IEBA ANNOUNCES 2011 CLASS OF IEBA HALL OF FAME
INDUCTION OCTOBER 4
NASHVILLE, TN -- (September 30, 2011) -- The second class of the International Entertainment Buyers Association will be inducted on October 4 as the closing event of the annual IEBA conference in Nashville. Inductees are honored for their exceptional contributions to the live entertainment industry.
This year’s celebration will be hosted by the multi-talented Laura Bell Bundy, with performances by Bundy, Roy Clark, Don Schlitz, and live art by Michael Israel. Inductees include: Bobby Baker, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Jimmy Jay, Paul Moore, Tandy Rice, Lou Robin, Mike Smardak and Leroy Van Dyke.
"We are very excited to be presenting our second slate of inductees to the IEBA Hall of Fame as a closing event to the conference," said Rick Murray, Conference Chair and VP Integrated Marketing/Promotions for Premiere Networks. "The evening will truly celebrate the live entertainment industry with our distinguished Hall of Famers, exciting special performances and the incredible energy, wit and charm of Broadway, television and country music star Laura Bell Bundy!"
ABOUT THE IEBA CONFERENCE
Over 500 of the live entertainment industry's top decision makers will converge in Nashville, Tennessee October 2-4 for three days of non-stop networking, education and showcases from the hottest touring acts in all genres of entertainment at the annual conference of the International Entertainment Buyers Association.
International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA) is a non-profit trade organization for live entertainment industry professionals. Founded in 1970, IEBA provides networking, showcasing and educational opportunities to strengthen relationships, foster growth and increase revenue for the live entertainment industry. IEBA showcases the best and brightest talent in all genres of music and all fields of entertainment. IEBA is an intimate organization that makes a huge impact. At IEBA ... The Buying Starts Here. ieba.org
Laura Bell Bundy
Roy Clark
Don Schlitz
Michael Israel
ABOUT LAURA BELL BUNDYLaura Bell is a Kentucky-raised performer who has done it all. From appearing on the Broadway stage as Elle Woods in Legally Blond, a role that garnered her a Tony Award nomination, to performing on the nationally televised Academy of Country Music Awards as well as acting in various film and TV roles, including a lead role in Country Music Television’s ‘To The Mat’ and a recurring role in CBS’ ‘How I Met Your Mother.’ Bundy released her debut country music album, “ACHIN’ AND SHAKIN’,” in 2010 under the Mercury Records label, which featured the hit single “Giddy On Up,” which has since garnered over 3.2 million streams. She is currently in the studio wrapping up her sophomore album on Mercury Nashville. www.laurabellbundy.com.
ABOUT ROY CLARKThroughout his illustrious career, Roy has performed around the world. Believing that music can bridge continents, he has taken his message of goodwill to many countries. In 1976 he led his own show to Russia.
That record-breaking tour sold out 18 concerts in Moscow, St. Petersberg, and Riga. In a stunning review in "Pravda" the Russian newspaper concluded it's review with: "The American guys and girls sing here of their striving for peace, happiness, and love. And this is the best confirmation that people of goodwill always understand one another." Roy was invited back to the Soviet Union in 1988 where he again performed to sellout crowds. That "Friendship Tour" was captured on tape and airs frequently on TNN.
Roy hosted the popular TV show, HEE HAW, for 25 years. He has been seen on many other shows too: In the mid-60's he was a regular guest on "The Beverly Hillbillies" and went on to become the first country music artist to guest host "The Tonight Show" for Johnny Carson. He has appeared on many TV shows too numerous to mention and hosted many TV specials, including "Country Music, USA", "Flying Down To Provo", "Country Goes To Switzerland", "The Disney Anniversary Special", "The Academy Of Country Music Awards", three specials for the BBC in England, and many others.
