by Adam Stone

HUNTINGDON VALLEY -- Here's how it works. A musician forms a band, then the band scrambles for bookings on the wedding circuit, hiring itself out through advertising and word of mouth.

Eddie Bruce wants to take it to a whole new level. Instead of booking just a single band, he recruits and trains musicians, forms them into combos and then books them out for weddings, parties, and corporate events. He and his partners have assembled a stable of more than 100 musicians since forming EBE -- Eddie Bruce Entertainment in 2000. They book 20 to 50 events on an average weekend.

"The way we are doing it takes it out of the mom-and-pop thing," Bruce said. "There is actually a sales staff here. There is actually a production staff and a plan to move forward. We have created an infrastructure that allows the bands to concentrate on what is important, which is delivering a superior product to the client."

This is potentially a great idea, said Nicole Burkhart, sales manager at the Perfect Weddings consultancy in Berwyn . She said the evolution toward a more professional approach could be good for the industry as a whole. "A lot of [bands] have several references and they get a lot of stuff from referrals," she said. "But these larger companies have an Internet presence. They are easy to find, and they can offer this larger showcase, which really helps the brides and grooms."

The showcase she refers to is a powerhouse event in which Bruce will bring together a number of bands at one time in order to give potential clients a consolidated sample of the wares, as opposed to asking the bride-to-be to come out and hear different performers on different days. To make that happen, the EBE partners at the start of their enterprise spent between $50,000 and $70,000 to create a soundstage and showcase facility in Southampton .

Some of that was their own money and some came from bank financing. As longtime veterans of the business -- Bruce had operated Eddie Bruce Music since the 1980s, while partner Steve Meranus headed up Dreamtime Music -- they say they had no trouble landing financing. It helped that even before they opened their doors they already had events booked and revenue flowing from their existing enterprises.

While Bruce has the experience, Meranus brings a strong business head to the table. The third partner, drummer Mike Gendler, brings musicianship. He produces and rehearses the bands, teaching them how to make a party happen and putting the polish on their acts.

This idea of managing multiple acts can be a tough way to do business, according to Carmen Tomassetti, who as president of CTO World Entertainment in Philadelphia handles more than a dozen acts, in an operation similar to that of EBE.

"I manage chaos," he said.

Musicians have a reputation for being less than totally reliable. Tomassetti said there is some truth to the rumors. "There is always a proportionate amount of craziness according to the talent level. The more talented someone is, the more difficult they are to manage," he said.

In fact, this question of personnel management is one of the biggest challenges facing Bruce and his partners. To keep the situation in line, they have developed systems that they say help to weed out potential trouble early on.

Mike Gendler, Steve Meranus and Eddie Bruce

"As soon as a musician comes back to us saying, I can't make this rehearsal, that is a red flag. If they are not going to work out, we know it fairly early on," Meranus said.

The players then go through a strict training process, resulting in a product that has won considerable support among local event planners. At the upper end, a dozen-piece EBE dance band can draw upwards of $10,000 for a wedding performance.

"Typically, weddings are where musicians go to die," Bruce said. "Our vision is completely different. We want the finest musicians on the stage at these parties. We want rehearsed, polished performers."

To sell these musicians, the partners spend a lot of face time with others in the trade. They visit with caterers, hotel people, event planners and wedding consultants, all of whom are likely to make referrals to their own clientele. They invite these folks to showcases and hand out DVDs highlighting their top bands.

In addition to a Center City sales office, the partners also market from the EBE Mobile, an oversized van equipped with an office, including plasma screens and leather couches. Wrapped in colorful photos and the company logo, the van circulates around town and appears at sporting events and other high-profile happenings.

The partners say they are close to combining their sales offices and performance and recording spaces in a single 6,000- to 7,000-square-foot space in downtown Philadelphia .

"The grand plan is really to create a larger East Coast entity," said Meranus. "We are already in talks with several entertainment companies in order to either merge or acquire" with the long-range goal of building a brand that would reach from Long Island , N.Y. , to Florida .

From the May 21, 2004 print edition Philadelphia Business Journal
© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.