June
25th Ceremony Will Also Feature Bill Cody, Mike Dungan and David
Sanders to Present Awards to Honorees Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, and
the Grand Ole Opry
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 14, 2016) – The National Music Council is proud to announce country legends Roy Clark and John Conlee, Country Radio Disc Jockey Hall of Famer Bill Cody, Universal Music Group Chairman and CEO Mike Dungan and NMC Director David Sanders among the performers and presenters for their 33rd Annual American Eagle Awards on
Saturday, June 25, 2016. The highly prestigious American Eagle Awards
are presented each year in national celebration of an individual’s or an
organization’s long term contribution to America’s musical culture and
heritage. This year, music legends Emmylou Harris and Vince Gill will be honored, along with the iconic Grand Ole Opry.
Past American Eagle Award recipients include Kris Kristofferson,
Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Clive Davis, Van Cliburn, Benny Goodman,
Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Morton Gould, Dave Brubeck, Marian
Anderson, Jim Halsey, Lena Horne, Roy Clark, Elliott Carter, The Oak
Ridge Boys, Roberta Peters, Odetta, Sherman Halsey, Stephen Sondheim,
Sesame Street, Hard Rock Cafe, Music Makes Us, and VH-1 Save the Music
Foundation. This year’s event in Nashville will mark the 33rd year of
formal presentations of the Awards.
Roy Clark is one of the top entertainers ever in
country music, and he has the CMA and ACM awards to prove it. Despite
all of the well-deserved accolades for the Country Music Hall of Fame
member, Clark remains a household name after two decades of spreading
the gospel of country music from Kornfield Kounty into the living rooms
of America. Clark co-hosted HEE HAW for more than two decades after it
premiered on June 15, 1969. HEE HAW became one of the longest-running
shows in syndication (1971–1992). In addition to his television
triumphs, Clark has headlined some of the world’s most prestigious
venues such as Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, Grand Palace in
Brussels and the Rossiya Theatre in Moscow. A partial list of his many
awards include the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year,
Academy of Country Music’s Comedy Act of the Year and a Grammy for
“Alabama Jubilee.” Clark became a Grand Ole Opry member in 1987. He was
also the first country music artist to guest host Johnny Carson’s
“Tonight Show.” Clark and wife Barbara live in Oklahoma where he finds
time to fish, fly his airplanes and ride motorcycles.
Kentucky native and Grand Ole Opry member, John Conlee,
has one of country music’s most recognizable voices. Self-penned and
signature hit “Rose Colored Glasses,” was the first of over 30 hit
singles, most of which charted in the Top 10 or better. Some of the
songs from the John Conlee hit list include “Back Side of Thirty, ”
“Lady Lay Down,” “Friday Night Blues,” “Common Man,” “I’m Only In It For
The Love” and “Domestic Life.”
All of Conlee’s hits have that unmistakable common thread – that
unique voice. In 2015, Conlee hasn’t slowed down and continues to cut
songs with substance with the release of Classics 2 that includes a
tribute to law enforcement titled “Walkin’ Behind the Star.”
Mike Dungan is Chairman and CEO of Universal Music
Group Nashville, the largest music company in the country music
business. A native of Cincinnati, he has worked in the music business
since he was 16 years old, getting his start doing odd jobs in a local
record store. In 1979, Dungan began his label career as a pop promotion
rep for RCA, working in the Cincinnati, Detroit, and then Minneapolis
markets. In 1987, he took a sales position with RCA and Arista Records
parent company, BMG. Two years later, Arista Records hired him as its
Director of Marketing for the Midwest. In 1990, Dungan moved to the
newly formed Arista Nashville label to head up Sales and Marketing,
later rising to the post of SVP and General Manager. While at Arista, he
was instrumental in the careers of Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, Pam
Tillis, and Diamond Rio and was responsible for signing Brad Paisley.
In 2000, Dungan was named President of EMI Music’s Capitol Records
Nashville, and over the next 12 years, helped to build that company to
enormous success, with the Capitol label being named Billboard Magazine’s country label of the year again in 2014, its 9th straight year to win that award. In addition, Billboard has listed Dungan on its annual Power 100 list in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
In May of 2012, Dungan shifted to the Universal Music Group as
Chairman and CEO. Shortly after that time, it was announced that
Universal would purchase EMI, reuniting Dungan with his old roster at
Capitol. Last year, that label group which now consists of MCA
Nashville, Mercury Nashville, EMI Records Nashville and Capitol Records
Nashville released five of the top 10 best-selling country albums.
Universal Music Group Nashville is home to over 30 artists including
Alan Jackson, Billy Currington, Brandon Lay, Brothers Osborne, Canaan
Smith, Chris Stapleton, Clare Dunn, Darius Rucker, David Nail, Dierks
Bentley, Easton Corbin, Eric Church, Eric Paslay, Gary Allan, George
Strait, Haley Georgia, Jon Pardi, Jordan Davis, Josh Turner, Kacey
Musgraves, Keith Urban, Kelleigh Bannen, Kip Moore, Lady Antebellum,
Lauren Alaina, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Mickey Guyton, Sam Hunt,
Scotty McCreery, Shania Twain, Sugarland, The Band Perry and Vince Gill.
Bill Cody’s nationally & internationally known
voice has been heard over the air waves for 45 years. A 2008 inductee
into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame. Bill is in his 22nd
year as morning show host of WSM’s “Coffee, Country & Cody” & is
a Grand Ole Opry announcer/host. He has multiple nominations for CMA,
ACM & Billboard awards. Bill’s radio syndication, television, voice
over & movie credits include: “American Saturday Night: Live from
the Grand Ole Opry”, GAC TV’s “Master Series” & the network’s
specials, “Tennessee’s Wildside” on PBS, Ray Stevens’ Nashville (RFD),
The Nashville Network (TNN), Bill Cody’s Classic Country Weekend,
Nashville Record Review, Country’s Most Wanted, The Country Music Hall
of Fame, The Music City Walk of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of
Fame, Ryman Auditorium, Willie’s Roadhouse on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio,
United Airlines In-Flight country programming also heard aboard Air
Force 1 & 2.
The event will also feature the New York Emmy award winning animation
created by the NMC and the Music Publishers Association of the United
States, as part of a primary school lesson plan that encourages kids to
think about the ramifications of taking other people’s creative works
without permission. NMC Director David Sanders frames the animated piece
as “part of a world-wide effort by creators to change the narrative in
terms of fostering an understanding that the online protection of
creative works enhances freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas,
rather than encroaching on them.”
The National Music Council continues to serve as a
forum for the free discussion of this country’s national music affairs
and challenges. Founded in 1940 to act as a clearinghouse for the joint
opinion and decision of its members and to work to strengthen the
importance of music in our life and culture, the Council’s initial
membership of 13 has grown to almost 50 national music organizations,
encompassing every important form of professional and commercial musical
activity.
Through the cooperative work of its member organizations, the
National Music Council promotes and supports music and music education
as an integral part of the curricula in the schools of our nation, and
in the lives of its citizens. The Council provides for the exchange of
information and coordination of efforts among its member organizations
and speaks with one voice for the music community whenever an
authoritative expression of opinion is desirable. Proceeds from the
event support the Council’s music education advocacy efforts.
The awards will be presented at a 1:00 pm ceremony in the Davidson Ballroom of the Nashville Music City Center
as part of the Summer NAMM Show. A VIP luncheon and interview/reception
with the honorees will accompany the awards presentation. For tickets,
schedule, and sponsorship information, visit musiccouncil.org,