Roy's achievements are breathtaking. He was the 1st National Ambassador for UNICEF, among many other honors. Roy received the "Entertainer of the Year" award from both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association; "Comedy Act of the Year" from the Academy of Country Music; "Country Music Star of the Year" from the American Guild of Variety Artists; "Instrumentalist of the Year" six times from the Music City News Awards; "Picker of the Year" in Playboy Magazine reader's poll, "Best Country Guitarist" from Guitar magazine; ... the list goes on and on. Roy Clark's Grammy-winning virtuosity is showcased in his concerts but his generosity goes unheralded. It is impossible to measure all that he gives. The annual ROY CLARK CELEBRITY GOLF TOURNAMENT alone has raised millions of dollars for the Children's Medical Center in Tulsa and St. Judes Children's Hospital in Memphi s. Through the years, Roy has recorded a string of hits, including, "Honeymoon Feeling", "The Tips of My Fingers", "Thank God and Greyhound You're Gone", "Come Live With Me" ... but perhaps he is best associated with the stirring, "Yesterday When I Was Young" and his own 12-string guitar version of "Malaguena". www.thesuperpicker.com
ABOUT DON SCHLITZDon Schlitz was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina. He briefly attended Duke University before moving to Nashville in 1973. His first recorded song, “The Gambler”, won a Grammy and the Country Music Association’s and the Academy of Country Music’s Song of the Year.
Don’s songs have played major roles in the careers of Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, The Judds, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Tanya Tucker, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Alison Krauss, and many other singers. His fifty Top Ten’s have included twenty-four Number One’s.
Schlitz was the ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year for four consecutive years from 1988-91. He has won three CMA Song of the Year awards, two ACM Song of the Year awards, two Grammy’s, and has had many more nominations. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Association’s Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2007, Don was presented the ASCAP Creative Achievement Award.
In 2010, he released his first studio album in 30 years, “Allergic to Crazy”, and his first Greatest Hits album. He became the third living person chosen to receive the Academy of Country Music’s Poet’s Award, for career songwriting achievement in country music (the other living recipients being Bill Anderson and Merle Haggard.). To top the year off, Don was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame!
Don’s hits include: “On the Other Hand”, “Forever and Ever, Amen”, “Deeper than the Holler”, “Heroes and Friends” (all sung by Randy Travis), “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her”, “I Feel Lucky”, “I Take My Chances” (Mary Chapin Carpenter), “When You Say Nothing at All” (Keith Whitley and Alison Krauss), “Learning to Live Again” (Garth Brooks), “Houston Solution” (Ronnie Milsap),
“Rockin’ with the Rhythm of the Rain”, “Turn Me Loose”, “I Know Where I’m Going” (The Judds), “One Promise Too Late” (Reba McEntire), “Forty Hour Week” (Alabama), “If You Can Do Anything Else” (George Strait), “Give Me Wings” (Michael Johnson), “Strong Enough to Bend”, “My Arms Stay Open All Night”, “I Won’t Take Less Than Your Love” (Tanya Tucker), “The Greatest” (Kenny Rogers), “Stand a Little Rain”, “When It’s Gone”, “I Love Only You” (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), “Old School” (John Conlee), “I Watched It All (on my radio)” Lionel Cartwright, and many, many more. He also wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”.www.donschlitz.com
ABOUT MICHAEL ISRAEL
World-renowned artist Michael Israel who paints larger-than-life canvasses on-stage to high-energy music can be best described as Cirque du Soleil meets Picasso--an artist, entertainer, and humanitarian whose expression is part David Copperfield, part Jackson Pollack, part Jackie Chan, but all Michael Israel. A leader of the newest art renaissance, flamboyant, rock star sexy and charismatic, Michael electrifies arena-sized audiences with little more than paint and passion.
Michael believes that “great art reaches beyond the senses and sensibilities to touch the soul.” Throughout his career, he has steadfastly used his art to further humanitarian causes. His work has raised millions for over 60 charitable organizations including the Special Olympics, the All-Star Children’s Foundation for the Prevention of Child Abuse, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and Ronald McDonald House Charities. Charities are grateful, not only for the money raised by auctioning Michael’s artwork but, moreover, for the ripple effect of his performances that increase awareness for a charity’s mission and bring new and long-term donors.
Michael dazzles with gravity-defying leaps to launch seemingly random splashes of paint that dance across canvasses in near constant motion – upside down, sideways, every which way but up. When he finally does spin the canvas right-side up, it’s clear his strokes are anything but random: what looked like mere splashes now reveal larger-than-life images that encompasses popular cultural icons, including the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Elton John; sports legends, such as Muhammad Ali and Tiger Woods; as well his own creations that tell a heart warming story: a firefighter cradling a child in the shadow of the Twin Towers or some other masterpiece. His artistic journey began as a child painting on the walls of his parents’ home. Now, Michael’s work has gone on to touch the lives of millions and he is likely to become one of the most popular artists in ever .
