Cliffie, Lana Thrasher and Bob Doyle enjoying the Academy of Country Music’s Christmas party in Hollywood, CA in the early 1990s. Bob attended the University of Missouri; he served in ‘Desert Storm’ as a pilot and Lt. Colonel with the Tennessee Air National Guard. Before founding his successful management company, ‘Bob Doyle & Associates’ as well as his publishing entities, ‘Major Bob’ and ‘Rio Bravo Music,’ Bob worked at Warner Bros. Records as the assistant director of their A&R department. He then worked at ASCAP where he was Director of Membership Relations. He gained invaluable knowledge and information from working at these two aforementioned companies, which he later utilized in his management and publishing companies. He continues to stay updated by being on the Board of Directors of the ‘National Music Publishers Association.’ Cliffie liked and deeply respected Bob Doyle, who calmly and skillfully managed Garth Brooks’ meteoric career, which is not an easy thing to do; Cliffie, too, had once been a manager of a fast-rising charismatic star, Tennessee Ernie Ford, so he knew firsthand what Bob went through to successfully manage a performer in such a hectic environment wherein a thousand different demands are placed on both the artist and manager all at once. Bob signed Garth to his management and publishing companies in the late 1980s and they’ve remained a team all these years. Other artists that Bob’s company manages include George Canyon, Lane Turner, Jonathan Pierce and a family sibling group called the ‘Band Perry.’ With regards to Bob’s publishing companies, their track record includes forty ‘ASCAP publisher awards’ and four ‘BMI Million Performance Songs.’ The artists who performed their published songs include Reba McEntire, “What Do You Say;” Lee Ann Womack, “The Fool;’ Lee Rimes ‘Commitment;’ Kenny Chesney “There Goes My Life;” Rascal Flatts “Fast Cars and Freedom;” and Garth Brooks, “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” “Unanswered Prayers,” “The River” and “Rodeo.” Quotes from Cliffie’s chapter on ‘management’ from his talent show book: “The best way for me to describe the ultimate manager/artist relationship would be to equate it to a successful marriage: the artist and the manager have to respect, trust and believe in each other as well as give and take in order to make the relationship work. I’m saying this from experience because I spent over 20 years of my life being a manager for Ernie Ford as well as other artists, such as Stan Freberg, Molly Bee, Tommy Sands and Bobby Bare. Therefore, I humbly say with conviction that ‘great management is equally as important as great talent.’ This statement becomes even more important and crucial once an artist has reached a plateau in their career as an entertainer where major business decisions have to be made, because any wrong decisions can set an artist back five, six or seven years or maybe destroy their entire career as an entertainer. Garth Brooks is known for his loyalty to his family, friends and business associates who supported him at the beginning of his astonishing career. His original and current manager/publisher, Bob Doyle, was experienced in those areas when he took Garth under his wing.” Bob Doyle and his current team (which includes his son, Mike, who is Vice President/General Manager) represent their clients in all of the above management principles and objectives that Cliffie wrote about in his book. I’d like to close this caption by thanking Bob Doyle for his courage in serving as a pilot in ‘Desert Storm’ with the Tennessee Air National Guard, wherein he put his life on the line for the United States – just as our pilots and soldiers have done in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for the past ten years!