Worley Sound: The boutique audio firm competing with the biggest players in US live sound

When Tom Worley first launched Worley Sound, a sound reinforcement company that specialises in the touring and live event sectors, he was told it would never work. The former systems engineer reveals how he’s gone from being an underdog to competing with the biggest sound reinforcement and touring supply companies in the US and globally.

“A lot of people thought I was mad, including some bigger companies I spoke to,” Worley admits, speaking to Headliner from his home in Nashville. “They said, ‘This is never going to work. You can’t run something like this from New Zealand.’ And, to be fair, they were right. I needed to move back to the US. So I did.”

It all started with a dream: to provide high-end, tour-ready audio packages that make life on the road easier. For Worley, that vision has grown into Worley Sound, a Nashville-based company punching far above its weight.

“I grew up in New Zealand, in quite a rural area,” he explains. “My parents were farmers, and we lived on the east coast of New Zealand, very isolated – about an hour away from any town. I went to a fairly traditional school that was very focused on sport and that sort of thing. But I started getting into music, playing guitar, and we had a little band at school.”

From those humble beginnings, Worley carved a path through the live entertainment industry, starting at 18 as a freelancer at Oceania Audio in Auckland, working on tours for major international acts passing through. “Quickly, I picked up mixing and the systems engineering side of live sound. I was quite practical, good with people, and I just worked it out as I went along.”

A stint in the UK with London-based audio rental and production company, Britannia Row, exposed him to even larger-scale productions, including tours with Depeche Mode and Pearl Jam, and events like the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. 

From there, the US beckoned: Rat Sound in California brought him over for Coachella, and by 2014, he had moved permanently to L.A. with his family, taking on the role of head systems tech for major tours and festivals and later as an account manager.

After a brief return to New Zealand during Covid, Worley saw an opportunity to create his own boutique sound company – one that would prioritise meticulous attention to detail, plug-and-play efficiency, and a personal touch that global giants often lack. 

In 2021, Worley Sound was born, providing audio for acts including alt-J, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Fontaine’s DC, Jungle, Turnstile, and Tame Impala – all from a lean, agile team headquartered in Nashville.

“When Covid began to ease, and everyone started going back to work, I started to get calls from all these bands,” he recalls. “At that point, I thought, ‘We need to move this company back to the States’. I went back to a company I’d been working for, and said, ‘Remember that control package we built right before Covid? I want to buy that off you.’ They agreed to sell it to me, and that’s how I got started.”

The company has gone from strength to strength since. “We have 45 consoles, around 250 L-Acoustics boxes, and we’re a full-service audio provider,” he nods. “We’ve got Bolero comms and all that sort of thing; we’ve really gone full service.”

What sets Worley Sound apart isn’t the size of the company; it’s the level of care, planning, and precision packed into every tour package. By offering a bespoke approach that rivals the largest players in the US, Worley has proven that small can indeed compete with mighty – and thrive.

“We’ve carved out a niche we’re very proud of: a high level of attention to detail and personal customer service,” he nods. “We call it a white-glove service. We prep everything right down to the little things. The clients turn up, often without having seen the gear before, plug it in, and everything works – everything’s in the right place. That’s what we’ve become known for. We’re small enough to stay nimble, which means we can spend the extra time making sure that happens.”

Worley has lost count of the number of times he’s been asked if global industry leader acquisitions of other audio companies worry him. “Honestly, I think it’s great,” he insists. “It’s actually really good for my business. What it does is open up more space for companies like us to move in underneath and provide a different kind of hands-on service – one that can be really beneficial for our customers in other ways. They want customer service, attention to detail, and they don’t want to feel as though they’re just another number going in and out.”

After receiving audio bids from most of the major players for tours, production managers who have experienced Worley Sound’s technical precision and ability to be more agile are opting to use Worley’s company instead, safe in the fact that they will get tailor-made systems and won’t be lost in the shuffle.

“We’ve got a rehearsal studio as well – Worley Studio – right next to our audio warehouse. We have a lot of A-list customers come through there, and often they have a package from someone else. We get to see first-hand how these systems are being presented to their customers, it’s covered in dust, nothing’s labelled – it’s honestly shocking that that’s the standard. 

"So that’s where we’ve positioned ourselves, and we see it as an opportunity. If we talk about the industry more broadly, I don’t think the monopolisation of the industry is a good thing overall. But for our business, it does create an opportunity to take advantage of what I’d call a lack of quality control.”