Michael has performed at some of the world’s most celebrated venues, while sharing those stages with some of the world’s most prominent figures. Whether performing at a Presidential Gala, Monte Carlo, Portugal, Las Vegas or on the Olympic Medals stage in Salt Lake City, creating a $100,000 portrait of billionaire investor Warren Buffet at the Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting or performing with musical legends Garth Brooks and Bruce Springsteen, Michael has garnered notable recognition across the globe proving his axiom: “When imagination exceeds reality, dreams are born!” www.michaelisrael.com
ABOUT THE INDUCTEES
BOBBY BAKER
Bobby Baker’s first involvement in the entertainment field was as a teenager bull and bareback rider in the rodeo circuit. After serving in the army he received his pilot’s license and planned to do commercial flying: instead, he formed his first band and performed on a TV show called “The Rib Mountain Jamboree” for two years. After that Bobby hit the road with his band for eight years doing shows and helping to operate a recording studio. He continued to do a lot of flying for the business and personal use at that time. He received his license and started his booking agency 30 plus years ago: bookings included many fairs where he had previously performed with his band.
He also booked many clubs in the Midwest, and was an active member holding office positions in many industry organizations.
• Past President of the International Entertainment Buyers Association, and was a board member for many years.
• The International Theatrical Agency Association
• Country Music Association
• Academy of Country Music
The above organizations have helped Bobby advance as a key entertainment producer. Bobby was very instrumental in getting ICMBA changed to IEBA to include all types of entertainment.
He has been presented the hall of fame award from the state Fair Conventions in: Minnesota-Iowa-Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska. He received the “Event Producer of the Year” award from the International Entertainment Buyers Association. He received “The Founders Award” from the International Entertainment Buyers Association.
His agency represents many regional artists whom he and his staff help to manage. They also work as consultants on entertainment for private companies and organizations in the Midwest. Today he works as a producer for many fairs, festivals and corporate events in over ten states in the Midwest, and attends this many fair conventions, including Iowa where he has been the producer of the showcase for over 30 years.
He also booked many clubs in the Midwest, and was an active member holding office positions in many industry organizations.
• Past President of the International Entertainment Buyers Association, and was a board member for many years.
• The International Theatrical Agency Association
• Country Music Association
• Academy of Country Music
The above organizations have helped Bobby advance as a key entertainment producer. Bobby was very instrumental in getting ICMBA changed to IEBA to include all types of entertainment.
He has been presented the hall of fame award from the state Fair Conventions in: Minnesota-Iowa-Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska. He received the “Event Producer of the Year” award from the International Entertainment Buyers Association. He received “The Founders Award” from the International Entertainment Buyers Association.
His agency represents many regional artists whom he and his staff help to manage. They also work as consultants on entertainment for private companies and organizations in the Midwest. Today he works as a producer for many fairs, festivals and corporate events in over ten states in the Midwest, and attends this many fair conventions, including Iowa where he has been the producer of the showcase for over 30 years.
HOUSTON LIVESTOCK SHOW & RODEO
For more than 78 years, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™ has been the heartbeat of the Southwest, beating powerfully with nearly 24,000 volunteers who annually contribute their time, resources, and talent as part of the world's largest livestock exhibition, world's richest regular-season rodeo, and the Southwest's premier entertainment event.
Since the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was established, it has made an impressive footprint on the livestock and entertainment industries and in the sport of rodeo. It also has played a notable role in enhancing the lives of thousands of young people in the state of Texas.
In 2011, attendance reached a record high of 2,262,834 people. The event, 20 days long, is kicked off by the Downtown Rodeo Roundup held near Houston City Hall, the Downtown Rodeo Parade, and the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run - a 10k and 5k walk & run, not to mention the World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest. The show features championship rodeo action, livestock competitions, concerts, a carnival, pig racing, barbecue, Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition, shopping, sales and livestock auctions. Traditional trail rides, which start in different areas of Texas and end in Houston, precede the Rodeo events.
