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User:Meandniles/K.C. Clifford

Singer/Songwriter seen March 10, 2009 on The Biggest Loser
K.C. Clifford will appear on NBC’s hit show The Biggest Loser, next Tuesday, March 10, 2009. In a segment promoting the Pound For Pound Challenge, the show will highlight K.C. Clifford’s music, personal weight loss story and how she’s helping raise awareness about the issue of hunger in America.

In August of 2007, Clifford changed her lifestyle with food and exercise. In the course of one year, she lost over 100 pounds, going from a size 24 to a size 10. She joined Weight Watchers and used running as her most frequent form of exercise. Her approach to weight loss was based on small gradual changes, and the core idea of learning how to love herself through healthy choices.

In response to the alarming statistics about hunger in America, and particularly in her home state of Oklahoma, K.C. wrote the song Raise Your Voice. She continues to work closely with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma to help raise awareness.

K.C. Clifford, born Karen Catherine Clifford, September 3rd, 1974 is an American singer-songwriter, musician and recording artist. She is especially known for her extraordinary voice and meticulous turn of phrase, for which she has received numerous songwriting accolades.

Her first album, Times Like These, was released in 2000. It was recorded in Nashville and showed a penchant for great melodies and instantly relatable lyrics. Times Like These is a fairly focused affair in terms of instrumentation, with Clifford’s guitar and vocal augmented by auxiliary percussion, cello and mandolin. Times Like These includes fan favorites such as Worth More than a Glance and Emily.

At the end of 2001, K.C. received her first Woody Guthrie award for best songwriter of 2001. In 2003, she collaborated with producer/musician Will Hunt on the song Loved (In Response To 3:17) from the project Apt Core 2, and the song was a number one hit on the electronic/rhythmic charts.

In April 0f 2003, she married David Broyles, her long-time sideman and leader of the band Dr. Pants.

Clifford’s second album, Teeth-marks On My Tongue, was released August 24th, 2004. Recorded in Nashville, TN, Teeth-marks showcases equal parts of Clifford’s pop and folk sensibilities. It was recorded in Nashville as well, produced by Kevin Clay, and features songs such as Find My Way Home, Stained Glass and The Wish Song. Will Hunt stepped in to produce Stained Glass, further cementing his working relationship with Clifford.

In 2005, Clifford received her second Woody Guthrie award, clinching the People’s Choice award for best live performer.

Hailing from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, K.C. comes from a musical family. Her father, Hal Clifford, is a bluegrass musician and businessman. He is the founder of Mountain Smoke, a regionally recognized band most noted for giving Vince Gill his musical start at 16.

K.C. Clifford began studying dance at age 4 and classical voice training at age 10. Through high school she competed as a classical vocalist nationally, achieving proficiency singing in 5 languages- Italian, French, German, Latin and of course, English. She performed lead roles in many musical theatre productions, including Oliver, Cats, Godspell, Bye, Bye Birdie, Give My Regards to Broadway, among others.

Upon graduation from high school Clifford initially attended Indiana University School of Music, in Bloomington, Indiana where she pursued an Opera Performance Degree. However, she made the decision during her junior year to leave school and seek treatment for bulimia. Having come to a place of renewed focus in her life and music as a result, K.C. chose to move to Nashville, complete her degree in Commercial Voice Performance at Belmont University and pursue a career as a singer-songwriter.

K.C. was a Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk competition finalist in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, she received a number of other songwriting accolades, including: West Coast Songwriters International Songwriting Contest, Pop category winner, 5th place overall, and honorable mention in the Country category; Billboard Song Contest, 3-song top finalist; Mountain Stage New Song Folk Festival Songwriting Competition, Honorable Mention; International Songwriting Competition, semi-finalist; Portland Songwriters Association Song Contest, winner.

In 2008, K.C. released the live album Pockets Full of Hope, consisting almost entirely of previously unreleased songs. It was recorded at the Blue Door in Oklahoma City on February 2nd, 2008, and released the following June. It is an excellent document of Clifford in her live performance element. It contains well-regarded songs such as Johnny Cash, Firecracker and May You Always Know Your Way Home.

Clifford will record her fourth album in March-April 2009, with Will Hunt slated to produce.