Scholarships

IEBA awards scholarships in honor of industry leaders who have contributed significantly to live entertainment and who have displayed a passion for giving back. It is our hope that the recipients of these scholarships will follow in the footsteps of the pioneers for which they are named: Harry Peebles, Don Romeo, J.P. Williams and George Moffett.

HARRY A. (HAP) PEEBLES

Harry (Hap) Peebles was country before Barbara Mandrell was born. Hap served the country music industry for more than 60 years, booking artists at the age of 18 he spent his entire life in the business. In fact, he toured Miss Mandrell when she was eleven years old! Hap is a founder of IEBA known as the International Country Music Buyers Association originally as well as the Country Music Association (CMA).

In the old days, Hap would take several acts for the entire season booking country music into fairs and festivals. These acts included Tex Ritter, Red Foley, Smiley Burnette, Kitty Wells, Ernest Tubb, the Wilburn Brothers, Pee Wee King, the Duke of Paducah, Roy Acuff, Martha Carson, Hank Thompson and many others.

He was nominated for the Country Music Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Hap was named Fairman of the Year in several states.

DON ROMEO

As a youth in Omaha, Romeo taught himself to play guitar and won the Arthur Godfrey Talent Search on TV in 1945 as part of the Metro Tones Trio, a musical comedy group. After a stint in the Korean War with the U.S. Army, Romeo returned to Omaha in 1952 to the Paul Moorehead Agency. He purchased the agency two years later and formed the Don Romeo Agency.

"He was a pioneer in the fair business, but people need to realize Don Romeo was really about show business, period," says Paul Moore, who heads up the fair division for the William Morris Agency in Nashville. "He booked as many clubs, ballrooms, and other venues as he did fairs. He booked Ak-Sar-Ben Arena (in Omaha) for years, with acts ranging from Bob Hope and Red Skelton to the Fifth Dimension and Tony Bennett."

Moore says Romeo and the late William Morris agent Sidney Epstein in Chicago were the first to book national talent into fairs. "Don Romeo was one of the first customers Sidney talked into selling fairs name stars. Much of what we know of the modern-day fair industry as it relates to talent started with those ideas that Sidney and Don came up with."

As a fair booker, Romeo worked with acts ranging from Lassie and the Three Stooges to the Rolling Stones and nearly every country act that ever played fairs.

J.P. WILLIAMS

J.P. Williams is the owner and CEO of Parallel Entertainment, the personal management company he founded in 1991. He currently manages the careers of Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy, David Koechner and many other top talents in the entertainment industry.

An incredibly successful producer, his notable credits include several one-hour specials for Comedy Central and HBO, as well as Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie, which has sold more then three million units. He also produced the sequel, Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again, which had its world premiere on Comedy Central. The movie was the network's second most-watched telecast ever and has sold more than 2.5 million units since its release on December 7, 2004.

Capitalizing on the success of the Blue Collar projects, J.P. executive produced the WB hit comedy show, Blue Collar TV. He was also executive producer for Mobile Home Disasters for the WB Network, starring Bill Engvall. In addition, four of the 18 comedy albums he has produced have received Grammy Award nominations, and he received the 2004 IEBA (International Entertainment Buyers Association) "Artist Manager of the Year Award."

He is the executive producer of the feature film, Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, that was released by Lionsgate on March 24 2006. J.P. is also the CEO and founder of Jack Records, a record label formed as a co-venture with Warner Bros. Records, and the founder and CEO of Parallel Entertainment Pictures.

J.P. began his career in the entertainment business in 1983 as an agent's assistant in New York. He ultimately worked his way up to agent and in 1988 became Vice President of Live Performance for Spotlite Enterprises Ltd. Over the course of his career, he has represented super-talents such as Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Damon Wayans, Adam Sandler, David Alan Grier, Dennis Miller and Jamie Foxx.

GEORGE MOFFETT

George Moffett began his career in the entertainment industry while attending Muskingum College, OH, where he booked entertainment for college celebrations and fraternal organizations. It was at this time that he started Variety Attractions.

Over the years, the organization he began in college has turned into one of the most respected names in the entertainment business.

George has served on the Board of Directors for the Country Music Association as well as IEBA.

George has won several industry awards including: 1994, 1995 ACM Award winner for Talent Buyer/Promoter of the Year; 1994, 1995, 1997 CMA Award winner for Talent Buyer of the Year; 1996 IEBA Founders Award winner.