Miranda Lambert, are you kidding me?

EWA President Sheena McCall, left, with Mike Strickland and Ruth Ellis, the group's program chair.

EWA President Sheena McCall, left, with Mike Strickland and Ruth Ellis, the group's program chair.

When Mike Strickland, the CEO of Knoxville-based Bandit Lites, came to speak recently to the Executive Women’s Association, I knew it would be interesting. But I figured that, since he also is the chairman of the board of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and I am a member of that board, his talk would be something I had heard before. It wasn’t.

He did tell the now familiar story of starting his company in 1968 when he was still in high school by “borrowing” some of the lighting equipment from the theater department of Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport where he was a student. (Thus the name of his company — Bandit.) When he would be asked to light shows by such groups as The Monkees and the Beach Boys on their visits to upper East Tennessee, it was great — and profitable. But if they asked him to travel to their next show, he had to turn them down. He was too young to drive.

His career continued when he came to the University of Tennessee. His new “warehouse” was the Clarence Brown Theatre and its much more sophisticated lighting supplies. “Nobody locked the doors to anything back then,” Strickland explained. By the time he was a senior at UT, he was running a $2 million business out of his dorm room.

The rest is history. Today Bandit Lites is the second largest concert lighting company in the world. But here are some things in his talk to women leaders the other day that surprised me:

  • Because of stereotypes, working conditions and the weight of the equipment, the concert lighting industry was one of the last to break down gender barriers and start hiring women. As recently as six years ago, employees in the industry — known as roadies — were 99 percent male. But two things occurred: attitudes toward women in the workplace changed, and the equipment became much more technically sophisticated — and lighter.
  • Today, 26 percent of Bandit’s workforce “on the road” with bands, is female, Strickland said. Sixty-two percent of Bandit’s executive staff is female. And of the seven top people with the company globally, two are women.
  • Ironically, one of today’s biggest female superstars — country music’s Miranda Lambert — won’t allow any females to be on her show’s lighting crews. “I don’t know why,” Strickland said. “But the entertainer is our boss and we have to do what they say.”
  • Strickland only has been “stiffed” — not paid for his work — by two entertainers over the some four decades he’s been in business: Ronnie Milsap for $25,000 and Kool and the Gang for $96,000. The lesson he learned: “Get the cash up front.”
  • Strickland’s mother was always ashamed of the profession he was in. Even though it made him a multi-millionaire, she didn’t consider it a “real” job. Until 1999, two years before she passed away. Why did she change her opinion? There was a write-up about him in Southern Living magazine, one of her favorites.
  • Bandit has provided lighting for every Garth Brooks show and two Super Bowl half-time shows.
  • The lighting business is facing dramatic changes due to the invention of LED lights, which are small and put out almost no heat, and carbon fiber trusses, which are incredibly lightweight. When Bandit would light a stadium show for the band U2 several years ago, the show would require 100 tractor-trailer truck loads of equipment. Today it would require only four for the same amount of lighting.
  • Famous entertainers tend to stick with their lighting company for many years. So Strickland gets new customers by identifying new artists and attaching Bandit Lites to them before they make it big. Strickland, who says he has a great track record in doing this, says there are two acts in Knoxville today that he thinks will be superstars in the near future: Oh No Fiasco (formerly The Few), and young singer Logan Murrell.

From left, Rhonda Rice, Christi Branscom and Janet Testerman at Ruth's Chris after the EWA meeting

From left, Rhonda Rice, Christi Branscom and Janet Testerman at Ruth's Chris after the EWA meeting

Rabbi Ruth Schwartz, left, chats with Knoxville mayoral candidate Madeline Rogero at the meeting.

Rabbi Ruth Schwartz, left, chats with Knoxville mayoral candidate Madeline Rogero at the meeting.

Phyllis Nichols, left, visits with Rosemary Gilliam after the meeting.

Phyllis Nichols, left, visits with Rosemary Gilliam after the meeting.

Rosalyn Tillman, left, and Jan Hickman

Rosalyn Tillman, left, and Jan Hickman

Margie Nichols, left, and Becky Hancock

Margie Nichols, left, and Becky Hancock

Filed under: Business, Events, Knoxville, Music, Theater. Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to Miranda Lambert, are you kidding me?

  1. Rosa Mar, on June 7th, 2011 at 6:47 pm said:

    Facinating insights—second largest concert lighting company in the usa right here in Knoxville.

  2. Robin Conklin, on June 8th, 2011 at 9:22 am said:

    Interesting story Cynthia.

  3. Lynnda Tenpenny, on June 8th, 2011 at 11:31 am said:

    That was quite interesting! Thanks for giving us the highlights.

  4. Fay Bailey, on October 17th, 2011 at 3:15 pm said:

    Great work and just loved the pictures. thank You Fay Bailey

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