LAS VEGAS – The Parnelli Awards Board of Directors announces that Randy "Baja" Fletcher, longtime production manager for Brooks & Dunn, and Jim Bornhorst, a key developer of the industry-changing Vari*Lite VL0, will be honored, respectively, with the 2010 Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award and Parnelli Visionary Awards. Randy "Baja Fletcher
There may be plenty of good things to say about Fletcher, this year's Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Honoree. But this is likely the most telling: In nearly four decades in the business, he's mostly had only four jobs, "and he's never missed a day of work with any of it," says longtime friend Wade "Ten-A-C" Slatton.
During his stellar career in the live entertainment industry, Fletcher has worked with ZZ Top, Waylon Jennings and Randy Travis before working for Brooks & Dunn for 18 of their 20 years together. "Baja is a true live music ambassador, with the charm of a teddy bear and a heart of gold," says Parnelli board member Steve Gudis of the Production Department. "It is great to honor this great production manager and friend to all."
Fletcher was born in Virginia in a coal-mining family, and as a young boy he moved to Portsmouth, Va. A friend hooked him up with local legends Bill Deal and the Rhondels, and he would tour around the region with them. "I was working at Sears part-time making like $20 a week, when suddenly I was getting paid $10 a show to load up drums and keyboards," Fletcher recalls, adding with a laugh: "I thought, ‘If this is showbiz, it's for me!'"
His stint with the band was interrupted by a tour of Vietnam. Then, in 1974, he was offered a job with "this little band from Texas called ZZ Top." At the time they were small, but on this tour, the band's popularity exploded, and soon they were playing stadium-sized gigs. By 1976, the band was touring with not only a lot of gear, but extras like a professional rodeo clown, buzzards and a longhorn steer, among other animals. Fletcher was in charge of it all.
By 1978, Fletcher had moved on to working for Jennings, for 10 years, which included the period when Jennings' drug problems peaked, followed by his subsequent recovery. After that, Fletcher caught a rising star in a young Randy Travis and ran his shows until Travis took a long break from the road in 1992.
From there, Fletcher joined Brooks & Dunn, running their shows for 18 of their 20 phenomenal years, including their current farewell tour.
"Baja is being honored not only because of his reputation as one of the smartest, savviest, hardest-working production managers in the business, but also because he's one of the industry's most revered and admired," says Terry Lowe, Parnelli Awards executive producer and publisher of PLSN and FOH. "You do not hear his name without also hearing the word ‘gentleman' alongside it. He is living proof that you can succeed in the business by being respectful and well-liked."
"I am honored and honored to receive this award," Fletcher says. He will receive his Parnelli Award at a gala dinner set for Oct. 22 at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas.
Jim Bornhorst
Jim Bornhorst will receive the Parnelli Visionary Award, honoring his influential career in the live entertainment industry. From his early days with Showco in the 1970s, to being on the ground floor of the formation of Vari*Lite, he's applied his scientific aptitude to innovations that have left an indelible mark on the history of the live event industry.
"If I had to point to a single event that made the biggest impact in the live event production industry, it would have to be the development of the Vari*Lite VL0," says PLSN editor Richard Cadena. "There is no one who is more deserving of this honor than Jim Bornhorst. As the leader of the project development group that invented the very first commercially available automated light, he helped move the industry forward in a giant step."
The VL0 was the prototype of the VL1, which was the first working automated variable-color lighting system. Showco used the development to spin off a separate company called Vari-Lite and produced 55 VL1s for the groundbreaking Genesis Abacab tour of 1981. Bornhorst was part of every other generation of VLs and related products, and most recently he was a key developer of PRG's Bad Boy fixture.
Bornhorst was born in 1945 in Salt Lake City, where his father, an Air Force officer, was stationed. Early years were spent in Germany and England, and in 1954, his family moved to the Washington D.C. area when his father was transferred to the Pentagon. From there, they moved to Waco, Texas, where Bornhorst completed high school.
"I was always into the sciences, mostly electronics, and photography," Bornhorst says of his early years. "I was always working in a darkroom, working with light, and liked the scientific aspect of it."
In 1971, Bornhorst graduated with a BS in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University, and ended up working for a new company called Showco. At first he was a "roadie's roadie," driving trucks and setting up for Three Dog Night and then Alice Cooper. In 1973, with Showco founder Rusty Brutsché, he built his first major audio console, the Superboard.
"We're excited to honor Jim at this year's Parnellis with a Visionary Award," says Terry Lowe, Parnelli Awards executive producer and publisher of PLSN and FOH. "He's a leader and an innovator, and one of the most respected professionals in the business. We look forward to thanking him for all he's done and continues to do."
"This is a wonderful industry with great people, and I'm honored to receive this Parnelli," says Bornhorst. "I have been blessed with recognition," he adds, "but know that these things were hardly a solo effort on my part, and two others, Tom Walsh and John Covington, have been in development with me."
Bornhorst will receive his Parnelli Award at a gala dinner Oct. 22 at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas.
For more information on the Parnellis, go to www.parnelliawards.com.