The rodeo has drawn some of the world's biggest recording artists, including Kiss, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Selena, Bon Jovi, ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd, among others.
Since the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was established, it has made an impressive footprint on the livestock and entertainment industries and in the sport of rodeo. It also has played a notable role in enhancing the lives of thousands of young people in the state of Texas.
In 2011, attendance reached a record high of 2,262,834 people. The event, 20 days long, is kicked off by the Downtown Rodeo Roundup held near Houston City Hall, the Downtown Rodeo Parade, and the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run - a 10k and 5k walk & run, not to mention the World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest. The show features championship rodeo action, livestock competitions, concerts, a carnival, pig racing, barbecue, Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition, shopping, sales and livestock auctions. Traditional trail rides, which start in different areas of Texas and end in Houston, precede the Rodeo events.
The rodeo has drawn some of the world's biggest recording artists, including Kiss, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Selena, Bon Jovi, ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd, among others.
JIMMY JAY
Jimmy Jay entered the music business in Nashville in 1969, and went on to become General Manager of United Talent booking agency in 1971. While with United Talent created United Productions to handle concerts for clients Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn through 1982, which led to the creation of Jayson Promotions in 1983.
Jayson Promotions buys talent for fairs and special events as well as coordinates and produces fairs and special events.
Jay won the Academy of Country Music Talent Buyer of the Year award in 1999 and was again nominated for the Academy of Country Music Talent Buyer of the Year in 2010.
Jayson Promotions buys talent for fairs and special events as well as coordinates and produces fairs and special events.
Jay won the Academy of Country Music Talent Buyer of the Year award in 1999 and was again nominated for the Academy of Country Music Talent Buyer of the Year in 2010.
PAUL MOORE
Paul Moore began his agency career at William Morris Agency in the summer of 1978. In his 30 plus years in the business, he has helped guide the careers of countless artists in country, pop and contemporary Christian music. He was co-head of operations for the Agency's Nashville office for 20 years, and still oversees the business of booking all of the Agency's clients into fairs, festivals, rodeos and special events.
He and his wife, Beth, are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this year.
He and his wife, Beth, are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this year.
TANDY RICE
Tandy Rice is President and Chief Executive Officer of Top Billing International, a leading Nashville-based entertainment sales and marketing company specializing in world-wide booking and management of some of the most notable names in Country Music. He has been active in promoting entertainment for Winston Cup NASCAR races in conjunction with the R.J. Reynolds’ “No Bull” public marketing tour. He also represents GANDY INK, one of the country’s largest image wear/spirit wear companies as General Sales Supervisor of its Southeast Commercial Divisions.
He was born in Franklin, Tennessee in 1938, and was graduated by the Citadel with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961. Subsequently, he served a three-year commitment in the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command at Loring Air Force Base, Maine. He has also recently received a Masters Degree in Liberal Arts from Vanderbilt University. Rice has been and is teaching as Adjunct Professor at Nashville’s Belmont University Mike Curb School of Music Business. He is also the Founder, Dean and Lecturer of George Jones University.
He has been presented the Nashville Association of Talent Directors’ “Man of the Year” Award for an unprecedented two years. Rice has been featured on ABC-TV’s “20-20” and in PM Magazine, People and Newsweek magazines, and in the New York Times and the Washington Post newspapers. He was a judge at the 1983 Miss America Pageant, the year Vanessa Williams was crowned. He was also a judge in the 1996 Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City. He has judged over 30 state pageants in the Miss America system.
He holds memberships in the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Nashville Association of Talent Directors, the First Presbyterian Church of Nashville, The Nashville City Club, and the Rotary Clubs of Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee. He was a board member of Bank of America of Williamson County, Tennessee, the Children’s Hospital of Nashville, and Battle Ground Academy of Franklin Tennessee. He is a member of Business Advisory Council of Lipscomb University. He is a past president of the Country Music Association and the Nashville Police Athletic league, and was recently elected to the Board of Governors of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.
For 15 years he hosted the highly-successful United Cerebral Palsy Telethon on television station WKRN in Nashville, raising millions of dollars for Middle-Tennessee United Cerebral Palsy work. He is active in Boy Scout work and is currently Senior Executive Vice President of the multi-million dollar Country Music Retirement Home project.
