LAS VEGAS — Terry Lowe, Parnelli Awards producer and publisher PLSN and FRONT of HOUSE magazines, announced that David Haskell, president of Morris, the Nashville-based production company that handles lighting, audio, and rigging for a wide range of clients, has joined the Parnelli Board of Advisors.
“We’re pleased to announce a welcome addition to the Parnelli Awards Board of Advisors — David Haskell,” said Lowe. “David is a respected long-time live industry pro with over 30 years of experience in the production business. He has served as a tour manager, front of house engineer, producer, and is currently expanding a Nashville-based production and integration company, Morris. We’re glad to have him part of the advisory board.”
“Since its inception, the Parnelli Awards have been widely known for its standards of excellence,” Haskell says. “It honors visionaries and trailblazers, and I consider it a privilege to be asked to join the board.”
Haskell is the son of a Marine Corps career officer and was born and raised in North Carolina, and says by the age of eight he knew he wanted to be part of this business. Like many of us, he wanted to be that next great rock ‘n’ roll guitarist, but at 16 he realized that might not happen. He then recognized his knack for taking gear apart and turning knobs, and that those skills “might make me a little more employable!” Haskell laughs.
By 17, he was working with local bands and helping with their shows in a variety of ways, including mixing. He then got together with North Carolina-based band Nantucket in the late 1970s, when they were first taking off.
“They were a huge regional act, and we opened for everybody! Kiss, Foreigner, Boston, the Rolling Stones,” Haskell said. “Working with them really got my touring chops up.”
Other work ensued, including a stint at Raleighwood Sound, and that eventually led him to work with Dale Morris in the mid 1980s.
With Morris, he toured and worked for the first big arena country act, Alabama. He progressed into setting up concert-ready theaters with the band. This led to him running the Alabama Theatre in Myrtle Beach for nine years. Haskell next went on the road with Sugarland before coming back to work again with Morris, where since 2011, he’s been president.
Kenny Chesney, Hall and Oates, Kari Jobe, and new Nashville-based artists, Old Dominion, Maddie & Tae and Eli Young Band are among Morris’ touring clients.
“Today Morris is a full-service turnkey company handling lighting, audio, and rigging for clients, and we also have an integration division that handles large scale installs,” Haskell said.
On being on the Parnelli board, he adds, “I’m looking forward to adding ideas, and making it more accessible to the younger generation of those coming into the business.”
For more information, go to www.parnelliawards.com
