The readers have spoken, and the results speak for themselves. What a mix of heroes. Some have never been in the winner's circle, some are returning; some are fairly young companies, some working through their 30-something years. Some are still building up business within the zip code they live, and at least one is outgrowing the "hometown hero" category.
The one thing they all have in common (besides great people and an unfettered commitment to customer service): pretty much all point to having made a big investment in high-end gear … and having a happy ending about that nail-biting commitment.
CANADA
Rocky Mountain Production Services • Vancouver, BC
Fred Michael likes to say it all started 32 years ago with a console, assorted amps, a few speakers and an orange van. But he's driven that van far – all the way to Olympics and beyond.
"I always had an interest in music," Michael explains. He went from being that home stereo enthusiast to hanging out with a local band that had him mixing sound. Once he had even the most modest collection of equipment, he started his company.
"For the most part, our growth has been slow and steady," he says. "But we got a big break when Vancouver hosted the 1986 World Expo. Work on that gave us the opportunity to step up and become more professional, and that led to getting more involved with the corporate side. That's when we moved away from just doing bands." In the 1990s, they expanded into lighting and were able to put packages together and grew even more. A high-profile project was the design and installation of a full audio system retrofit in Rogers Arena, formerly known as GM Place, home of the NHL Vancouver Canucks. More recently, when the Olympics came to town last year, Rocky Mountain Production Services (RMPS) was on hand, taking care of several components, including being part of the Cultural Olympiad team and providing audio for over 50 events in a variety of related venues.
"We do a lot of the large festivals in western Canada, and this summer we just did the Vancouver Jazz Festival for the 26th year in a row. We've done the Vancouver Folk Festival for 15 years." When the city itself celebrated its 125th birthday and held a three-day festival, they provided audio for that as well.
Today, 15 full time people work at RMPS. Their 10,000 square foot warehouse holds their main system, an L-Acoustics KUDO. "That is a real successful product for us – it goes back and forth between our work with the Vancouver Symphony and a rock band perfectly." Yamaha and Avid consoles are used as well.
NORTHWEST
XXXX Audio • Sacramento, CA
As XXXX Audio, owner Doug Pumphrey is looking to celebrate 30 years in business next year, he sees more growth on the way. "We do some touring, but have for a long time [worked] with the casinos up here and handling their concerts – that's been our staple," he explains. The economy has dried up some of the work he was doing over in Reno, though he still work the resorts. "About 30 miles away is Thunder Valley, the most successful Indian Casino in California and the third most successful casino in the country. We did 23 shows for them this year and plan to do more next."
XXXX also does corporate work, and local radio event concerts and events keep them busy as well.
He says he was that kid who ran the 16mm projector in high school, and thus saw the infamous "Signal 30" highway safety movie more than anyone should. In the 1970s, he hooked up with a band based out of Davis called the Four Skins, running sound, among other things. When the band broke up in 1982, they still had all this gear, so he started renting it out.
In the 1980s, the company was working with Bill Graham Presents and touring with several acts including Stanley Clarke and George Duke. The company continued to expand in the 1990s, but so did the needs of their clients. "We had been with JBL for a long time and needed a new speaker system, and we turned to the JBL HLA," he explains. Then in 2002, they went with their VerTec Line Arrays and "were the first company in northern California to implement them. Almost 10 years later, and that's what we still use. I'll be interested in the coming year to see what JBL releases next." Driving all those speakers, they have Yamaha, Soundcraft and Avid consoles.
Oh, and about that name: "When we started, our gear had ‘Four Skins' on it, which we'd ‘X' out. Then we'd buy gear from others, and we'd put an ‘X' through their names as well … so we became the XXXXs!"
SOUTHWEST
Precise Corporate Staging • Phoenix, AZ
PCS's David Stern is returning to the Hometown Hero circle and says, "we're very honored by it, as we strive to be recognized as being one of the better companies providing sound."
By any standards, they've had quite the year. They just finished up the 71st Annual Motorcycle Rally known as Sturgis. PCS handle the seven days of music on the main stage. Alice Cooper, Leon Russell, Greg Allman, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Def Leppard and a special benefit concert hosted by actor/musician Jeff Bridges were just some of the acts PCS supported on the main stage. Michael Ballard, owner of the Full Throttle Saloon, which organizes the event, had awarded a six-year contract to the company. "He came up after and thanked us for raising the level of the show," Stern reveals. "Then he said we could have it for as long as we want."
For years, they've done Country USA Music Festival, and this year, they also did the new Rock USA, both in Oshkosh, WI. He credits his investment in L-Acoustics gear, include V-DOSC and KUDO. "We let our equipment do the talking," says Stern. Another major ingredient, he adds, are his people, including some recent hires: Mike "Woody" Woods recently joined its new entertainment division, headed by Gary Brunclik.
Stern, originally from New Jersey, spent his early live event career working on the road for groups like Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen, Deep Purple and Meatloaf. In 1984 he became keyboard tech for Bon Jovi. He and his wife Marla would eventually land in Phoenix, where they started PCS in 2000.
Today, they are focused on expanding into the entertainment segment, and they are doing it as they've done everything else: carefully and thoughtfully. "Companies that move too fast can be knocked out by one misstep," observes Stern. "And because you're buying into new gear, you really can't make a mistake. The bar is higher, and you have to perform. It's a matter of patience and timing.
