40 AT 40: Brent Barrett
Job Title: Business Development Officer

The people are what sets Bandit Lites apart from the rest of the industry. Once a week, for 40 weeks, Bandit will showcase an employee that has made a substantial contribution to the company, whether it be in an office, on the road or somewhere in between. Bandit would not be celebrating its 40th Anniversary without the hard work and dedication of every one these employees.*

*Employee Spotlights are released in no particular order.

Brent Barrett grew up in Kingsport, TN with Bandit CEO, Michael T. Strickland. After doing everything from driving trucks and putting up lighting with Strickland in Bandit’s early years, Barrett went on to act as Alabama’s production manager. After 23 years on the road, he found his way back to Bandit. Below are a few questions we asked to get to know him a little better.

Q. What is your title? Please describe your job responsibilities.
A. I’m the Business Development Officer. My primary job responsibility is to search and develop opportunities for Bandit to provide our services, which are inclusive of technicians and crew, to clients. I then act in the role of being Bandit’s liaison with these clients and attempt to provide tour support for them in a manner that will further establish and develop the relationship. Also, I’m a member of senior management. I work alongside the other seven senior managers to help oversee and determine direction for Bandit. One of my most important roles, in my opinion, is to be a positive voice as well as attempt to be a proper representative of Bandit Senior Management.

Q. How did you meet Michael Strickland? How did you start working for Bandit?
A. Michael and I met in elementary school. Actually, we ran pretty consistently in the same couple of circles of friends through elementary school, middle school and high school. For me it was pretty much a natural progression to start working for Bandit. I had been friends with him and had a lot of other friends that were involved in it. Also, I was motivated by the opportunity to travel and to meet a few other goals I had at that time.

Q. You left Bandit to work as production manager for Alabama. Did you maintain your relationship with Bandit during that time? What made you want to start working for Bandit again, after 23 years on the road?
A. In my mind I wasn’t really leaving Bandit but going on a temporary hiatus from Bandit. This was with 100% of Michael’s blessing. Alabama was a Bandit client in the beginning, but over time, there was a transition to take production in-house so they had more direct control. During that time, Michael and I were no longer able to do business together, but we maintained the friendship and maintained contact that whole time so actually on my whole run with them I considered myself a Bandit first, because that’s where I came from. I kind of looked at myself as ‘on loan’ and it had always been my goal to return to be an active Bandit, I just assumed it’d be a five year later return. But with all the little twists and turns and positive things that happened to Alabama, it turned into 23 years. When they announced their farewell tour and we knew that they weren’t going to go on forever, I approached Michael about the opportunity to return active again and he graciously allowed me to return in my present role.

Q. How has your time as a production manager helped you to do your current job better?
A. What truly helped me was being in that role (PM) for all those years and actually being on the road. It gives me the opportunity to know what it feels like to be on the other side. One of the major players we deal with are PMs. Since I served that role so long, I know what I liked when I was there, so it gives me the opportunity to try to treat our clients the way that I wanted to be treated.

Q. What is a favorite memory from working at Bandit Lites?
A. The general answer is doing live shows- it taught me, without me really even looking for it, how much quality production adds to, or how a lack of a production takes away from an artist’s overall performance. The more specific answer is we rented our first tractor-trailer in the 70s. None of the Bandits at that time were able to drive the trailer, we didn’t know how to. So we actually had to get a friend of Strickland’s, who was a truck driver, to go down there to get it off the lot. Then the 5-6 of us learned to drive the trailer by taking it and a station wagon and driving from Knoxville to San Diego. That to me is just amazing. And we survived it!

Q. And really, it shows how far you guys have come, huh?
A. No kidding. It has been, and continues to be a very rewarding experience.