• • • Emmylou Harris will host the 3rd Annual Miracle on Music Row pet adoption extravaganza on Sat., Dec. 15. Joining her to perform will be Sam Bush, Rodney Crowell, Mike Farris, John Hiatt, Buddy Miller and Kimmie Rhodes. The event runs 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at O.liv Body Bar in Edgehill Village, and will feature a holiday dog parade, photos with Santa, silent auction, and more. Proceeds benefit Bonaparte’s Retreat Dog Rescue. Admission is a $20 suggested donation.

• • • The 13th Annual “Nashville Unlimited” Christmas Concert will be held Tues., Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary of Christ Church Cathedral downtown. The event will be hosted by musician/producer Dave Pomeroy and singer-songwriter Don Henry, who will perform along with Johnny Neel, Jonell Mosser, Gretchen Peters, The Ornaments featuring Jen Gunderman, Michael “Supe” Granda, Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, and more. Pomeroy has organized the concert benefiting Nashville’s Room In The Inn homeless program since 1992, raising over $150,000 for the cause. For the second year in a row, an anonymous donor has offered to match the funds raised at the concert. This boosted last year’s total to $18,000, the highest amount to date. Admission is a $20 suggested donation.

• • • The Women’s Music Business Association (WMBA) will host its annual Tunes for Tots toy drive and benefit show on Tues., Dec. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at Blue Bar/Lucy’s Country Café. Hit songwriters Bobby Pinson, Jeff Cohen, Rachel Thibodeau, and Jason Sever are slated to perform. Representatives from the U.S. Marines will be in attendance to collect toys and donations for the Toys for Tots Foundation. Admission is $5 or free with a new, unwrapped toy.

Taylor Swift is scheduled to headline Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2013. 

Ryan Seacrest will again host the bi-coastal celebration from New York City’s Times Square, which will feature Swift, as well as Carly Rae Jepsen and Neon Trees. For the west coast feed, Fergie will return as host with performers Brandy, Flo Rida, Karmin, OneRepublic and Pitbull. Additional performers are expected to be announced in the coming month.

Preceding the countdown, Fergie and Jenny McCarthy will host a two-hour ABC celebration of Dick Clark, the legendary TV personality and producer who rang in the New Year for four decades. The special is scheduled to begin at 8:00 pm, ET (12/31).

Seacrest, Allen Shapiro and Orly Adelson serve as executive producers while Larry Klein produces.

Artist Joe Bachman and members of his band dropped by the MusicRow office yesterday afternoon (11/28) to perform and visit with the staff. He sang current single “Small Town Rock Stars” from his album, One, which was produced by Arlis Albritton & NV (New Voice Entertainment). Bachman and his band have been touring around the country for over 10 years.

The Philadelphia native also performed “Soldier’s Memoir,” a powerful and moving song about the struggles often faced by soldiers after returning home from war. All proceeds from the sale of the single benefit The Boot Campaign, Bachman’s favorite charity.

Jägermeister has been a supporter of Bachman for many years and he reciprocated by getting a large tattoo of the liquor maker’s logo on the back of his right arm. The sponsorship began after a representative from the liquor company observed him offering shots of Jäger at one of his concerts.

For more information, visit www.joebachman.com.

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Kris Kristofferson will release his first collection of new material in four years on Jan. 29 titled, Feeling Mortal.

The Country Music Hall of Famer, Rhodes scholar, and former military officer, again teamed with longtime producer Don Was. The two spent three days cutting 20 sides with musicians Mark Goldenberg, Greg Leisz, Matt Rollins, Sara Watkins, Sean Hurley and Aaron Sterling.

The 10-track set includes “Just Suppose,” a negotiation with shame; “Castaway,” reminiscent of his time flying helicopters over the Gulf of Mexico; and “My Heart Was The Last One To Know,” written with Shel Silverstein and previously recorded by Connie Smith. The album ends with “Ramblin’ Jack,” for folk-singer Ramblin’ Jack Elliott.

“I always try to be as honest as I can in the songwriting, otherwise there’s no point in doing it,” said Kristofferson. “And what I’m finding, is that I’m more inclined to laughter than tears. I hope I’ll feel this creative and this grateful until they throw dirt over me.”

Feeling Mortal will be available on the iTunes store Jan. 22, one week before its physical release.

A hearing on Capitol Hill this morning (11/28) will give opposing parties a chance to weigh in on a proposed digital royalty bill called the Internet Radio Fairness Act. The webcast is streaming live at http://judiciary.house.gov at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Among those testifying in opposition of the bill is Jimmy Jam, speaking on behalf of the Recording Academy. According to the organization, “This bill would dramatically cut the royalties that Internet radio services like Pandora pay to music creators, while doing nothing to close the loophole that allows AM/FM radio to pay nothing at all.” Their site is at http://grammy.com/action.

ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and NSAI also oppose the bill, pointing to “gross inequities that have developed in the music licensing landscape as a result of opposing rate setting systems applied to the amounts paid to songwriters, composers and publishers versus those paid to record labels and recording artists.” A letter from the parties states: “Pandora’s 2012 annual report stated that it paid 49.7% of its revenue in royalties to SoundExchange, and 4.1% of its revenue in royalties to the US PROs, namely, ASCAP, SESAC, and BMI. In other words, from the total pool of monies paid for the performance of music and sound recordings, almost 92% of the money paid by internet radio flows to record labels and performing artists through SoundExchange, and only 8% of it is paid to songwriters and publisher.” The NMPA and NSAI presented a songwriter showcase this morning in DC featuring Lee Miller, Kara DioGuardi, Linda Perry, Desmond Child, and BC Jean.

Proponents of the bill include Pandora’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Joe Kennedy, who will testify.

The hearing is officially titled “Music Licensing Part One: Legislation in the 112th Congress,” and is hosted by the House Committee on the Judiciary – Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet. Federal lawmakers are not expected to take action until next year.

Also expected to testify are National Association of Broadcasters president Bruce Reese, SoundExchange president Michael Huppe, Venrock Capital’s David Pakman, and Navigant Economics Jeffrey Eisenach.

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For a practical look at the matter, read an editorial posted by Thirty Tigers President David Macias on hypebot.