Etix Acquires Rockhouse Partners

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Rockhouse founders L-R: Tawn Albright, Kevin Brown, and Joe Kustelski


Rockhouse Partners, the Nashville digital marketing company specializing in live events, has been acquired by ticketing service Etix.
Founded by former Echo executives Tawn Albright, Kevin Brown, and Joe Kustelski, Rockhouse had recently announced its expansion with Rockhouse Live, a division focused on helping live entertainment properties sell more tickets.
Kustelski and Brown will stay with the company and lead technology/product, and marketing integration, respectively. Albright will move on to a new opportunity helping Nashville-area start-ups.
Etix is an international, web-based ticketing service provider for the entertainment, travel, and sports industries. Etix operates in 40 countries and serves venues, arenas, festivals, fairs, performing arts centers, and multi-use facilities.
“Rockhouse allows us to expand in a direction that reflects the real needs of our clients,” explains Travis Janovich, CEO of Etix. “It’s becoming increasingly complicated for clients to manage and measure digital marketing in-house. And that’s what the team at Rockhouse does best.”

Rascal Flatts Concert Special on ABC

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The ABC Television Network will air a Rascal Flatts concert special on Sat., March 12 at 7 PM/CT. The band’s show this Friday, Jan. 21 at St. Paul, Minnesota’s Xcel Energy Center will be taped for the special.
Rascal Flatts: Nothing Like This Presented by JCPenney will be directed by George Flanigen and executive produced by Robert Deaton.
With more than 6 million concert tickets sold during Rascal Flatts’ career, the band launched the second leg of its Nothing Like This Tour on Friday (1/14). The tour will wrap in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on March 12.
ABC is a frequent broadcaster of country music specials, including the CMA Awards, CMA Music Festival, and CMA Country Christmas.

Brice and Niemann Co-Headline Tour

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Jerrod Niemann (L) and Lee Brice (R)


Lee Brice and Jerrod Niemann are teaming up to co-headline The Higher Education Tour. Kicking off March 10, the tour will run through college markets around the country, with additional dates to be announced.
Brice will also appear on the nationally syndicated morning show, The Daily Buzz on January 17 to promote the tour and his debut album, Love Like Crazy.
2011 Higher Education Tour Dates
3/10      Columbia, MO – The Blue Note
3/11      Miami, OK – Buffalo Run Casino
3/12      Durant, OK – Choctaw Casino Resort
3/25      Abilene, OK – Lucky Mule Saloon
3/26      Speegleville, TX – Hog Creek Icehouse
3/31      Denver, CO – Grizzly Rose
4/14      Knoxville, TN – Cotton Eyed Joes
4/15      Clarion, PA– Clarion University**
4/21      Davie, FL – The Roundup
4/22      Bradenton, FL – Joyland IV
4/23      Sebastian, FL – Captain Hiram’s Sandbar
4/28      Live Oak, FL – Suwannee River Jam
**featuring Lee Brice and Randy Houser

Chesney Sets Dates; Flatts Hit Road

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Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and Tim McGraw are among the stars hitting the road in 2011.
Following last year’s touring slump, The New York Post reports that promoters are planning to lower ticket prices for this season.
Chesney, whose tickets come with a traditionally low price point, probably would have weathered the downturn with ease. Nonetheless, he picked a good year to stay home.
After taking a break from full-fledged touring in 2010, organizers expect this to be his biggest outing in five years. The 2011 Corona Presents Kenny Chesney’s ‘Goin’ Coastal’ tour is set for about 60 dates, including at least ten stadium shows. Billy Currington and Uncle Kracker will be on board for the duration, and Zac Brown Band will co-headline the stadiums.
The run begins March 17 in West Palm Beach, FL, and has stops booked through the sold-out Aug. 27 show at Gillette Stadium outside Boston. More dates will be announced. Chesney has sold about 8 million tickets since 2000.
•••••
Rascal Flatts will launch the second leg of its Nothing Like This Tour on Friday (1/14) in Sioux Falls, SD at the Sioux Falls Arena. Along for the ride will be opening acts Luke Bryan and Chris Young. The tour will wrap in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on March 12.
When Rascal Flatts closed the first leg of the outing in October 2010, the band had performed for more than 650,000 fans in 2010, including earlier shows on the Unstoppable Tour.
Since the band’s touring career began, they have sold over 6 million concert tickets.

McGraw Tour Presale; Hill's Floral Collection

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Presale tickets for select dates of Tim McGraw’s recently announced Emotional Traffic Tour will be available today (1/11) for those registered at mcgrawfan.com. The trek gets underway in spring with special guests Luke Bryan and The Band Perry. Shows available for presale include Corpus Christi, TX (4/8); Bossier City, LA  (4/10); Savannah, GA (4/17); and Wichita, KS (5/19). Additional dates for the tour are expected to be announced shortly, and tickets will go on sale to the public Saturday, January 15.
The other half of the McGraw household is also keeping busy, as Faith Hill has announced “The Collection by Faith Hill” in collaboration with Teleflora, the world’s leading flower delivery service. The collection was developed with Teleflora to reflect Hill’s style and taste, and will be revealed during a high-visibility Super Bowl XLV commercial spot on Fox Sunday, February 6. Hill will star in the Valentine’s Day-themed ad, which will feature the collection’s first installment, the Valentine’s Bouquet.

