Reno startup Karaoke Rockstarz singing a happy tune

The rock-n-roll soundstage and all the associated gear completed its long trip home to Reno from California's Orange County.

But it won't be sitting idle for long in the industrial building a couple of hundred yards from a runaway at Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

Instead, the management team of Karaoke Rockstarz Inc. expects to be training as many as seven bands on the soundstage in preparation for next year's busy season of fairs and festivals. It's an ambitious plan for the company, which had three bands on the road at the peak of last summer's season.

Working from a list of about 220 songs, the bands accompany audience members 45 or so per night who've signed up for a few minutes on stage.

Like traditional karaoke, which relies on recorded music, Karaoke Rockstarz helps out singers with follow-the-bouncing ball video displays of lyrics.

And as audience members sing along they see the lyrics on a separate display the amateur singer on stage often gains confidence to strut, to dance, to bruise knees with rock-star slides across the stage.

Ray Rodarte, a 58-year-old musician who's been playing clubs in the Reno area since the early 1970s, polished the concept of Live Band Karoke the company has registered the name during regular Monday's night gigs at Brew Brothers nightclub at the Eldorado Hotel & Casino the last two years.

Rodarte, the company's chief executive officer, recruited General Manager Tony Perry and Chief Financial Officer Kris Olsen, and the concept began to turn into a company about a year ago.

Perry, who pioneered the back-stage pass industry in Reno two decades ago, began working his music-industry connections to get the live karaoke act on stage, while Olsen figured out the sometimes-difficult financial logistics.

Perry's challenge marketing the idea: Getting promoters to understand that Karaoke Rockstarz isn't exactly a live band, and it's not traditional cocktail lounge karaoke, either.

His biggest victory so far was a 23-night engagement at the Orange County Fair, a show that drew strong participation from star-struck kids and their videotaping parents at early-evening shows and traditional wannabe rock singers later on.

The company's musicians also have been regulars at Feather Falls Casino in Oroville, Calif.

Now, Perry is looking to slowly expand the company's offerings into the corporate market parties, team-building exercises as well as cruise ships.

For a company whose growth is entirely self-funded, Olsen says cash is a constant concern. Karaoke Rockstarz Inc. builds stages, trucks its sound equipment and markets its shows all of which require cash up front but promoters generally pay only when the shows are completed.

As the company begins to staff up for a busier schedule next year, Rodarte doesn't expect any problems finding talented musicians for its bands.

"There are a lot of middle-aged musicians looking for work," he says. "In Southern California, we've got people champing at the bit."

Along with direct employment of musicians, Karaoke Rockstarz also may license its name and its lyrics-display technology to other groups, Perry says. The lyrics display, he says, differentiates Karaoke Rockstarz from a handful of competitors around the country.

New band members hired by Karaoke Rockstarz undergo a month-long training session before they're sent on the road.

It's not necessarily easy work. At the start of each show, Karaoke Rockstarz hostesses sign up participants and arrange their appearances so that there's a logical flow to the karaoke concert.

Julia Mansfield, a part-owner of the company, works as MC at many of the shows, calling for audience screams at appropriate moments and ensuring that singers are comfortable on stage.

"Every night is new," says Rodarte, noting that's a breath of fresh air for musicians who have been playing the same 40-song set every night for years in casino lounges.

On the other hand, the job requires that musicians stay on top of 220 songs,

"It's a lot to remember," acknowledges Rodarte. "You'll never get bored."