Rick Emerson

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Rick Emerson

Birth name	Rick Emerson
Born	March 07, 1973 (age 34) Kennewick, Washington
Show	The Rick Emerson Show
Station(s)	KCMD-AM 970 Solid State Radio
Time slot	Monday-Friday
Style	Talk
Country	United States
Website	RickEmerson.com

Rick Emerson is a radio personality most famous for The Rick Emerson Show, which was broadcast on a number of radio stations in Portland, Oregon and was nationally syndicated for a period from 1998-2001. The show began a new run on KCMD-AM 970 "Solid State Radio," formerly branded as Johnson 970, on March 13th, 2006. Emerson is also program director for AM 970.

1 Personal History
2 Bigger Than Jesus
3 Remote Control
4 Untitled Upcoming Project
5 Filmography
6 External links

[edit] Personal History

Rick Emerson was born March 7, 1973 in Kennewick, Washington.

At age 14 he began volunteering at a local radio station. After graduating fourth-to-last in his high school class, he moved to Spokane, Washington, where he eventually landed his first talk-show, broadcasting from a bomb shelter in the basement of the station's building and managed to earn a small, but loyal following. For many years listeners knew him as Rick Taylor, a last name that he picked out of a phone-book at the beginning of his career.

He was promoted to a position broadcasting during the afternoon drive in Salt Lake City where he co-hosted a show with Clyde Lewis. He became Program Director of KCNR in Salt Lake and helped create one of the most popular radio stations in Utah. A change in the station's format in 1997 left Emerson without a microphone.

In February of 2007, Rick Emerson finally met his hero, Aaron Sorkin at the opening of Sorkin's new play The Farnsworth Invention. Having rehearsed how he would introduce himself to Mr. Sorkin, he carried his meeting off flawlessly by saying "Thank you for your love of language", to which Sorkin replied "What a beautiful thing to say". Rick Emerson celebrated this encounter by crossing out one more person on his MySpace People I'd Like To Meet list.

[edit] Bigger Than Jesus

With the demise of The Rick Emerson Show, Emerson turned his attention to a project he had begun during the show's seven year run, a one man play entitled "Bigger Than Jesus: The Diary of a Rock & Roll Fan". The show follows fifteen years of Emerson's rock fandom and "pays tribute to that time in everyone's life when music was all that mattered."

Rick Emerson in "Bigger Than Jesus" DVD

Emerson and creative partner Joni DeRouchie chose to release the previously successful stage show on DVD. The production, written and performed by Emerson and directed by DeRouchie, had been performed twice before, once in a one-night performance at Portland's Clinton Street Theatre, and during a two-week run at Portland's Imago theatre. The DVD performance was filmed before a live audience on June 26th, 2005 at Portland State University's Lincoln Performance Hall, backed by a live band. The DVD was released at a party at the Mount Tabor Theatre on December 3rd, 2005.

[edit] Remote Control

Filmed in the timegap between the Clinton Street and Imago runs of "Bigger than Jesus", "Remote Control" was the second collaboration between Emerson and DeRouchie (but the first to be released as a commercial film.) The 25-minute "Remote Control" is a distinct departure from the style of "Bigger than Jesus", and is considerably more disturbing, centering on a serial killer who demands the return of his favorite television show. In early 2006, fan demand prompted a re-release of "Remote Control", and the film was re-issued in a so-called "Ghetto Edition", featuring low-budget artwork and packaging.

[edit] Untitled Upcoming Project

In early 2007, Emerson began making occasional references to a new, upcoming project "from the creative team behind 'Bigger than Jesus.'" Joni DeRouchie's MySpace page makes similar statements, although no additional information has been forthcoming.