DENVER – Lori Tierney, credited by production manager Charlie Hernandez for the idea to create the nonprofit “Just a Bunch of Roadies” organization, died July 24 after a long battle with cancer. She was 58.
Born and raised in the Denver area, Tierney, nee Perkins, launched a 40-year career in live event production with concert promoter Feyline after graduating from Western State College in Gunnison, CO in 1980, where she served as station manager of KWSB radio.
Her reputation as a smart and pragmatic problem-solver grew as she helped founder John Campion expand Showpower, a 1980’s startup, into a leading supplier of portable tour power for the increasingly elaborate live concert industry.
She then became production coordinator/production manager for some of the biggest concert tours of the world, working with Hernandez and fellow production managers Jake Berry, Dale “Opie” Skjerseth and Mark “Springo” Spring, among others.
The enduring connections she forged allowed her to start a successful home-based business, Satellite Office Services, providing logistical support for concert tours after becoming a wife and mother in the 1990s. She also managed to continue her education and earn an MBA degree in nonprofit management from Regis University.
On Just a Bunch of Roadies’ (JABOR) Facebook page, Charlie Hernandez noted how, during a celebrity fundraising concert for people impacted by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Tierney came up with the idea for JABOR.
“We were in Malaysia doing yet another well-intentioned but expensive, celebrity-filled fundraiser for a natural disaster, I turned to her and said, “There has to be a better way…” And then Lori said, “What if we do something meaningful, and there are no pop stars, no show, just us roadies making things happen for people.” It was Lori’s idea… and just like that, with a her sparkling grin, everything changed…the world shifted, and all of us were better for it.”
