BRICKHOUSE MUSIC LLC
ROCKLEDGE, FLORIDA

Brickhouse Music Within two years of the inception of Brickhouse Music, Tom went to the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire to work on his Masters, where he played in Jazz One ensemble, made some of his most valued life-long friends and created his first original rock album with his band After becoming a musical couple, Tom and Jen thought long and hard about where Brickhouse Music should come in to its own. First thoughts for a city were Winona, Red Wing, River Falls or Stillwater. As Tom and Jen are both performers, they knew that they needed to be close to the St. Paul/Minneapolis metro area to find the opportunities in theater and for live bands to flourish, so Winona was out. Stillwater already had a owner-operated music store and Red Wing is a lovely city, but River Falls is IN Wisconsin, the home state, a mere 25 minute drive to St Paul, so River Falls became home – as has been Home to the House for 20 years. 109 North Main Street became Brickhouse Music’s first official address in the fall of 1997. 109 North Main was a downstairs entry locale, with a Gate as opposed to a door. It has faux brick on the walls, and was affordable for Tom to rent while Jen was still going to school in Eau Claire. There was one large room, one small room for lessons and a bathroom. About 800 square feet, tops. By May 0f 1998, there was an opening at 113A North Main Street – a main floor option with a basement…this would be the home of Brickhouse Music from May 1998 – May 2003. 113A had great, high ceilings, alley parking, a basement for the expansion of BHM into repair, lessons and a recording studio…which means the need for a Repairman and a Sound Engineer soon came along. Clark Thaldorf, who was a music education major at WSU, had finished a band instrument repair course and had been working in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, came to Tom and Jen’s wedding in 1998…and the rest is history. Tom lured Clark back to Wisconsin, and the Brickhouse Music family grew. Kyle Bonderson, who had been a drummer in Cartoon Water, as well as a great friend, was also a studio engineer, and he agreed to join Tom and Brickhouse as the studio engineer and head of Velvet Brick Studios, which was built in the basement of 113A…and the Brickhouse Music family grew. As the family grew, as the student numbers grew, BHM needed room to expand. In 2003 Tom and Jen bought 216-218 South Main Street. The building that had most recently been Krueger auction services, but had in the past been Fox Hardware, among other businesses. We built 8 lesson rooms and a new Velvet Brick Studio, band instrument repair and guitar repair area. Finally BHM had a home. Within 2 weeks, there was a big storm, and Jen walked in to a new waterfall in the ceiling. Ahhh, the life of a landowner! Owning a store and a building has it’s advantages to be sure, but the the whole package can sometimes be a little bit daunting…so in 2005 BHM acquired another building – 214 South Main Street, the old photography building. 2005 was a big year for BHM. Acquiring 214, opening a store in Eau Claire (closed in 2012), Jen getting a job on Broadway in Mamma Mia. She moved to NYC for 2 years, working remotely as much as possible to help with the store, Tom flying out to visit, her flying back on her days off…two years of a great job on the big White Way was lovely, but River Falls, WI is home. Coming back to the Twin Cities theatre community was great for Jen, and she finally came to work full time at BHM…as “full time” as an actor’s life will let one be. 2006 rolled around and the Tommy Bentz Band won the Ticket To Fly – the Beatles Tribute contest at the MOA, attracting some 50,000 people to a concert and battle of the bands competition honoring the music of the “Fab Four”, sponsored by Icelandair, featuring Pete Best – the “Fifth Beatle” as one of the panel judges, which led to Icelandair creating a Beatles Tour featuring the Tommy Bentz Band as the official tour entertainers. TBB played in Iceland, Manchester, at the famed Cavern Club in Liverpool, toured the home of the Casbah Coffee Club – Pete Best’s family home, and began their love affair with Scotland, as they drove from Liverpool to Edinburgh to perform at Whistlebinkies on the Royal Mile. Since 2006, the band has toured Northern England and Scotland more than 8 times, have played the Orkney Blues Festival, the Harvest Time Blues Festival in Monaghan, Ireland and countless other amazing venues, making fast friends in each city. Most recently, the TBB released a full-length DVD, toured this May and is heading back in the fall to play the Callander Blues Fest and the Falkirk Blues Club.If you’re ever looking to see where TBB is playing near you, check out his schedule at