Utah is known for many things: Skiing on slopes of fresh powder snow, hiking majestic mountains, the 2002 Winter Olympics, the Sundance Film Festival and now moving at a rapid pace, the high tech industry known as Silicon Slopes along The Wasatch Front of Utah.
Forbes.com has deemed the State of Utah to be 1st in the country with this title (for the fifth time in six years). “Best State For Business.”
The boom of business has been most prevalent among in hi-tech, however, technology hasn’t been the only business on the rise.
Utah Live Bands and Dance Bands has seen remarkable growth since they started in 2005. Every year they are consistently doubling in size. Mike Tobian, who is the Owner of Utah Live Bands (local events) and Dance Bands (national and international) commented, “We have grown from a very small operation with just one small jazz combo to the largest event entertainment company in Utah with dozens of bands that we manage.”
Most of the bands on utahlivebands.com or dancebands.com are represented and managed exclusively by Mike and his team. Some of the top bands on the website are bands that he and his brother, Stephen Tobian (who is the General Manager) have personally formed. Utah Live Bands has received three, prestigious Best of State awards in 2015 to add to their awards from 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. They are the only music booking agency in Utah to have earned this award multiple times and are honored to have won it ten times.
Both Mike and Stephen are very gifted and musically inclined, each having the ability to play several instruments. They both have formal education and a deep, rich background in music. Jazz and the saxophone was at the root of this company and from these roots branched many live music genres. Branching even further, they produce a vast variety of entertainment. They have a life-long passion for music, thus creating a premier company in the world of entertainment. Dance Bands has traveled beyond local events having performed Venice, Monte Carlo France, Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, Hawaii and The Kentucky Derby.
As much as Mike and Stephen dedicate themselves to their music career; they do have interesting lives outside of work too.
Stephen Tobian playing Sax- in a band he owns called “Dance Doctors”
Stephen is an intellectual; witty, with dry humor, detail oriented and a dedicated individual. He completed a music degree in jazz/saxophone performance and went on later to receive his MBA. He has also shared this musical talent by teaching students saxophone and clarinet. Stephen enjoys the movies, classic literature and also enjoys editing and producing video. He also owns Dinosaur Events, which brings to life an epic experience of life-like dinosaurs in large scale. Stephen is married to a very adorable and talented woman, Nikole. They both share a common interest in travel and videography. Utah Live Bands does the majority of their marketing materials in-house, allowing Stephen to utilize his talent. Take a moment to check out on either website, utahlivebands or dancebands, for some professional footage Stephen has done. It’s impressive!
Mike Tobian is the entrepreneur who started this top notch entertainment business. Mike is a guy who, I am pretty sure, doesn’t sleep much because he’s always coming up with new and better ideas for his company. A quote from Mike that says it all “I find myself always needing to do something new or take something that I am currently doing to the next level.” In addition to Utah Live Bands, he also owns three other businesses. Dinosaur Events (DinosaurEvents.com), Utah Casino Events (UtahCasinoEvents.com) and he is a business broker with Alpine Business Brokers. (AlpineBusinessBrokers.com). I told you he doesn’t sleep much.
Mike Tobian on the sax playing jazz
Mike recently released a jazz album on Jazz Hang Records (jazzhangrecords.com) that received radio airtime nationally. He taught University level music classes and directed bands at Brigham Young University (for 10 years) and Utah Valley University (for 3 years). Mike has authored the textbook “Fundamentals of Jazz Improvisation” which was used in Utah Valley University jazz improvisation classes.
Mike and his beautiful wife have three young children. Mike and his wife, Meryn also have like-interests. Both appreciate fine restaurants, weight lifting and volleyball. Behind Mike’s polished and professional side he does a perfect Harry Caray impression.Oh yes, and he does enjoy a good game of poker.