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From left Jake Owen, Lacey Owen, Randy Owen, Darius Rucker and Charles Esten are shown on the red carpet before the T.J. Martell Foundation's 6th annual Nashville Honors Gala on Monday March 10, 2014, in Nashville in Tenn. (Photo: John Partipilo / The Tennessean)
Universal Music Group Nashville Chairman and CEO Mike Dungan joked the he couldn’t wait for T.J. Martell Foundation’s 6th annual Nashville Honors Gala to be over because the idea of being honored with the Frances Preston Lifetime Music Industry Achievement Award made him nervous.
“It feels weird,” he said before the Monday-night event at which he was being honored. “I’ve been coming to these for a long, long time and I still think of myself as a nineteen-year-old kid who is still finding his way through the industry. To be held up like this … is a little intimidating and a little scary.”
Dungan — who is the record label executive behind careers including Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker — was one of five people honored at the event that is a fundraiser for The T.J. Martell Foundation. The organization raises funds for the ongoing research of treatments and cures of leukemia, cancer, and AIDS. The other honorees were: entrepreneur, breast cancer survivor and Kenny Loggins fan Beth Dortch Franklin; chairman of Morris Artists Management Dale Morris; associate director for basic research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dr. Scott Hiebert; and co-founder of real estate partnership Corner Partnership, LLC, Mark Bloom.
Mike Dugan at the T.J. Martell Foundation’s 6th annual Nashville Honors Gala on Monday March 10, 2014, in Nashville in Tenn. (Photo: John Partipilo / The Tennessean)
Hosted by ABC “Nashville” actor Charles Esten at Omni Nashville Hotel, the event kicked off with Sheryl Crow and Charlie Worsham paying musical tribute to Hiebert.
“I love a banquet,” Crow quipped, “the sound of salad forks. We were laughing that it kind of reminded us of playing the Kiwanis Club when we were young.”
Regardless, Hiebert was nearly giddy before the show at the thought of Crow performing for him — he said she was his first choice and that he couldn’t believe she said yes. But when he took the stage, his mood was more serious, and he told the crowd there would be new cures for some forms of cancer in 10 years because of events like the gala.
Tim McGraw paid tribute to his friend and partner in the former arena football team Nashville Kats, Mark Bloom. McGraw performed his song “My Little Girl” before telling the audience that Bloom was responsible for changing Nashville’s skyline.
“This is a huge honor,” said Bloom, who was presented with the Spirit of Nashville Award. “The music industry is so important to our city and this foundation is so important. These people have done such incredible work.”
Alabama’s Randy Owen, and country singers Jake Owen and Kenny Chesney were all on hand Monday night to watch Dale Morris be presented with the Tony Martell Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award. Morris manages Jake Owen and Chesney, and managed Alabama through the peak of the group’s career.
During the ceremony, touring country music force Chesney said, “Dale Morris didn’t just touch my life — he altered it in a great way. He was a teacher and a great motivator when I need it. I thanked God so many nights that Dale Morris was the man I met when I moved to Nashville, Tennessee.”
Before the event, Randy Owen recalled spending many of his life’s most memorable moments with Morris, playing him the group’s biggest hits, sitting beside him when he heard about the 9-11 attacks and getting the call from him that Alabama would be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“Being able to share those moments with him and knowing how hard we all worked together (to achieve them), makes being at this event where he’s being honored very special to me,” Randy Owen said.
Jake Owen said he wouldn’t be where he is in his career with hits including “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” if it wasn’t for Morris.
“I’m pretty honored I got asked to perform a song for Dale,” Jake Owen said. “Dale is one of the most well deserving people I know for a lifetime achievement award.”
Darius Rucker feels the same way about Dungan. Rucker, who performed his hit “History in the Making” during the show, said Dungan changed his life.
“He gave me a record deal when I don’t think anyone else would have,” Rucker said. “He supported me with everything he had from the beginning. He told me, ‘Do what you do, and we’ll make it work.”
