Eric Shafferman celebrates 40 years at Bandit
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Bandit Lites was just over a decade into its founding when Shafferman found himself with a summer off from college in East Tennessee. His brothers had been working with the company when they asked him to come to the warehouse and meet everyone. In what later could only be a destined happenstance, Shafferman found himself joining the team for a series of weekend warrior runs.
“We had two Shafferman brothers already, and in walks a third,” recalls Bandit Lites founder and chair Michael T. Strickland. “This guy was a high school all-state football player and looked the part. He was so tough, they called him Rock. Boy were they right! Eric was the toughest, hardest working guy at Bandit. Nothing stopped Rock. I was glad to hire him based on sight and the way he carried himself. It was one of the best hires we ever made! I love Rock!”
“Bandit was starting to really grow and was taking on the big names acts,” Shafferman shared. “We still didn’t have any chain hoists, but we had lights that were like little trees that went into the air, and maybe ten or twelve par cans on them. Once we got Kenny Rogers, we got all new equipment and after that it started to take off and we got to doing more bands. Alabama hit it big, and then I joined their tour a little after their first year out of clubs.”
While things in the industry have changed drastically, from technology to standardized safety practices, Shafferman notes that the rush that comes from experience a live show is still unchanged and has made the years fly by.
“I can’t believe it’s been that long,” he says. “That’s the best part of live shows- you’re experiencing someone different every day, and that’s part of the fun. Everything is different.”
“Rock is such a legend and force in the industry that Bandit named its annual employee of the year after him, the Rock Award,” Strickland states. “There is simply no one better in the industry.”
(Jim Evans)
