Regional Slants

After graduating from college with a degree in electrical engineering, George Clark started to look around for something to do. His older brother, Houston, had a business degree and years of experience in information systems as a software salesman. He was looking for something different to do.

Although Solotech made a big splash with the opening of its 30,000-square-foot warehouse space that includes a rehearsal room for acts getting ready for tours and an audio video shop, the company has actually had a presence in Las Vegas since the early 1990s when the first Cirque du Soleil show opened with a audio system supplied by the main office in Montreal.

As we muddle through the next few years, we are going to see a lot of anniversaries. We are 40 years  out from the Summer of Love and the real beginnings of the rock sound business. And some companies are trumpeting their pedigrees from their various rooftops, while others just get up, load the truck and continue to do what they’ve done for decades. We’ll lump Scorpio Sound of West Bridgewater, Mass. in with the latter category, even though their pedigree is worth trumpeting.

The votes were tallied, and some were close, some not so much … but the readers of FOH have chosen the best regional pro audio companies in North America. There are new faces and repeat “offenders.” One has been at it a little more then three years, another is celebrating a 30th anniversary. All have a passion for audio, an inimitable story, and a dedication to their clients so powerful that their peers — including competitors — were compelled to take time to nominate them and vote for them as best in their region.

When Steve Boyce, sound reinforcement director at Morgan Sound in Lynwood, Wash., explains the services that the company offers, he’s very clear about what is on the menu. It’s one thing: sound. That’s all, nothing more.

In the mid-1990s, Daniel Bouchard was balancing a handful of plates on sticks, doing all he could to keep each in the air. There was a day gig at a music store, a handful of dates with his band and then there was that PA sitting in the van that needed to be loud. One day he decided to put two of those sticks down to get the PA stick swinging.

There will come a day when business students will learn about 20th century entrepreneurs and the odds are high that every case study they read will start with the phrase, “It all started in a garage.”

The story of Proshow Systems begins 20 years ago in Memphis, Tenn. — in a garage, of course. 

Illusion Sound & Lighting grew from DJs to full service audio production—in Amish country.

There’s about a 50-50 chance that when a truck pulls out of the Illusion Sound & Lighting driveway it will find itself behind a buggy. That will happen when a company is headquartered in Ephrata, Pa.’s Amish country

Eddie DiBona takes only a second to explain why he jumped from a regular hotel and casino gig to the land of self-employment. “They exploded The Sands?”, he answers with a laugh. “No, I’m kidding.”

Midwest Sound and Lighting started with regional acts before opening its doors to the political arena.

John Rogers, marketing specialist for Midwest Sound and Lighting, knows that one of the reasons Midwest Sound and Lighting has been around since 1979 is because of the company’s dedication to simply getting the job done.

Big House Sound started when a PA guy and a monitor guy joined forces. The rest, as they say, is history.

So, what happens when a man with a PA bumps into a man with a monitor rig? In a move that parallels a television commercial, the two join forces and start up one of the most successful audio companies in Texas. Welcome to the overly simplified history of Austin’s Big House Sound, which dates back to 1991 when Rod Nielsen, who owned the house PA, met Roy Kircher, the monitor owner.

“Somebody had to figure out the microphone thing. So that was the first thing I did.”

Jerry Pfeffer got into the PA business while playing in his first band. He was in grammar school. “Somebody had to figure out the microphone thing,” he recalls with a laugh. “So that was the first thing I did.” A handful of years later, Pfeffer was working at a hi-fi store in San Francisco when the phone rang and somebody needed a PA system. The owner let him borrow the van and he loaded up a couple of speakers with a handful of microphones. “It’s been one of those things where it’s one job to another to another,” he says of his company’s growth, “until it’s got to this point. It’s a little crazy now.”