One Million Carrie Underwood Fans Can't Be Wrong

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Carrie Underwood’s popular headlining Play On Tour recently wrapped in Connecticut after playing 108 shows in the US and Canada with one million fans total in attendance. The tour was presented by AEG Live, with sponsorship by Olay and hydration by vitamin water. Underwood finished 2010 as the top-ranked female touring country artist. Special guests throughout the tour included Craig Morgan, Billy Currington, and Sons of Sylvia.
The Play On Tour was directed by Raj Kapoor, with sets designed by Michael Cotten (Michael Jackson’s This Is It), and costuming by Soyon An. The massive tour and production is currently nominated for a Pollstar Concert Industry Award for “Most Creative Stage Production.”
In other Underwood news, the singer is nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Original Song–Motion Picture category for “There’s A Place For Us” from Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Underwood co-wrote the song with frequent collaborators Hillary Lindsey and David Hodges. The 68th Annual Golden Globes air January 16 at 7 pm CT on NBC.

Sugarland's Incredible Machine Tour Steams Into 2011

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Sugarland has announced plans to continue its successful The Incredible Machine Tour in 2011.
Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush will return to the road this spring with guests including fellow country band and longtime tourmates Little Big Town, hit pop songstress Sara Bareilles, and pop/rocker Matt Nathanson. Guest openers will vary by city.
The tour will kick off March 3 in Houston and travel to over 59 cities nationwide. It will make a April 16 stop in Nashville.
The Incredible Machine Tour was one of Pollstar’s Top 50 North American Tours of 2010, bringing in gross box office receipts of $19 million.

Top Country Tours of 2010

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George Strait and Reba headlined one of the year's biggest country tours.


The biggest grossing tours in 2010 belonged to George Strait/Reba/Lee Ann Womack, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood.
The Strait tour was the highest grossing North American country tour in 2010, according to Pollstar’s year-end chart. Grossing $41.6 million in box office receipts, the outing placed 14th on the all-genre Top 50 North American tours list (see full list containing agencies, ticket sales, number of dates).
Brad Paisley came in right behind the Strait package with $40.7 million, followed closely by Tim McGraw with $39 million, and Carrie Underwood with $38.8 million.
Other country stars on the top 50 include Taylor Swift ($34.2mm), Rascal Flatts ($28.4mm), Brooks & Dunn ($25.7mm), Toby Keith ($25.5mm) and Sugarland ($19mm).
Bon Jovi secured the No. 1 spot with $108 million.
Here are some of the Worldwide tour rankings: McGraw ($42.9mm), Paisley ($42.4mm), Strait/Reba ($41.6mm), and Swift ($40.4mm).
The magazine says box office grosses and ticket sales were down from 2009. The combined gross for the Top 50 North American tours in 2010 was $1.69 billion, down about 15% from last year. Total tickets sold was 26.2 million, a 12% decrease from 2009.

Rockhouse Aligns Live Marketing Channels

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Rockhouse Live has been announced as a new division and proprietary technology platform for technology-based entertainment agency, Rockhouse Partners. the Nashville-based firm’s new offering is intended to help live entertainment properties sell more tickets.
According to Rockhouse, “The new division will act as an entertainment marketing agency and leverage a technology product that includes a turn-key set of tools and services: marketing calendar, website upgrade, email marketing, social media, and reporting. The solution integrates with an existing ticketing provider’s data to provide a seamless view into ticket trends and marketing channel ROI.”
“The industry was lacking a comprehensive digital marketing solution for venues and entertainment properties, so we created one,” said Joe Kustelski, Co-Founder of Rockhouse Partners and head of Rockhouse Live. “Ticketing companies provide some marketing services, in-house resources provide others, data lives all over the place, and it’s hard to hit the right fans with the right message at the right time.”
Rockhouse clients include the Nashville Predators; Churchill Downs; Tennessee State Fair; Delaware State Fair; Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium; State Fair of West Virginia; Next BIG Nashville; and other touring properties.
“Technology is moving fast and it’s difficult for entertainment properties to properly keep up,” adds Tawn Albright, Managing Partner of Rockhouse Partners. “The combination of our technology platform and experience in live entertainment and digital marketing makes for a formidable force at an affordable price. We offer a one-of-a-kind solution for anyone who sells tickets.”

McGraw Gets "Emotional" In Spring

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Tim McGraw will take his band the Dancehall Doctors back on the road for the Emotional Traffic Tour this spring. Special guests Luke Bryan and The Band Perry will join McGraw for the tour, which is sponsored by Outback Steakhouse.
No dates have been announced yet, but the full itinerary is expected to be revealed soon. Tickets for the Live Nation-promoted trek will go on sale January 15.
In case you haven’t turned on a television lately, McGraw also co-stars with Gwyneth Paltrow, Garrett Hedlund, and Leighton Meester in the feature film Country Strong, which gets its wide theatrical release on Friday, January 7. He’ll be making the media rounds all week, visiting the Late Show With David Letterman on Monday, January 3; Good Morning America and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, January 5; E!’s Chelsea Lately on Thursday, January 6; and the Martha Stewart Show on Friday, January 7.