Chuck Morris: veteran concert promoter finds harmony with Anschutz entertainment.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: EXECUTIVE EDGE

Twenty years ago Chuck Morris was in the thick of chaos in Moscow with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band--arranging a concert for the opening of the Anschutz Western Art Collection at the Tretyakov Gallery.

"It was a year before the Russian revolution--the whole country was falling apart and you could barely get a phone line in," recalls Morris, who not only reveled in the pandemonium but sought even greater challenges to showcase Western music in a country hungry for all things American.

"My grandparents were Russian immigrants; came over here on a boat with nothing; barely spoke English and spent their lives working so their kids could go to college," Morris said. "I learned my work ethic from them and felt really connected to Russia when I was there."

Within days, Morris received a call from Phil Anschutz, who not only wanted the Dirt Band to open his exhibit of Western art, but to perform the next night in the Moscow Opera House and a third night at a free concert in Gorky Park.

"It was an incredible nine days," Morris said of the undertaking that would seal a lifelong friendship with Anschutz. Two years ago Morris was named president and CEO of AEG Live, Rocky Mountain Region, a subsidiary of the Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group.

"I always wanted to work for Phil Anschutz and Tim Leiweke (AEG president and CEO) before I retired," said Morris, who turns 64 in March and says he has no plans to retire. "I liked their ideas of doing things like festivals and world tours. They were the ones who came up with the Celine Dion theater in Las Vegas, for example. And I liked their fresh ideas. I'm having more fun than I've ever had in my life. When the day comes that I don't enjoy my work when I walk through the door, that's the day I will retire."

Morris left Clear Channel-owned Live Nation, a concert promoter, where he was Rocky Mountain regional vice president, to...