The road to Onstage was
never a straight line.
Before there was a roster, a team, or a nationwide agency... there was one person who believed that live entertainment deserved a better standard. This is his story.
A seven-year-old catches the bug
Sitting in on drums with the bands at his father's restaurant, the Capri 400, in Port Ewen, NY. Too young to know it yet, but the hospitality business and the music business are about to shape everything that follows.
The fire that forged everything
House fire destroys the family home. Thirteen years old, living in motel rooms for months. Learns the lesson that stays forever: the things that actually matter can't burn.
SUNY Fredonia
Auditions as a vocal major because he's unprepared for percussion. Creates his own degree: B.S. in Special Studies. Jazz Ensemble wins at Notre Dame. Chamber Singers tour Europe. Four years of figuring it out on the fly.
New York City
Moves to Queens with nothing. Survives on hot dogs and ramen. Sits in at the Blue Note, 55 Bar, Sweet Basil, Village Vanguard. Ted Curson becomes a mentor. Plays CBGB's. The jazz circuit becomes the real education.
The road years
Twelve years with Paul Mark & The Van Dorens. Recording at legendary studios with Stevie Ray Vaughan's producer. Blues festivals alongside James Cotton and Kim Wilson. A decade of preparation disguised as a music career.
The pivot to Arizona
Leaves New York behind. Starts an ACT! consultancy, then HomeLogics in Scottsdale. The music never stops, but the business instincts are sharpening. Everything is converging toward something he can't see yet.
The moment everything changed
An audition in LA that doesn't go as planned. A residency at the Montelucia Resort that does. JC Productions is born. Not as a booking agency. As a different answer to a question nobody else was asking.
Onstage is born
JC Productions becomes Onstage Entertainment Group. The DMC market opens up. The insight lands: become the one-stop solution nobody else is offering. The platform starts to take shape.
126 meetings in 42 days
Colorado expansion roadshow. Six months later, a global pandemic makes it all disappear. The test of whether a business built on relationships can survive when every event in the world gets cancelled.
1,200+ performers. 50 states. One standard.
Thirty years of preparation built something nobody planned for. A nationwide entertainment agency run by a team that understands both sides of the stage, because the founder spent decades on both.
"Thirty years of preparation built something nobody planned for."
From a seven-year-old sitting in on drums at his dad's restaurant to a nationwide entertainment agency trusted by some of the most recognized names in the business. The path was never straight. But every detour, every stage, every studio, every motel room built the foundation for what Onstage is today.
Let's create something memorable.
Tell us about your event. We'll take it from there.
Book Entertainment