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INDUSTRY AWARDS:

CASINO OF THE YEAR
Agua Caliente Casino – Rancho Mirage, CA
Island Resort Casino – Harris, MI
Mohegan Sun Casino – Uncasville, CT
Peppermill Casino – Wendover, NV
WinStar World Casino – Thackerville, OK

NIGHTCLUB OF THE YEAR
Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace – Bakersfield, CA
Coyote Joe’s – Charlotte, NC
Joe’s Bar – Chicago, IL
Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill – Mesa, AZ
Wild Bill’s – Duluth, GA

VENUE OF THE YEAR
BOK Center – Tulsa, OK
First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre – Chicago, IL
Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion – Gilford, NH
Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN
Sprint Center – Kansas City, MO

DON ROMEO TALENT BUYER OF THE YEAR
Steve “Bogie” Bogdanovich – Romeo Entertainment Group
Billy Brill – Billy Alan Productions
Jimmy Jay – Jayson Promotions, Inc.
Gary Osier – Gary Osier Presents
David Snowden – Triangle Talent, Inc.

PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
Ben Ferrell – Varnell Enterprises, Inc.
Ali Harnell – AEG Live/The Messina Group
Louis Messina – The Messina Group
Ed Warm – Joe’s Bar
Sally Williams – Ryman AuditoriumShare on Facebook

Even Keith admitted being unsure what to make of the Grammy nod while speaking to press backstage at his high-profile performance on FOX’s American Country Awards. Recording Academy voters clearly looked past Keith’s longstanding criticisms of industry-voted awards shows to recognize a heart wrenchingly honest composition and performance and, even more, to honor the subject of the song, the late NBA great, jazz bass player and close Keith family friend Wayman Tisdale.

And the Grammy community wasn’t the only constituency embracing Toby Keith in fresh ways. The aforementioned American Country Awards presented him with their Video Visionary award, and the broadcast’s montage of clips put a unique perspective on just how imaginative and fun his videos have continually been. He punctuated the moment with a performance of his latest single, “Bullets In The Gun.”

The song is the title track from his current album, and was Most Added upon its debut at radio and ended the year near the top of the charts. The album itself debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre album charts in October. A Deluxe Edition of Bullets In The Gun nodded at Keith’s prowess as a live performer by including four recordings from his much-discussed impromptu New York City club performance in June. The Incognito Bandito show found Keith and an A-list band performing an eclectic mix of covers for a rapt audience of fans and media tastemakers.

On the other end of that spectrum, Keith also performed on the 37th Annual Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on July 4, broadcast on CBS. The Independence Day show fell in the midst of his Ford Trucks-sponsored American Ride Tour, which concluded as one of Pollstar’s top-ranked outings of the year. His live and broadcast exposure also extended to appearances on the Today Show, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, multiple magazine covers and, in addition to the ACA show, a performance on April’s Academy of Country Music Awards. Keith played “Cryin’ For Me” on the CBS telecast, and the performance landed on iTunes the following day, with proceeds benefiting Stand Up 2 Cancer.

Toby’s very personal connection to that cause is echoed in the very personal way he approaches service to others. Keith doesn’t pay lip service to supporting American soldiers, he visits them every year – personally going to Forward Operating Bases in the Persian Gulf, Korea and elsewhere this year alone on his eighth USO Tour. At home, his annual golf tournament event supports the Toby Keith Foundation and its efforts to spearhead construction and operation of OK Kids Korral, a home for pediatric cancer patients and their families near OU Medical Center Children’s Hospital.

Those good works are among the best things to come from a career that Toby Keith will tell you is built entirely on his songwriting. So perhaps his greatest non-charitable accomplishment of 2010 was having his Tokeco Tunes publishing company named the No. 6 publisher in Billboard’s year-end list. His was the highest-ranked independent publisher, in and among industry powerhouses like Sony and EMI.

And it is that songwriting base from which Keith will launch an equally ambitious 2011. His I Love This Bar & Grill restaurant chain will expand to its eleventh location by spring, just a few short years removed from its initial launch at the flagship in Harrah’s Las Vegas. He’ll also keep a promise in 2011, as the debut album from his daughter Krystal will be released. Toby promised to help her get a shot at a music career if she completed college, and he’s not only making good on the pledge, he’s producing the album. So stay tuned to Toby Keith in 2011. After 18 years as the most consistent hitmaker in music, he’s still surprising people.Share on Facebook

Named after Keith”s hit single “I Love This Bar,” the 22,000 square-foot restaurant will seat 650 and serve as an entertainment venue featuring live music and dancing. It will have 50 HDTV monitors for viewing sporting events, “Toby,” a mechanical bull; and home-cooked Southern style fare from pulled-pork sandwiches and meatloaf to southern fried Twinkies.