This custom service has certainly struck a chord with production managers, who praise the company for its meticulous approach and impeccable packaging. Worley Sound makes sure everything is ‘plug-and-play’ and ready to handle the pressure of life on the road, and it’s an ethos that has resulted in customers who return every time their act hits the road.

“Our clients know that when they come back, we’ll build the system exactly how they want it, often the same as last time,” Worley points out. “That consistency is something they really value. That’s where we stand out. We meticulously archive all our preps – the way we build everything, rack drawings, spreadsheets for pre-production – so when a client returns, it’s like they’re picking up exactly where they left off. Everything works, everything feels familiar, and it’s seamless. That reliability is a big reason our clients keep coming back.”

Worley Sound was born from a vision to deliver high-end audio packages that make life on the road easier. Worley considers the finer details that he noticed that could have been improved at that time.

“A lot of it comes down to the way the equipment is packaged: how everything is built into the racks and the types of connectors you choose,” he explains. “At our scale, we’re able to spend time on those finer details: the connectors, the cabling on stage, the size and layout of the cases. None of it is particularly complicated, but it makes a real difference for the engineers and crews using the system every day. 

"We try to think through every part of the experience and make things easier wherever we can. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking an engineer if they’d like their console set a little lower so it’s more comfortable to mix on. It’s small details like that, but they add up. Nothing is left unconsidered. That’s the way I work, and it’s something the whole team has really embraced.”

Worley Sound today spans equipment rental, system design, consulting, and specialised labour, but building a full-service ecosystem didn’t happen overnight. “We felt that if we were just a dry hire company, we’d miss out on a big opportunity,” Worley explains. To rewind a little, the company began by focusing solely on control packages – often sending out equipment without technicians.”

Over time, the scope expanded. “Now, we’ve expanded: we have PA, we’re sending out more staff, and we’re running bigger tours that require techs. It’s really just about wanting to be a full-service audio company and provide the complete package.”

Worley Sound is a proud L-Acoustics Certified Provider – a credential that immediately came into play on Mitski’s expanded North American tour. As her shows grew from smaller venues to arenas of up to 20,000 capacity, the tour required a dedicated system rather than relying on house PAs.

“I’ve been working with L-Acoustics products for around 20 years and have built a really strong relationship with the company,” says Worley.

When Worley Sound started working in larger venues, Worley knew he needed to invest in large-scale speakers. He says partnering with L-Acoustics was a no-brainer.

“They’ve consistently pioneered live sound for decades. I’ve always admired their drive to push boundaries, improve technology, and make things better – not just for touring crews, but for audiences too. That’s why I’m such a big supporter of L-Acoustics, and it’s exactly what I love about their approach to live sound. It certainly puts us in the mix when it comes to quoting for larger tours and arena shows, too,” he furthers.

“Obviously, smaller tours don’t require a full PA system, so it’s not relevant for them. But now that we’ve got the PA capability, we’ve found that very few people want to rent the control package from one company and the PA from another. They want it all to come from a single source. That’s exactly what I’ve been aiming for with this full-service approach.”

The US live sound industry has faced a turbulent few years, with touring coming to a complete halt during the pandemic and then surging back as restrictions lifted. Worley has been navigating it all with a keen eye on both opportunity and stability.

“There was definitely a bit of a boom after COVID. A lot of that was due to pent-up demand, but there were also supply chain issues that caused people to panic a little and make decisions faster than they were used to,” Worley reflects. 

“Now, we’re definitely getting back into a more routine rhythm here. There have been some challenges from the artist side, with rising expenses, higher prices for everything, tariffs, and other factors increasing the cost of touring. But most of our clients fall into the middle to top range: they have the budgets, the experience, and put a lot of thought into their tours.

Looking to the future, Worley is focused on sustainable, controlled growth.

“We’ve grown 40% year on year, and we expect to continue growing. That said, we’re very aware that we don’t want to get too big. To maintain our quality control and level of precision in this white-glove service, we need to keep our focus and not expand to the point where we lose that. 

"We see it all the time: companies grow too big, and suddenly they can’t deliver what they used to, because there are just too many people and too many moving parts. We do have some strategic plans to move into different areas,” he reveals, “but for now we’re focusing on Nashville, our clients, and continuing to do what we do best: providing a true white-glove service.”