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Regional Slants
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.
“We always talk about having cuttingedge
technology with a Midwestern work
ethic,” he says. “Of course, we’ve got all sorts
of new gear, but the real important stuff still
hasn’t changed. It’s still about relationships;
there is still a voice on the phone or in front
of you that cares or knows what to do and is
motivated to make it right. That’s what keeps
our doors open and our phones ringing.”
The phones at the Omaha, Neb.-based
company started to ring in 1979 when the
company’s founder, John Kanuth, would
load up his van with a Biamp 2442 console,
a handful of Dukane speakers and Altec 9440
amps. John started the company with an eye
toward servicing the town’s bands as well as
some regional acts.
“John had a band in high school, so he
had a passion for making sound better,” Rogers
says. “He started with humble beginnings
and then would acquire a few more amps, a
little more bottom end as Midwest was just a
fledging company doing local work.”
Political Payday FOH
That fledgling company spent the early
‘80s building a reputation for service and
dependability before being tapped to start
handling event production for Nebraska’s
governor at the time, Charles Thone. It was
an interesting move. “You go where you see a
void,” Rogers states, “where there’s work to be
done. The gig with Governor Thone opened
doors into the political arena and the work
that could be had in the political and corporate
world.”
Midwest has remained active in the political
world ever since, including the 1988
vice presidential debate with Dan Quayle and
Lloyd Bentsen. (It was during that debate that
Senator Bentsen retorted, “I served with Jack
Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy
was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack
Kennedy!”) More recently, the company provided
sound services for Sens. Barack Obama
and Hillary Clinton during the 2008 presidential
primary season.
Midwest also continued to build its music
clientele list from local bands to country
legend Tammy Wynette to some of today’s
hottest acts when they come through town.
The company’s production department has
grown to service local theater companies and
acts that come through the state and county
fairs.
In addition, Midwest pros are working at
corporate events for companies like ConAgra
Foods, Mutual of Omaha, Berkshire Hathaway
and Omaha Steaks. “There are people that
we’ve worked for time and time again,” Rog-
NOVEMBER 2008 www.fohonline.com
FIlling
the Void
Midwest Sound Production Manager Cody Seebohm (left) with El Tri’s monitor engineer. Setting up for Mexican blues/hard rock band El Tri’s concert. Crowd shot at the Big Ticket Fest in Gaylord, Mich.
Midwest Sound and Lighting started with regional acts before opening its doors to the political arena.
By David JohnFarinella
ers reports. “So, if they have a convention in
Miami Beach or San Diego, we put our stuff
in trucks and go. Obviously, there are sound
companies in those areas, but we think we
spoil them enough with our service and
hands-on detail that they hire us.”
Midwest’s gear collection has grown from
a Biamp console, Dukane speakers and Altec
amps that Kanuth used in the early years.
These days they rely on Yamaha PM5D and
M7CL consoles, EAW KF750 and 755 speakers,
Crown Macrotech amps and more to pull off
shows. “It’s not anything that’s overly sexy or
unusual,” Rogers says.
Multiple Streams FOH
Beyond production services, the company’s
two offices (an office in Omaha opened in
1983) offer equipment repair and rental, design
and installation and sales. The multiple
revenue streams, Rogers states, help ensure
that the company will continually be in the
black.
In addition to its secular design and installation
work — including the largest community
theater in the nation, Omaha Community
Playhouse, where they have supplied audio,
wireless and lighting installations — Midwest
became known for their work in houses
of worship. “We were careful to respect the
sacred nature of the churches and to not
change them into looking like sound stores,”
Rogers explains.
Based on that success, the company held
a pair of technology and worship conferences
that brought together churches of all sizes
and equipment designers and manufacturers.
“We had seminars on acoustics and mixing to
try to educate the house-of-worship market
as to why just a garden variety sound system
might not be their best choice,” Rogers says.
The future of Midwest includes the
growth of all five channels, reports Rogers,
with special attention to remaining profitable.
“In this ever-more price driven climate,
especially with the high cost of diesel when
we talk about road shows and taking our
production rig on the road, it’s ever tougher
to stay profitable,” he says. “There are people
out there that will go for that low-dough bid
where you might not get what you hoped for,
but the number looks better, and sometimes
that is the driving factor. Pleasing the customer
has to stay job one, but job two is staying
profitable.”
The company’s Nebraska location, it turns
out, has helped Midwest Sound and Lighting
in this area. “We enjoy a couple luxuries
that may be the higher concentrations on the
coasts don’t,” Rogers explains. “While we probably
didn’t enjoy the height of the bubble and
boom that happened some years ago to buoy
everybody up, I don’t think we’ve hit the bottom
of the trough that those areas have had,
too. It’s kind of like having a compressor on
our business.”
Midwest Sound provided crew and gear for Big Ticket Fest 2008 in Gaylord, Mich. Midwest Sound is known for their work at houses of worship such as Savior Lutheran Church in Omaha, Neb.
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