Our Team

Owner/CEO

Steve Payne

Steve’s earliest musical influences came from listening to his older brother’s 45rpm records of Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison and the Everly Brothers; soon after came the LP record and the Beatles British invasion. Steve played bass guitar in an 8 piece soul band during the mid sixties. He attended VCU (philosophy) and J. Sergeant Reynolds (electronics/electrical engineering). In 1976 he left school to take a job as a live soundman with a full time band.

Since then Steve has worn a multitude of hats in the music business, including; artist management, indy record company exec, promoter, performance facility designer / owner, commercial recording studio designer / owner, and touring sound engineer / road manager. Since 1991 Steve’s focus has been exclusively on the growth and development of Soundworks as a premiere service provider for the entertainment and special event industry.

President/Senior Engineer

Grant Howard

Grant got his first exposure to pro audio when he attended the Institute of Audio Research in New York City in 1987. He put his formal training into practice by first working for On Time Music, a backline rental company, then graduating to house sound tech at various clubs around the city, culminating in a gig as house tech for the Lone Star Cafe.

In 1990 Grant took a break from the music business and served his church as a missionary in New Zealand. In 1992 he returned to his hometown of Richmond, VA where he did a brief stint as sound engineer for Iron Dog Audio. In May of the that year, Grant signed on with Soundworks. Grant has been a cornerstone of Soundwork’s dedication to exceptional service since coming on board in 1992.

System Tech/Engineer

Bryan Hargrave

Bryan got his first taste of production when he was only 17 years old as he hopped on a tour bus for a 3 day run providing local labor for a national tour. Despite being voted least likely to survive in the industry among that crew; he has gone on to excel in a long lasting career in concert and event production spanning over half a lifetime. Bryan spent his early years in Richmond, VA as a monitor engineer/systems tech but quickly decided that a touring lifestyle was more appealing. After nearly a decade of traveling to all corners of the world with acts like Hanson and Carole King, Bryan found his home once more in Richmond – at Soundworks.

Having freelanced for Soundworks during his downtime for over a decade Bryan was a great fit. In addition to mixing and field teching, Bryan handles all of the system networking and computer integration, general maintenance and overall quality control. Bryan’s experience, work ethic and commitment to excellence make him a natural as a top tier member of the Soundworks team.