Joe’s interest in electronics began at an early age as he built radios and experimented with other electronic projects. At just 11 years old, he built his first electric guitar from purchased parts, creating a Gibson SG-style instrument and bringing together the two interests that would shape his future: technology and music.

That early project was more than a childhood experiment. It marked the beginning of Joe’s hands-on approach to understanding how equipment worked, improving it, and building what he needed himself.

At age 15, Joe formed his first band and began developing the practical skills that would later shape his career. Because professional equipment was expensive, he learned to modify, repair, and build much of the gear the band needed himself. What started as a way to keep the band operating became valuable hands-on experience with electronics, amplification, sound equipment, and troubleshooting.

After graduating from high school, Joe moved from local rehearsals and performances into the southeastern club circuit as a working musician. Touring gave him firsthand experience with the demands of live entertainment—setting up equipment, keeping systems operating night after night, and solving technical problems quickly when something failed.

Joe was not only performing. He was also maintaining the band’s sound equipment and engineering demonstration recordings, which expanded his knowledge of amplification, signal flow, microphones, recording, and live sound. Those years on the road helped turn a lifelong interest in music and electronics into the practical technical foundation for his future career.

In 1974, Joe took the experience he had gained as a musician, equipment builder, and live-sound technician and turned it into his first business. He founded Earth Storm Sound Reinforcement Systems, providing professional sound equipment sales, leasing, rentals, and live mixing services.

The company allowed Joe to work on both sides of the industry. He understood what musicians needed on stage, but he also knew how to design, maintain, and operate the systems behind the performance. That combination of technical knowledge and real-world experience became an important foundation for the businesses he would build later.

Earth Storm marked the point where Joe’s interest in music and electronics became a professional career centered on helping people get better performance from their technology.

In 1976, Joe stepped into a much larger professional arena when he became the live sound engineer for Mahogany Rush. The role took him beyond regional club work and placed him on major tours across North America and Europe, where the demands of live production were far greater and there was little room for error.

Joe was responsible for helping the band deliver consistent sound from venue to venue, despite changing rooms, equipment, power conditions, and local crews. That meant understanding the entire signal chain, adapting quickly, solving problems under pressure, and making critical decisions in real time during performances.

The experience gave Joe direct exposure to large-scale touring, professional concert production, and international live sound. It also helped establish the technical discipline, troubleshooting ability, and attention to detail that would continue to define his career.

During this period, Joe also contributed to two Mahogany Rush albums, expanding his experience beyond live performance and further into professional recording and production.

In 1978, Joe continued advancing his career in professional touring and live production when he became the live sound engineer for Nantucket. By this point, he had already gained experience working in demanding concert environments, and the new role gave him another opportunity to refine his skills with a nationally touring act.

Joe was responsible for delivering clear, consistent sound in different venues, coordinating with stage crews, managing equipment, and solving technical problems quickly during performances. He also mixed live remote broadcasts, where the sound had to work not only for the audience in the room but also for listeners receiving the performance through radio or another remote feed.

During this period, Joe also served as an assistant engineer on Nantucket’s second album. That combination of live touring, broadcast mixing, and studio work broadened his understanding of professional audio and strengthened the technical foundation he would later bring into recording, satellite systems, and eventually residential technology.

In 1980, Joe expanded beyond live sound and studio work by building MobileTracks, a mobile recording studio designed to bring professional recording capabilities directly to the performance location.

Instead of requiring musicians, churches, or performers to come into a traditional studio, MobileTracks allowed Joe to record concerts, rehearsals, choirs, and other live events on site. The system combined recording equipment, signal routing, microphones, cabling, and monitoring into a mobile setup that could be transported and operated wherever it was needed.

Building MobileTracks required more than audio knowledge. Joe had to design a complete working system that could survive transportation, be set up efficiently, and perform reliably in different environments. It strengthened his experience in system design, installation, troubleshooting, and adapting technology to the needs of the client.

