Bill Anderson concert could be called off

As of Monday, just over 100 of the 500 tickets available had been sold. Jordan said the committee working on the concert will decide on Friday, Aug. 26, whether to hold the concert or call it off.

“If we have enough tickets sold, then we will continue selling them through the day of the concert,” he said. “If not, we will cancel the concert and send everyone refunds.”

The tickets are $25 each. They can be bought at WJJC Radio, North Elm Street, and the main office of Community Bank & Trust, also on North Elm Street. Tickets can also be purchased online at wjjc.net. Proceeds of the concert will go to fund scholarships to deserving Commerce High School students.

Anderson is a country music legend, both as a songwriter and a performer. He penned his first hit, “City Lights,” in a room at the Andrew Jackson Hotel, which was in the building now housing Community Bank and Trust, during his tenure as a disk jockey for WJJC. Years later, Anderson hosted the annual outdoor City Lights Concert, with the idea of raising money for a performing arts center. Money raised from those concerts helped equip the Bill Anderson Center for the Performing Arts in the new CHS.

“He’s a Country Music Hall of Famer,” Jordan noted. “You don’t get that (in a concert) very often. I know he’s planning on bringing some other performers with him. I know Jan Howard is coming.”