"Our philosophy is, we partner with our clients," Stern adds. "We help them invest in their business. When their business grows, our business grows." They work show-to-show, but also year to year. "We want to create events and relationships where we both win."
MIDWEST
Clearwing Productions • Milwaukee, WI
Clearwing Productions returns to the Hometown Hero Circle again in response to another good year for the company. "It's been a good, interesting year," says president Gregg Brunclik. "We got into a L-Acoustics K1 system, which really set the bar similar to the way their V-DOSC system did when that came out," he says. "They've significantly improved the technology, and the acquisition of it has propelled us into the national touring circuit." He used it on regional projects, too, taking it out for Bob Dylan, Foo Fighters, Supertramp, Andrea Bocelli and others.
For nearby Milwaukee, which he refers to as "city of festivals," they've been busy with a whole string of events. Clearwing has gone more than a little country, too, as they supported acts like Rascal Flatts, Toby Keith and Martina McBride. They've been busy with a couple of big installation projects around the state, too. "In these economic conditions, you have to have a lot of irons in the fire." They've also been partnering with other companies, too, including his old friend Smoother Smyth of Delicate Productions.
Out of high school, Brunclik was a drummer of a band before he moved behind the sound console. After spending some time on the road, he started the company in his hometown of Milwaukee. (Good thing, as he's the father of nine children, three in college!) He built the company up over the years, and today he has 60 full-time employees. "I'm glad to have a lot of good people under the canopy." This year, he's added some key people, including Rich Mayne and Kerry Miller. In addition to adding K1s to his inventory, he's also added L-Acoustics KIVA and KARA. Gear from Lexicon, Martin, Meyer, Midas, Sennheiser, Shure, TC Electronics and Yamaha are also in their warehouse.
"As we all know, anybody can own gear. But the real key to success in this business is repeat business. It does no good to just do a show once.
"Otherwise, I'm trying to live right and hope the right things happen to me."
SOUTHEAST
Production Support Group • Tallahassee, FL
Larry Schmidt is president of Production Support Group (PSG). He's also a bass fisherman. So his personal and professional aspirations collided when he worked this year's Bassmaster Classic in New Orleans. "It's like NASCAR for fishing," he exclaims.
Born in Detroit, he moved to sunny Florida in the late 1960s. Out of high school, he found himself running restaurants ("Hated it!" he laughs). He decided a career in pro audio would keep him challenged and "simply" went and stumbled on a local band called Meltdown. When their first and only tour went bust, he turned to renting the equipment and started the company with three others. He would buy them all out by 1987.
It was a hard-knock life: "I took no pay, spending it all on equipment," he says. "I worked as a stage hand to support myself and slept on the floor of my warehouse." It was a slow and steady climb up, but today, they are doing quite a bit of corporate work. They also do festivals that feature the gamut from Iggy Pop to one they just did featuring comedian Bill Cosby. "We also do a lot of projects for Florida State University – we just try to make money!"
One of the biggest changes in the history of the company happened five years ago when they committed to a new sound system. QSC insisted that PSG look at their WideLine-10 System.
"We decided not to stay in the status quo of our equipment. We needed to separate from the pack by investing in new technology." They also invested in new amps, monitors, subs and consoles. "This decision is what led us to start competing in bigger markets and allowing us to keep clients that would require the newer technology."
Today, PSG has five full-time employees and 20 more part-timers and work out of two warehouses totaling 13,000 square feet.
"We have not slowed down, even in these economic times. In fact, we are going to have our best year over. We will go way above 2010 sales. And we have a lot of great projects on the horizon."
NORTHEAST
Asbury Audio • Asbury, NJ
Jason Dermer figured it out at the age of 14. "If I hooked up with a band and helped them, I could see the show for free!" he laughs. Quickly, he figured out how to hook tape recorders into soundboards and did some small demo studio work as well.
He would spend four years in the Marines – something he modestly prefers not to talk about, other than to say it's taught him to be able to keep extremely cool in the crazy and tense situations that can arise when putting a show up. After 10 years on the road, he landed in Asbury in 2002 and launched Asbury Audio the next year. At first, the gear he had collected over the years fit in an 1,800 square foot warehouse they shared with a record label, but inventory kept growing, and they have since moved to a 5,000-square-foot facility down the road.
"We do Wingstock and Hungerstock festivals and have provided audio for all the B stages at the Bamboozle festival," he says. Asbury Audio does a lot of the venue work, including production support at the famous Stone Pony. For now, they don't do a lot of touring work, although they do go out with local heroes Southside Johnny.
The company is in growth mode. "We're primarily focused on this market, and we're doing about a thousand shows a year. Last year we hit 1,200." Asbury Audio keeps eight full-time employees busy and turns to Local 21 for additional support. Sometimes they have more than 60 personnel working on various weekend events.
Dermer carries a lot of ADRaudio products, a company based in Slovenia. He was impressed with the speakers they were creating and started bringing them to the states. 4Wall and Pulse Lighting are among the companies that have also taken the new speakers on.
Going forward, Dermer says Asbury Audio is looking to expand its inventory, starting with adding a console, likely a Soundcraft Vi1, to keep their existing Vi6s company. "We're keeping up with the market needs and seeing more demand for higher-end equipment on smaller gigs."
