Country Thunder Music Festivals and Premier Global Production president Troy Vollhoffer had a decade-long career as a hockey player beginning in the early 1980s — including multiple years in the Western Hockey League, and a stint with the Baltimore Skipjacks, minor-league affiliate of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. But off the ice, he was already building his status in live music production. Vollhoffer tells Billboard his money from playing hockey “allowed me to have the capital to invest into theatrical equipment, a lighting system,” which he used to launch Premier Global Production in 1986.
Over the past nearly four decades, the company has rigged touring lights and outdoor staging for artists including Metallica, Chris Stapleton, Morgan Wallen, Tim McGraw and Florence and the Machine, as well as for events including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo Music Festival and Austin City Limits. Though he was leading a production company, Vollhoffer says, “I never thought the festival business would be an interest of mine.” Still, his experience with live events meant he was able to observe numerous concerts and festivals over the years.
“We did a lot of festivals and we saw some great ones and we saw some not-so-great ones,” he says. Years before he transitioned into his current role leading the Country Thunder brand of festivals and the production company, he was already familiar with the territory: Vollhoffer’s father served as a production manager for the Big Valley Jam.