The centerpiece of the restaurant will be an 85-foot guitar-shaped bar. It will also feature two VIP rooms, an exclusive private dining room available for rental, an outdoor patio and a gift shop. The restaurant is expected to provide jobs for 200.

The Shops at Northfield Stapleton will be the seventh for Keith and his first in Colorado. I Love This Bar and Grill will be located in the space formerly occupied by Borders Books and Music.

“Northfield Stapleton works diligently to be pro-active in a retail environment that is always changing,” said Diana Fiore, Director of Marketing for The Shops at Northfield Stapleton. “We are thrilled to form a new partnership with Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill and are proud to provide the community with an exciting new concept in dining and entertainment.”

Northfield Stapleton is a1.1 million square-foot, open air lifestyle and entertainment center located in Denver, Colorado at I-70 and Quebec Street. The center is anchored by Macy´s, Harkins Theatres, Bass Pro´s Outdoor World, and SuperTarget and more than 60 premier shops and restaurants. For more information, visit http://www.northfieldstapleton.com/.

Northfield Stapleton is owned and managed by subsidiaries of Forest City Enterprises, Inc., an $11.9 billion NYSE-listed national real estate company. The Company is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate and land throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.forestcity.net/.

Dietz Trott provides sports and entertainment marketing and management support to individuals, corporations, sports and entertainment venues nationwide. The agency’s services include sponsorships; naming rights and general contract negotiations; hospitality and event management; contract fulfillment; marketing consulting, marketing management and public relations support.Share on Facebook

The restaurant — named for country singer Toby Keith and his 2003 hit single, “I Love This Bar” — has signed a lease for 15,000 square feet at The Shoppes at West End, a lifestyle center scheduled to open later this year at the intersection of Highway 100 and Interstate 394 in St. Louis Park.

I Love This Bar & Grill will feature family dining, an 85-foot bar shaped like a guitar, a mechanical bull and a stage that will host live entertainment several nights a week, including a performance by Keith at the restaurant’s grand opening.

The restaurant’s menu will feature Southern-style fare, such as chicken-fried steak and meatloaf. Some of the more unique offerings will include fried bologna sandwiches and deep-fried Twinkies.

It will feature traditional sports-bar decor with a country flair. There will be lots of wood and leather, plus more than 50 plasma televisions.

I Love This Bar & Grill will host live entertainment every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night when it first opens, then ramp up to six nights a week over time. There will be seating for more than 1,000 people.

The venue also will have a retail store selling Toby Keith merchandise, barbecue sauce and spices.

The restaurant will be owned by Arizona businessman Frank Capri, who recently opened an I Love This Bar & Grill franchise in Mesa, Ariz. The chain also has locations in Las Vegas, Oklahoma City and Kansas City, Mo., and plans to open a location in Auburn Hills, Mich., later this year.

I Love This Bar & Grill should be a major entertainment attraction for West End, helping set it apart from other local malls, said Mark Fallon, vice president of real estate at Cincinnati-based Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate Inc., which was retained by developer Duke Realty Corp., based in Indianapolis, to fill the project’s 331,000-square-foot retail component with tenants.

“I think it’s even going to draw from way outside of Minneapolis and St. Paul,” Fallon said. “That’s the idea behind it.”

Other major West End tenants will include an upscale Roundy’s grocery and a Kerasotes ShowPlace Theatre 14-screen movie complex.

I Love This Bar & Grill should be successful at West End because Minnesota is a strong market for country music and there aren’t any significant music venues in the western suburbs, said Dick Grones, principal at Edina-based Cambridge Commercial Realty. “Live entertainment in the suburbs is really hard to find. And that’s a strong ingredient to stir into the mix for the center because it brings an additional demographic that they might not get otherwise.”

I Love This Bar & Grill selected West End over the Mall of America, where another celebrity-backed country music bar, Gatlin Brothers Music City Grille, used to have a location.

Costs may have played a role in that decision, but I Love This Bar & Grill will generate more attention at West End than it would have at Mall of America, Grones said.

“They can really stand out [at West End] and not have so many other entertainment venues to compete with.”
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