Bobblehoochee: WYCT/Pensacola, FL's Kevin King, Mercury's Trudie Daniell and Taska King (l-r) at the Atlanta Braves' Alan Jackson Celebration Night, where the first 15,000 fans were given Alan Jackson Chattahoochee bobbleheads.
Country And Midwestern: East Music Row's Belles (c) shares news of upcoming album Midwestern with WUSN/Chicago's Marci Braun and the label's Johnny Gates.
Tennessee Oregano: Columbia's Megan Moroney and Boots with Audacy's Tim Roberts at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Pretty Ty For A White Guy: Santa Anna/Akando's Tyler Nance with Akando's Greg Raneiri and KUZZ/Bakerfield's Brent Michaels and Ness Heraldez (top) and guest Payton Ward, KFRG/Riverside's Heather Froglear and Raneiri.
Star Fruit: Wheelhouse's Brantley Gilbert (c) with KATM/Modesto, CA's Andy Winford (l) and the label's Steve Pleshe at the Fruityard Amphitheatre.
Morris Higham Managment Chairman Dale Morris died Aug. 21 at the age of 89. After starting his career as a songwriter, landing a top five hit with Johnny Paycheck's “Don’t Monkey With Another Monkey’s Monkey,” Morris founded booking agency Dale Morris & Associates and then Morris Artist Management with Alabama as his first client more than four decades ago, going on to handle the careers of Kenny Chesney, Old Dominion, Martina McBride, Jake Owen, Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Dailey & Vincent, Greylan James and Barbara and Louise Mandrell, among others. His business expanded to many related ventures, including record labels Treehouse and WeBlast, Dale Morris Productions, Morris Light & Sound,, and More American Hospitality, which he co-founded in 2014 to manage resort and entertainment opportunities, including Nashville's Fontanel (which he co-owned at the time) and the Deadwood (SD) Mountain Grand (CAT 7/2/14). He sold Morris Artist Management to Front Line Management in 2009 (CAT 5/13/09) and Dale Morris & Associates to Paradigm Talent Agency in 2018 (CAT 11/25/18).
Morris Higham Management Pres. Clint Higham says Morris was "larger than life, and never met a dream he couldn’t build ... He saw things in people, in me, in Kenny, and inspired everyone to reach beyond what we thought possible ... He lived a big, bold, beautiful, blessed life, and I’m holding onto that right now. It’s the end of an era.”
Morris was inducted into the International Entertainment Buyers Association’s Hall of Fame in 2010 and, in 2014, received the Tony Martell Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award from the T.J. Martell Foundation (CAT 3/11/14). A Celebration of Life will be planned for later this fall. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Read his 2009 feature in The Interview here.
