IEBA Announces Hall of Fame Inductees for 2014

The Doobie Brothers

IEBA’s Hall of Fame Class of 2014 will include The Doobie Brothers and their longtime manager Bruce Cohn, veteran manager and agent Jim Halsey, and event producers Bob and Peggy Kaltenbach of Klein’s Entertainment.

IEBA will also present its Industry Achievement award to Romeo Entertainment Group.

The Class of 2014 will be inducted at the close of the 44th Annual Conference, to be held Sept. 30 at the CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The private event is only for conference attendees.

The 44th annual conference will be held Sept. 27-30, 2014, at Omni Nashville. Registration is now open.

Bruce Cohn

IEBA’s Hall of Fame honors elite live entertainment industry professionals.

Over the course of four decades, The Doobie Brothers have sold more than 48 million albums, won four GRAMMY Awards and built an extremely loyal fanbase. Their relationship with Nashville continues this fall when some of country music’s top stars join them on their forthcoming Sony Music Nashville collaboration album. The record, full of their hits, also reunites them with longtime Doobie Brother Michael McDonald.

Jim Halsey

Jim Halsey founded The Jim Halsey Company talent agency in 1951. His clients included Tammy Wynette, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, The Oak Ridge Boys, Roy Clark, and many others. The Jim Halsey Company was acquired by the William Morris Agency in 1990, but Halsey remains active in the industry. As an author and educator, he launched The Jim Halsey Institute of Music and Entertainment Business, an undergraduate music business program at Independence Community College in Independence, Kan.

Carl and Margaret Klein created Klein’s Attractions in 1930. For more than 80 years and three generations, Klein’s has provided entertainment for state and county fairs, expositions, festivals, colleges, casinos, community and corporate events throughout the United States. Just as Carl and Margaret passed their love of the business onto their daughter Peggy and her husband Bob Kaltenbach, Peggy and Bob passed it to their son R.J. and his wife Patty. After Bob’s death in 1993, R.J. took the reigns as the company’s president and Peggy, though semi-retired, continues to play an active role in day-to-day operations.

Don Romeo started Romeo Entertainment Group, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, in 1954. He later joined with Hap Peebles in forming IEBA. The Don Romeo Agency steadily grew as it was passed down to Bob, Don’s son. Today, as Romeo Entertainment Group, its client list boasts over 100 names including Country Jam, North Dakota State Fair, Bands in the Backyard, Evergreen State Fair, Grand Falls Casino Resort, and Riverside Casino and Golf Resort. The company remains in the family: Don’s daughter Fran Romeo is President, and grandchildren Michelle and R.J. Romeo are Agent and General Counsel, respectively. Michelle also serves on IEBA’s Board of Directors.