That same approach—bringing the right technology to the customer and making it work as a complete system—would later become central to Entertainment Technology.

In 1983, Joe moved into one of the fastest-growing areas of home entertainment and founded Sat Works, a business focused on C-band satellite television systems. These large backyard satellite systems gave homeowners access to programming that was not available through conventional television service at the time.

Joe handled the installation, setup, maintenance, and repair of the systems himself. The work demanded more than mounting a dish. Each system had to be aligned precisely, connected correctly, and adjusted to receive a dependable signal. When equipment failed or lightning damaged a system, customers expected it to be restored quickly.

Those service calls taught Joe an important lesson that would stay with him throughout his career: customers remember how a company responds when something goes wrong. Sat Works helped shape his commitment to personal service, technical accountability, and taking care of the customer after the installation was complete.

As satellite programming expanded to include music channels, Joe also began adding better speakers, amplifiers, and early surround-sound systems. That naturally moved the business beyond television reception and toward complete home-entertainment systems—the direction that would eventually lead to Entertainment Technology.

In 1987, Joe built a professional recording studio where he worked with local musicians, churches, and other performers. The studio gave him a permanent space to apply everything he had learned through live sound, touring, broadcast work, and MobileTracks. It also allowed him to manage the entire recording process, from microphone placement and signal routing to mixing and final production.

That same year marked an important personal turning point. Joe rededicated his life to Jesus, joined Corinth Christian Church, and began serving as the church’s audio engineer. His technical skills became part of a larger purpose: helping worship services, music, and spoken messages reach people clearly and reliably.

This period brought together two values that would remain central to Joe’s work—technical excellence and service to others. The studio strengthened his experience in system design and recording, while his work at the church reinforced the importance of dependability, stewardship, and using technology to support something meaningful.

In 1994, Joe and Sharon founded Entertainment Technology, bringing Joe’s decades of experience in music, live sound, recording, satellite systems, and home entertainment into one company.

Joe brought the technical background and hands-on problem-solving. Sharon helped build the organization, customer relationships, and day-to-day foundation needed to turn that experience into a lasting business. Together, they created a company centered on craftsmanship, personal service, and taking responsibility for the systems they installed.

Entertainment Technology initially focused on helping homeowners enjoy better television, music, and entertainment in their homes. As technology evolved, the company expanded into custom theaters, whole-home audio and video, lighting control, motorized shades, networking, security, access control, and complete smart-home systems.

The founding of Entertainment Technology marked the point where Joe and Sharon’s experience, values, and commitment to service came together as the company customers know today.

In 1997, Entertainment Technology opened a retail showroom, giving customers a place to experience home entertainment technology before bringing it into their own homes.

The showroom allowed Joe and Sharon to demonstrate better television, music systems, surround sound, and emerging home-automation products in a real-world setting. Customers could see how the equipment worked together instead of choosing individual products from a catalog.

This marked an important shift for the company. Entertainment Technology was no longer focused only on satellite systems and individual components. The business was evolving toward complete, professionally designed environments that combined audio, video, lighting, control, and installation.

The showroom became a place for education, consultation, and system design, helping customers understand what was possible and giving Entertainment Technology a stronger foundation for the custom theaters and whole-home systems that followed.

Today, Entertainment Technology continues to build on the foundation Joe and Sharon established decades ago. What began with music, live sound, recording, and satellite television has grown into a full-service technology company serving homeowners with complete, professionally integrated systems.

The company now designs and supports custom theaters, whole-home audio and video, lighting control, motorized shades, networking and Wi-Fi, security, access control, climate integration, and other connected-home technologies. Each project is approached as a complete system rather than a collection of separate products.

Although the technology has changed, the company’s guiding principles have remained the same: listen carefully, design thoughtfully, install with craftsmanship, and remain available when customers need support. Those values continue to shape every project and every customer relationship.

More than four decades later, Entertainment Technology remains committed to helping homeowners enjoy technology that is easier to use, more dependable, and better suited to the way they live.