Rice is the former host of Nashville station WLAC Radio’s popular “Good Morning Nashville” program and achieved the number one rated morning talk show in Middle Tennessee. HE also co-hosted Nashville Channel 5’s “Morning Line” TV Show.
In March of 2006, Rice was inducted into two Halls of Fame: The Franklin High School Athletic Hall of Fame (Tennessee mile track champion, 1956) and the North American Country Music Hall of Fame.
Rice resides in Nashville with his wife, Barbara.
LOU ROBIN
Lou Robin was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of Chicago Elementary and High School, and graduated from Claremont Men’s College in California with a degree in economics and accounting.
In 1957, Lou and college friends founded Concerts, Incorporated, which later became Artist Consultants Productions. Under Lou’s direction, the company produced or promoted over 4,000 concerts worldwide during the forty-four year period. The company also produced feature films, theatre in the round, an off-Broadway show in New York with Monty Python and promoted more than two dozen summer series concerts at the Hollywood Bowl featuring such stars as Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter, Paul & Mary, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.
Artist Consultants concert promotions figured prominently in the early career development of such artists as The Kingston Trio, Tijuana Brass, Bill Cosby, Carpenters, Simon & Garfunkel, Steve Martin, Stevie Wonder and many more. Lou’s company became the first with the capability of presenting an artist anywhere in the world.
In 1969, Artist Consultants began promoting concerts with The Johnny Cash Show. Not only throughout North America, but opening European Communist Bloc countries, (Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary) as well as New Zealand and Australian markets to Cash’s American Country Music. In addition Lou personally managed Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash from 1973 until their passing in 2003.
Lou also performed promotion services with Hawaiian superstar, Don Ho in the 1960’s and then management from 2000 until his longtime friend’s death in 2007.
Currently, Lou is heading up the Business Affairs wing of the Johnny Cash Estate, dealing with record companies and music licensing.
Lou has been a member of IEBA since its inception.
MICHAEL SMARDAK
Michael Smardak is the President and Founder of Outback Concerts, one of the largest independent concert promoters in the world that promotes musical tours (dates) throughout North America as well as was involved in the creation of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, one of the most successful comedy tours of all time.
Michael is also involved with numerous non-profit and charitable organizations including a a current board member of T.J. Martell Foundation and Nashville Association of Talent Directors (NATD).
Other professional awards and accomplishments include:
7-time IEBA award winner (Promoter of the Year / Talent Buyer of the
Year)
Past President of IEBA
Current member of IEBA Scholarship Committee
2007 Academy of Country Music Promoter of the Year
Current applicant to AARP
Michael is married to Kathy Smardak, and have two daughters (Sasha -9, and Kristina - 7) and they reside in Brentwood, TN.
LEROY VAN DYKE
Leroy Van Dyke, of "Auctioneer" and "Walk On By" fame, star of the movie, "What Am I Bid?" is known around the world as an entertainer, recording artist, radio and television star, actor, auctioneer and veteran of the Nevada circuit. He has recorded over 500 songs, and probably holds the record for most repeat-performance bookings of any working, name country music entertainer. He has worked 40 to 70 fairs and livestock events per year for over five decades, in addition to a great variety of other engagements.
Leroy is a graduate of the University of Missouri with a dual major: Animal Husbandry and Journalism, with a minor in Speech. He received a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, did one semester of graduate work, and was a member of both the junior and senior University of Missouri intercollegiate livestock judging teams.
After serving as a special agent, U. S. Army Counter-Intelligence Corps, in Korea, Leroy was catapulted into show business while working as a journalist, when his self-penned "Auctioneer" recording went a million-plus just weeks after its release. He then joined Red Foley's ABC-TV Network "Ozark Jubilee" in Springfield, Missouri, as a regular member, and continued in that position for three years until the show left the air.
He again had a multi-million seller with "Walk On By," a record that stayed in the charts an incredible 42 weeks, nineteen in the number one position, and was later named by Billboard Magazine as the biggest country music record in history! Leroy then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and became a regular member of the world-famous Grand Ole Opry.
