Jake Wand is bringing national acts — that otherwise wouldn't consider performing for anything less than a crowd of 3,000 — to Breckenridge's Riverwalk Center, beginning Aug. 9.

Wand, who lived in Summit County from 1998 to 2005 and just moved back two months ago, has developed friendships and business relationships with plenty of big names since he's been in the music business for 10 years. So he's able to talk musicians and their management companies into playing at smaller venues.

“His reach is pretty big,” said Lori Dean, vice president of Wands' company, Star Driven Entertainment.

On Aug. 9, Star Driven Entertainment presents Eddie Money and Rick Derringer, followed by Lou Gramm and John Waite on Aug. 29.

Wand plans to book two shows a month — including musicians from the 1970s, '80s and '90s spanning various genres, comedians and variety acts — at various venues throughout the county, though right now, he's focusing on packing the Riverwalk Center.

“People are able to see the rock stars in an intimate setting,” Wand said. “Everyone's in the front row in a small venue.”

His motivation

Wand grew up on the Front Range, then moved to Florida for a bit before settling in Summit County for seven years. From 2005 through early 2009, he spent time living part-time in Florida and part-time in Summit. He has skied with Team Summit's freestyle team, worked at a couple ski shops in the county, guided for Kodi Rafting and owned Summit Motor Sports. He has consulted on PBS' national television show “Legends and Lyrics” and basically grew up as a guitarist and drummer, doing session work.

“I've always been in the entertainment industry, whether it was extreme sports or music,” Wand said.

His love for Summit County has motivated him to move back full time and open Star Driven Entertainment, an offspin of Wand Entertainment, in Dillon.

His goal includes not only booking national acts in Summit County, but also drawing more traffic — and revenue — to the area.

“I love the area, and I wanted to do something,” he said. “Hopefully through entertainment we can draw people from neighboring states to the area to see a show when otherwise they wouldn't come. A lot of my friends are business owners (in Summit), and I know how hard it is — the day-to-day struggle — especially in a down economy.”

And, speaking of the recession, one might wonder why Wand would take a chance on pricey bands in this financial climate. (Hint: Dean calls him “Mr. Extreme.”)

“Some people may say I'm crazy for starting this in a down economy,” he said, “but times like these, you have to go for it and not think twice about it. That's been the way I've lived my life, whether I'm skiing or riding motorcycles.”

He believes the community needs to “pull together” and support each other. He's donating a portion of the concert proceeds to Team Summit and other nonprofits, and he hopes businesses, in turn, will help him through sponsorship, trades and more.

“There are a lot of places I could do this in the nation, but I love this area,” he said. “Quite frankly, I wanted a reason to move back here.”