Uncle Kracker reached country’s Top 10 with his double-platinum crossover hit “Smile”. Then, 2012 saw him fully embrace his countryside with his critically acclaimed fifth outing, Midnight Special produced by Keith Stegall which leaves no doubt this feel-good rocker is exactly where he should be. Uncle Kracker has played sold out shows across the country and appeared everywhere from the American Country Music Awards to Late Night with Conan O'Brien.”

Debbi Calton has been on the radio her whole life. Or at least it seems that way. From her beginnings in Charlotte, NC to Tampa to Orlando to Denver to Chicago, she has been a Philadelphia rock/classic rock radio mainstay for the last 37 years. She recently stepped down from her decades spanning midday shift at WMGK to see “what’s next.” Not being able to stay away from the music for long, “next” is OutsideFM.com with the freedom to truly play whatever she wants. It’s a full circle back to her early days in freeform radio.

Alan Zweibel is an original Saturday Night Live writer, has won five Emmy Awards and two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work in television, which includes It's Garry Shandling's Show (co-creator and producer) and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Among his eclectic body of work, Zweibel collaborated with Billy Crystal on the Tony Award-winning production of 700 Sundays, and most recently co-wrote and produced the feature film, Here Today with Crystal. He has written 11 books—his latest, a cultural memoir Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier was published by Abrams Books in 2020. Other books include The Other Shulman: A Novel, which won the 2006 Thurber Prize for American Humor and Lunatics with Dave Barry.

One of the film world's most beloved performer, he has worked with groundbreaking directors including Martin Scorsese, Tony Scott, Antoine Fuqua, Steven Zaillian, and Clint Eastwood. Paul's recent work includes The Irishman opposite Al Pacino, Plane with Gerard Butler, and Emancipation opposite Will Smith. His other feature credits include starring alongside Samuel L. Jackson in The Banker, with Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell in Get Hard, Robert DeNiro and Sylvester Stallone in Grudge Match, along with classics like Tombstone and True Romance further showcase his timeless appeal. In television, Paul Ben-Victor has played a number of roles that have left a lasting cultural impact in many highly acclaimed series, including his portrayal of studio head Alan Gray in HBO's Entourage and appearing opposite Matthew McConaughey in the award-winning True Detective. Most recently, he was in Pam & Tommy with Lily James and Sebastian Stan and can next be seen in significant roles in the new Kristen Bell show for Netflix, the Lincoln Lawyer for Netflix, Raising Kanan for Starz, Bookie for HBO Max and the international hit The Chosen for Lionsgate. His other television credits include Vinyl, In Plain Sight, John from Cincinnati, NYPD Blue, Will & Grace, The Mick, Everybody Hates Chris, Preacher, and Goliath among many others.

Jim is best known for playing Jerry Gergich on the NBC sitcom, Parks and Recreation. He has also been in countless films and TV shows such as Friends, Boston Legal, Malcolm in the Middle, Star Trek: Voyager, 3rd Rock from the Sun, ER, Parenthood, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Santa Stories, Better Call Saul, and many more.

Glen is one of the hardest workers in the music industry. From his early days starring as Paul McCartney on Broadway in Beatlemania, to being a solo artist, to having two stints with the band Styx, to playing in various bands such as The Weeklings and The Orchestra to producing and starring in the hugely successful Summer of Love Concert Series, he has had a wonderful career.

Danny is best known for his roles as Detective Scotty Valens in Cold Case, Armadillo Quintero in The Shield, Detective Nick Amaro in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Miguel Galindo in Mayans M.C. and most recently Roman Compte in Hotel Cocaine.

Corin Nemec has had a professional acting career since he was a child. He is best known for his roles in "Place of Bones," "Parker Lewis Can't Lose," "I Know My First Name Is Steven," "Beverly Hills 90210," "Webster," "The Stand," "Stargate SG-1," and countless other movies and TV shows. He is also an accomplished screenwriter and graffiti artist.  

Kyle Secor is best known for his role of Tim Bayliss on all seven seasons of the critically acclaimed Homicide: Life on the Street. He has also been in various TV shows and movies such as St. Elsewhere, City Slickers, 9-1-1 Lone Star, The Rookie, Drop Zone, Sleeping with the Enemy, Veronica Mars, Philly, The Flash, Grey's Anatomy, The Purge: Election Year, Resurrection, Scandal, Party of Five, Castle and many more.

