Kenny Rogers will celebrate the 31st anniversary of his Christmas & Hits Tour in 2012 with a festive show featuring performances of holiday classics and his biggest hits. He will again be joined by special guest Billy Dean for dates beginning Nov. 23 in Catoosa, OK and wrapping Dec. 23 in Westbury, NY.

Rogers is known for creating an inviting atmosphere with his Christmas & Hits Tour, which consistently receives rave reviews and has become a holiday tradition in its own right. The “Christmas” portion of this year’s set will include performances of traditional songs such as “White Christmas,” “Silent Night,” “Joy To The World,” and “Mary, Did You Know.” Local choirs and children will have an opportunity to showcase their talents by performing with Rogers in each city.

Rogers’ recently released his first autobiography titled Luck Or Something Like It, which immediately became a New York Times Best Seller. In addition, Gaither Music Group has released two albums by Rogers in time for the holidays: Amazing Grace and Christmas Live! – the latter features performances captured on his Christmas & Hits Tour.

Just one day after the lineup for its Arizona counterpart was announced, Country Thunder Wisconsin has revealed the initial list of performers for its July 18-21 music festival. Among those scheduled to perform are headliners, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town and many more. The 2013 lineup (full schedule below) also includes previously announced group, Lady Antebellum, for the four day festival in Twin, Lakes, Wisconsin. Attendees will also be able to check out the GAC sidestage, bluegrass tent, food vendors, and thrill rides.

Four day passes are currently available through the end of the year (12/21) at the discounted rate of $99. For more information, visit www.countrythunder.com.

Thursday:
5:30-6:30pm – Chris Janson
7:00-8:30pm – Justin Moore
9:00-10:30pm – Dierks Bentley

Friday:
1:00-2:00pm – TBA
2:30-3:30pm – Morgan Frazier
4:00-5:00pm – Parmalee
5:30-6:30pm – Dustin Lynch
7:00-8:30pm – Little Big Town
9:00-10:30pm – Keith Urban

Saturday:
1:00-2:00pm TBA
2:30-3:30pm – Sweetwater Rain
4:00-5:00pm – Phil Vassar
5:30-6:30pm – Lee Brice
7:00-8:30pm – Chris Young
9:00-10:30pm – Brad Paisley

Sunday:
1:00-2:00pm – TBA
2:30-3:30pm – Edens Edge
4:00-5:00pm – TBA
5:30-6:30pm – Joe Nichols
7:00-8:30pm – TBA
9:00-10:30pm – Lady Antebellum

Keith Urban announced the first leg of his 2013 North American tour today (11/14) in an online video short with tour mates Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch. The video shows the artists on a road trip together.

The first leg opens July 18 in Cincinnati, OH and has about 25 dates scheduled through Oct. 5 in West Palm Beach, FL. No Nashville date has been announced but the current itinerary includes nearby stops in Atlanta on July 27 and Birmingham on Aug. 22.

Details at Keithurban.net/tour

Opposing forces are battling it out over the Fairness in Ticketing Act. A joint committee comprised of Tennessee state House and Senate members will hear arguments about the bill (HB 3437/SB 3441) tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 13 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. The Fairness in Ticketing Act will be filed in the 2013 session of the Tennessee General Assembly. 

Basically, it’s a fight between competitors AEG and Live Nation and their affiliated ticketing services.

On the Live Nation side: Live Nation owns primary ticketing agency Ticketmaster, and secondary ticketing service TicketsNow. Supporting the legislation in Tennessee and other states is the Fans First Coalition. In Tennessee this has taken the form of the Tennessee Sports & Entertainment Industry Coalition (TSEIC), a powerhouse group comprised of Nashville’s major venues (Bridgestone Arena, Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry, LP Field), big industry players (CAA, CMA) and dozens of major artists including Garth Brooks and Kenny Chesney. Many of these parties have exclusive agreements with Ticketmaster and/or its parent company Live Nation. 

On the AEG side: eBay owns secondary ticketing outfit StubHub, which beginning next year will be exclusively used by AEG venues and its primary ticketing service AXS (as announced today). Opposing the Fairness in Ticketing Act, and similar legislation nationwide is the Fan Freedom Project, a group initially funded by StubHub. This organization wants “comprehensive reform [that] would create as much transparency in the primary market as it does in the secondary market.” The Fan Freedom Project claims the bill is designed to force fans to resell through Ticketmaster’s TicketsNow site.

For the most part, both groups have similar complaints about current ticketing practices, listed below. However, they disagree about whether the Fairness in Ticketing Act is the best way to resolve these issues. 

Holdbacks: Large numbers of tickets are held back by artists, venues, etc. This number is hidden from members of the public, who do not know how many tickets are actually available to them.

Scalpers/resellers: Currently, scalpers can purchase hundreds of tickets and resell them at an inflated price. Even if the scalper never actually receives the tickets, he/she has prevented average consumers from buying those seats during the initial on-sale. Also, scalpers sell fake tickets for an event even before real tickets go on sale. Many ticket resellers do not disclose whether they have the tickets in hand, the face-value price, seat locations, or that they are a ticket reseller. Additionally, scalpers use websites that masquerade as being affiliated with venues, sports teams, or recording artists to mislead fans into purchasing tickets on the resale market (ex. bridgestone.nashvillearena.org).

Paperless Ticketing: The bill proposes paperless ticketing as a way to fend off scalpers and overpriced resellers, but the Fan Freedom Project says that takes control out of fans’ hands because it will “eliminate or severely restrict our choices of how we can buy, share or resell event tickets.”