Music industry experts named Leroy Van Dyke as the Country Music Entertainer of the Decade for the 1960s. He had the starring role in the 1967 movie "What Am I Bid?."
Leroy was a founding co-host of "Country Crossroads," the most widely syndicated show in radio history; he hosted his own syndicated television series, "The Leroy Van Dyke Show;" he hosted the 1965 Country Music Association Awards Show at which Ernest Tubb was inducted into the Hall of Fame; he was the first entertainer to receive the prestigious Country Music Association Founding President's Award for contributing to the advancement and improved image of country music; he served on the board of directors of the Country Music Association and the International Entertainment Buyers Association.
He was selected by the Country Music Association to represent it in showcase situations at the Waldorf in New York, The Monteleone in New Orleans, The Edgewater Beach and the Conrad Hilton in Chicago, The Ambassador in Los Angeles and numerous Country Music Association functions in Nashville.
Van Dyke is considered by industry moguls and by his peers to be the entertainer who put professionalism in country music. He was the first to blaze a trail and take a staged, produced, choreographed, self-contained country music show to the "Strip" in Las Vegas. He was the first to take country music to Bourbon Street in New Orleans' famed French Quarter. He was the only country music performer ever to open a show for Marilyn Monroe.
Leroy is a 2001 inductee into the North American Country Music Association, International, Hall of Fame.
After more than four decades as an entertainer, Leroy still travels in excess of a hundred thousand performing miles yearly around the world . . . he performs in all facets of show business including fairs, festivals, concerts, rodeos, supper clubs, conventions, radio, television, recordings, the Nevada circuit, livestock events, agricultural shows and private functions.
He has not missed a performance in over four decades as an entertainer.
Leroy is a graduate of the University of Missouri with a dual major: Animal Husbandry and Journalism, with a minor in Speech. He received a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, did one semester of graduate work, and was a member of both the junior and senior University of Missouri intercollegiate livestock judging teams.
After serving as a special agent, U. S. Army Counter-Intelligence Corps, in Korea, Leroy was catapulted into show business while working as a journalist, when his self-penned "Auctioneer" recording went a million-plus just weeks after its release. He then joined Red Foley's ABC-TV Network "Ozark Jubilee" in Springfield, Missouri, as a regular member, and continued in that position for three years until the show left the air.
He again had a multi-million seller with "Walk On By," a record that stayed in the charts an incredible 42 weeks, nineteen in the number one position, and was later named by Billboard Magazine as the biggest country music record in history! Leroy then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and became a regular member of the world-famous Grand Ole Opry.
Music industry experts named Leroy Van Dyke as the Country Music Entertainer of the Decade for the 1960s. He had the starring role in the 1967 movie "What Am I Bid?."
Leroy was a founding co-host of "Country Crossroads," the most widely syndicated show in radio history; he hosted his own syndicated television series, "The Leroy Van Dyke Show;" he hosted the 1965 Country Music Association Awards Show at which Ernest Tubb was inducted into the Hall of Fame; he was the first entertainer to receive the prestigious Country Music Association Founding President's Award for contributing to the advancement and improved image of country music; he served on the board of directors of the Country Music Association and the International Entertainment Buyers Association.
He was selected by the Country Music Association to represent it in showcase situations at the Waldorf in New York, The Monteleone in New Orleans, The Edgewater Beach and the Conrad Hilton in Chicago, The Ambassador in Los Angeles and numerous Country Music Association functions in Nashville.
Van Dyke is considered by industry moguls and by his peers to be the entertainer who put professionalism in country music. He was the first to blaze a trail and take a staged, produced, choreographed, self-contained country music show to the "Strip" in Las Vegas. He was the first to take country music to Bourbon Street in New Orleans' famed French Quarter. He was the only country music performer ever to open a show for Marilyn Monroe.
Leroy is a 2001 inductee into the North American Country Music Association, International, Hall of Fame.
After more than four decades as an entertainer, Leroy still travels in excess of a hundred thousand performing miles yearly around the world . . . he performs in all facets of show business including fairs, festivals, concerts, rodeos, supper clubs, conventions, radio, television, recordings, the Nevada circuit, livestock events, agricultural shows and private functions.
He has not missed a performance in over four decades as an entertainer.
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