Geoffrey Blake is an Emmy nominated, two-time SAG Award winning actor best known for his role as 'Wesley' (the abusive radical boyfriend) opposite Robin Wright's 'Jennie' in the iconic Academy Award Best Picture Forrest Gump. In addition to that film, he has appeared alongside Academy Award Winner Tom Hanks in multiple films. Those performances are part of his frequent collaborations with such Academy Award winning filmmakers as Robert Zemeckis and Ron Howard (Forrest Gump, Contact, Cast Away, Appollo 13, EDtv,  and Frost/Nixon.) His most critically acclaimed performance was that of the preppy pipe-smoking astrophysicist 'Fisher', the right-hand man, in the Sci-Fi classic Contact opposite Academy Award winner Jodie Foster. Blake has well over 100 credits to his name in both television and film. In the 1980's and early 1990's, he frequently collaborated with friend and colleague, Emilio Estevez. The two met on the generation defining film Young Guns where he portrayed 'McCloskey', the Young Gun snitch, opposite Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Dermot Mulroney. He would go on to make four more films with Estevez as both an actor and director (Men at Work, Rated X, The War at Home, Nightbreaker). He also worked with other luminary filmmakers such as Ridley & Tony Scott (The Man in the High Castle, Enemy of the State), Paul Mazursky (The Pickle), Frank Darabont (Mob City), Barry Levinson (Wag the Dog), Roland Joffe (Texas Rising) and numerous others. In addition, he has appeared in a multitude of Emmy Award winning series, mini-series, and movies for television with prolific content providers such as Steven Bochco, David Milch, Jerry Bruckheimer, Shonda Rhimes, David Shore, Paul Attanosio, Don Bellisario, and Dick Wolf, repeatedly reaching out to Blake to be on their shows.

Penelope got her big break when she co-starred in Biloxi Blues on Broadway. (And later the movie.) She has co-starred in movies such as The Freshman, Carlito's Way, Adventures in Babysitting, Kindergarten Cop, Big Top Pee-wee, Awakenings, The Shadow and Other People's Money and has worked with actors such as Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Matthew Broderick, Alec Baldwin, and Danny DeVito. Recently she played Jeffrey Dahmer's mother in the hit Netflix series and can be soon starring opposite Dennis Quaid in Reagan. www.reagan.movie

Chris Mars was one of the co-founders of the legendary band The Replacements. He played drums with them from 1979-1990 and on all seven of their studio albums. As a solo act he has recorded six records and is a very accomplished painter. His artwork has been seen all over the world and his new book 7:42 P.M.: The Art of Chris Mars will be released in the near future.

Graham is an English singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the co-lead singer and bassist of the art rock band 10cc. He has been the band's only constant member since its formation. In 1972, along with Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, he formed 10cc and enjoyed a string of Top 10 hits, including three No 1s - Rubber Bullets, I’m Not In Love and Dreadlock Holiday – along with Donna (No 2), Art For Art’s Sake and Good Morning Judge (both reaching No 5), The Things We Do For Love and I’m Mandy Fly Me, and The Wall Street Shuffle.

Todd is the lead singer and songwriter of the band Toad the Wet Sprocket.  They formed in 1986 and broke up in 1998 and then got back together for good in 2010. They've released seven studio albums and are known for their hits All I Want, Walk on the Ocean and Fall Down. As a solo artist, Glen has recorded ten studio albums.

Gedde is best known for his characters Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles, Oishi Kazihiro in Gung Ho and Nurse Yosh Takata on ER. He has been seen in various TV shows and movies such as Seinfeld, Home Improvement, Becker, Mad About You, UHF, Call Me Kat and Magnum P.I. He has also done many voice acting jobs on projects including The Simpsons, Family Guy, Kung Fu Panda 4, Ultraman: Rising, American Dad! Kim Possible, and Rugrats.   

Catherine Mary Stewart is an actor/director/writer who is best known for her roles in Night of the Comet, The Last Starfighter, Weekend at Bernie's, Mischief and Scenes from the Goldmine. She was also the first Kayla Brady on Days of Our Lives.

Thomas Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including “She Blinded Me with Science” (1982) and “Hyperactive!” (1984). He has also worked as a producer and as a session musician. He is associated with the new wave movement of the early 1980s, a form of pop music incorporating electronic instruments, but Dolby’s work covers a wide range of musical styles and moods distinct from the high-energy pop sound of his few, better-known commercial successes. In the 1990s, he founded Beatnik, a Silicon Valley software company which developed the polyphonic ringtone software and created the Nokia tune. Its technology was used in more than half a billion cell phones. He was also the music director for TED Conferences. On the faculty at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University since 2014, he leads Peabody’s Music for New Media program, which enrolled its first students in the fall of 2018. He has received four Grammy nominations, two each in 1984 and 1988 and recently published his first novel, "Prevailing Wind."

Keith recently released a Netflix special called Different Strokes. Though his career he has performed or been on Comedy Central, Expecting Amy, Gotham Comedy Live, Chelsea Lately, WTF with Marc Maron, The Wanda Sykes Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Showtime at the Apollo, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and many more. He has also been seen in various movies including Trainwreck and The King of Staten Island.

Ivan is the lead vocalist and founding member of Men Without Hats, best known for the hit songs The Safety Dance and Pop Goes the World. The band broke up in 1993 but reformed in 2002-2003 and then reunited for good in 2010. They have released nine studio albums and still tour the world.

Johnny has had a long career as a professional drummer. He got his first break with the British rock band Waysted and he hasn't looked back. After that he played with Britny Fox during the height of their popularity and has played with Doro since 1993. He also just joined the band Tyketto.