IEBA, CMA Hand Out
The Hardware

The Omni Hotel – site of 2014’s Pollstar Live! Conference Feb. 19-21 – hosted IEBA’s closing night awards dinner and was joined by the Country Music Association’s SRO Awards recognizing the genre’s top talent from agents to truck drivers who keep the touring business vibrant.

The big winner was arguably Blake Shelton’s team, which accounted for five SRO Awards. But Live Nation’s Brian O’Connell picked up a big two-fer with awards from both IEBA and CMA as talent buyer/promoter of the year.

IEBA also recognized Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Biloxi, Miss.’s Robyn Smith, casino buyer of the year; Birchmere’s  Michael Jaworek, club buyer; Integrity Events’ Randy Wright, corporate buyer; Romeo Entertainment Group’s Steve Bogdanovich, fair buyer; Neste Event Marketing’s Gil Cunningham, festival buyer; Live Nation Canada/Gold & Gold Productions’ Ron Sakamoto, international buyer; APA’s Adam Brill, rookie of the year and Budweiser Event Center’s David Farrar, venue executive.

CMA followed with its annual SRO Awards, resurrected in 2011 and expanded to 15 categories in 2013. Kix Brooks and CMA chairman Ed Hardy did the honors in the Omni’s Broadway West Ballroom.

Hardy told Pollstar the decision to announce its award winners in conjunction with IEBA was an easy one, since the conference attracts the live industry professionals the SRO Awards are intended to spotlight. And it’s a statement of the importance of the live “side” of the music business that CMA, which started the SROs in 1990 but stopped after 1997, chose to bring the tradition back in 2011.

Brooks and Hardy congratulated SRO business manager of the year Jamie Cheek of Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy Inc.; coach/truck driver Kelley Beck (Blake Shelton); FOH engineer Jeff Parsons (Blake Shelton); lighting director Steve Richards (Taylor Swift); manager Narvel Blackstock, Starstruck Entertainment; tour manager Kevin Canady (Blake Shelton); monitor engineer Brad Baisley (Blake Shelton); production manager Brad Baisley (Blake Shelton) and publicist Mary Hilliard Harrington (The GreenRoom).

Also picking up SRO Awards were talent agent of the year Rod Essig, CAA; tour caterer TourCats Catering; touring musician Robby Emerson (bassist for Jake Owen); venue, Ryman Auditorium and tour video director Jay Cooper (Kenny Chesney).