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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
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SOUTHWEST REGION
Hyacinth and Chris Belcher, back row. Standing, L-R: Colin
Russell, Jason Chamlee, Tyler Johnston, Jacob Chamley, Russ
Purdue and Barry Pharr.
Onstage Systems
Dallas, Texas
Onstage Systems is in its second generation,
with brother-and-sister-partners
Hyacinth and Chris Belcher literally
growing up backstage as their parents, Charles
NORTHWEST REGION
The Morgan Sound support staff, from left, first row: Rose
Andrews, Susan Morgan, Bruce Girard, Pete Munson, Charlie
Morgan. Standing, from left, Shaun Olsen, Adam Kosie, Steve
Gregory, Matt Smith and Stephen Weeks.
Morgan Sound
Lynnwood, Wash.
Steve Boyce is proud to tell you he’s a
“Seattle guy, fifth generation,” and
that fact has helped him survive and
thrive in the finicky Northwest. His compa-
And the Winners Are . . .
and Vicki Belcher, ran sound for area acts. “They
founded the company in 1978, and they were
very much ‘the show must go on’ people,
so from age five, we grew up with that
mentality,” Hyacinth explains. “If we
were sick, then we were sick backstage.
The event came first.”
Hyacinth studied lighting in college,
and Chris got additional experience
in the staging department of their
high school. In 2006, they took over the
family business, with Hyacinth as president
and Chris as vice president. The full service
technical productions company provides systems
and equipment for audio, lighting, backline,
video and staging. But it’s their work in audio
that puts them in the spotlight.
Hyacinth admits that while the company
was established and doing well, it took about a
year for everyone to adjust to new leadership.
Helping smooth the transition was the team
that was already in place. “Most managers have
been here over 10 years. We have a good group
of people who are really passionate about what
we do here.”
ny has once again been voted to be the
Northwest Hometown Hero winner
and regional finalist for the Parnelli
Hometown Hero award. But his
path getting there has certainly
had some curves.
He was a musician, starting
on accordion, and then
switching to guitar before moving
to bass. Naturally, a love of
audio developed. By age 12, he
was building speaker cabinets in
his dad’s shop. That was the year he
formed his first band, and whenever he
played with other groups, their superior
system was used. Boyce would then work
the board.
When he was older, he realized that he
“needed to earn real money,” and he started
working with friend and fellow band mate
Charlie Morgan, who had founded Morgan
Sound in the 1973. Boyce did that for a
while, went off and founded his own sound
company and kept busy. Then here’s the
twist: Microsoft called. They were putting
sound to their first CD ROM (a dictionary)
and called Boyce in for the project. At first
SEPTEMBER 2009 www.fohonline.com
By KevinM.Mitchell
— were compelled to take time to nominate them and vote for them as best in their region.
Only one soundco, however, will leave the stage on Nov. 20 with the annual Parnelli
Hometown Hero award. The full Parnelli awards ballot is now being prepared and will be
online at www.parnelliawards.com soon. Here are the winners of the six regional Hometown
Hero titles for 2009.
While she witnessed how hard her parents
worked, she gained new appreciation for all
that is involved in running a company like Onstage.
“As we have taken over, we have so much
more respect for them. There are daily struggles,
but I’ve grown to love the business even more.
We jumped in full force, and we live, eat and
breathe the business.”
The year 1982 was the beginning of many
good things for the company: That’s the year
they got a George Strait tour and signed up the
Dallas Symphony Orchestra — two clients that
are still with them today. For years, they’ve been
doing the Dallas Cowboy Thanksgiving show in
addition to other events at that stadium. Other
events of note include the Oklahoma University
Graduation Ceremony and the Texas State Fair
Laser Light Show. Last year they did Ozzfest.
“That was a lot of planning, a lot of fun and a lot
of speakers.” Rounding out their project list are
corporate events as far away as Seattle.
Today they have 24 full-time employees,
plus freelancers and do around 300 shows a
year. “Diversification equals success, and having
a crew that can do rock ‘n’ roll, corporate,
he worked as a vendor, then as an employee,
and his stint there lasted seven years.
In 2001, he ran into Morgan Sound partners
Charlie and Susan Morgan at a NAMM
show. The Morgans had grown their company
successfully, though their attention
was focused on the sales and installation
part of the business. Conversation ensued,
and Boyce rejoined the company. He was
to handle the live sound division as their
sound reinforcement director.
“We do quite a mix in live sound,” he
says. “We do a fair amount of corporate
work, which I’ve really grown to love a lot
— it’s straight ahead, clean, and everybody
knows what to expect. And it pays more!”
Recent corporate highlights include a Costco
sponsored fundraiser where Jay Leno
was headlining. They’ve also just finished
tweaking knobs for 3 Doors Down. “I’m glad
to get every gig we get. I also like that we’ve
built a group of people who feel likewise.
The crew takes great pride in what they do,
and aren’t just on the clock.”
He credits the Morgans for building a
solid base. “In the early days, Morgan sound
was it. They did all the major concerts.” As
churches and the symphony projects works for
us. It also keeps us on our toes!”
When it’s noted there are few women in
this business, she laughs. “My parents used to
tell me that there’s no way a woman could a run
a company like this in such a male-dominated
industry, but that just made me want to do
it more — I mean, I grew up playing in drum
corps!”
Belcher cites two reasons for the company’s
success: The first is customer service. “We’re surrounded
by people who care. Each person at
the company puts their own name on a project
in addition to the company’s name, and that’s
how we keep clients long-term.” Secondly, and
of equal importance, is their equipment, including
gear from Clair Bros., Yamaha, Digidesign
and more. “We always want the best, the highest
end. We literally work on it on a daily business.
This has been a good business model for
us.”
As to the honor of being named best in the
Southwest region: “I think it’s a pretty cool thing!
It’s good to see hard work pays off … though it
makes me want to work harder.”
time went by, competition came, and to put
it delicately, some clients slipped away. “But
today we have a lot of new clients. Some
we’ve lost we’ve not yet won back, but the
business is growing overall.”
Today Boyce oversees about 16 full-time
employees with a stable of eight freelancers.
“My attitude is, I’m always on the right
track,” he says, smiling. “I don’t mean that to
sound arrogant, I just have a positive outlook.
And what I have learned from Charlie
in the 1970s is that if you go out and do a
great job every time, not only will you get
that gig again, but [the client] will tell others
about you and you’ll get more phone
calls.
“We go out and do a great job every
time because that’s what we do.”
Boyce says they are “absolutely thrilled”
about this honor. “We’ve been readers of
FOH since the beginning and had the honor
of being named best regional sound company
in 2004, and then we took home the
Parnelli that year. We were nominated last
year, too, and that was a great honor. It’s
great to just have people go, ‘hey, you guys
are worthy.’”