Venue Responds After ‘Rich Men North Of Richmond’ Singer Cancels Concert Over Costly Tickets – Updated

Erik Pedersen
·6 min read
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UPDATED with Cotton Eyed Joe statement: Oliver Anthony is having none of it.

The singer behind the left-field chart-topper “Rich Men North of Richmond” said on social media that he has scrapped a September 27 concert in Tennessee because of the high ticket prices.

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“Cotton Eyed Joe has been cancelled,” he wrote this week on Facebook, referring to the Knoxville venue he’d been set to play. “Ultimately, it’s my fault for not being more directly involved with the venues who have reached out.”

Tickets to the show were listed at $99, with a meet-and-greet for fans pegged at $199.

His post followed an earlier one in which he wrote: “I apologize for the price at Cotton Eyed Joe. Have a friend of mine trying to help me book gigs. I told him I don’t want to do anything that’s more than $40 a ticket, ideally no more than $25 a piece. These are supposed to be affordable shows. Please don’t pay $90 for a ticket. I’m going to work out the details with him and if we have to reschedule this event somewhere else we will.”

On Friday, the venue issued at statement, saying it “entered into conversation with the intention to create a formal agreement with Brian Prentice, who was identified as Oliver Anthony’s manager, on the terms and conditions specific to a concert and meet-and-greet the artist (Anthony) would furnish on September 27, 2023. Through the conversations concerning the terms and conditions, Prentice verbally stated Anthony requested $120,000 in compensation, plus two nights hotel accommodations. Additionally, Prentice verbally agreed that Anthony would participate in a meet-and-greet prior to the concert. Cotton Eyed Joe suggested a ticket price of $99 per ticket for the concert and a concert/meet-and-greet combo ticket at a price of $199 per ticket. Prentice verbally agreed to both the concert ticket and the concert/meet-and-greet combo ticket prices and asked for Cotton Eyed Joe to produce a formal agreement.”

Read the hall’s full statement below.

No new concert has been scheduled for September 27, but the singer has more than a half-dozen dates booked into October.

“My plate has been full and I delegated the responsibility to someone else to help me book,” he wrote in the later Facebook post. “I am not pointing fingers at Cotton Eyed Joe, I don’t know where the miscommunication took place. I’m just upset seeing those prices. We will find another place in Knoxville area that can do $25 ticket and free meet and greet. I will work to get your tickets refunded from my own budget if they can’t. This will never happen again. Thanks for your patience. I am still learning how all of this works.

“Rich Men North of Richmond” became viral sensation last month. After topping the Apple, Spotify and iTunes charts, the politically charged track made Billboard history last month by becoming the first time that an artist with no prior chart records has debuted at No. 1 since the Hot 100 began in 1958. The song just fell out of the Top 10 in its fourth chart week.

A farmer and former factory worker from rural Virginia, Anthony’s song first gained attention on social media with its lyrics including, “Your dollar taxed to no end ’cause of rich men north of Richmond.”

Here is Cotton Eyed Joe’s full statement Friday:

“The purpose of this statement is to express Cotton Eyed Joe’s experience specific to our work in scheduling Oliver Anthony to perform at our venue on September 27, 2023.

“On September 6, 2023, Cotton Eyed Joe’s entered into conversation with the intention to create a formal agreement with Brian Prentice, who was identified as Oliver Anthony’s manager, on the terms and conditions specific to a concert and meet-and-greet the artist (Anthony) would furnish on September 27, 2023. Through the conversations concerning the terms and conditions, Prentice verbally stated Anthony requested $120,000 in compensation, plus two nights hotel accommodations. Additionally, Prentice verbally agreed that Anthony would participate in a meet-and-greet prior to the concert. Cotton Eyed Joe suggested a ticket price of $99 per ticket for the concert and a concert/meet-and-greet combo ticket at a price of $199 per ticket. Prentice verbally agreed to both the concert ticket and the concert/meet-and-greet combo ticket prices and asked for Cotton Eyed Joe to produce a formal agreement. This formal agreement was sent to Prentice by Cotton Eyed Joe on the same day (Sept. 6, 2023).

“While waiting for a signature from Anthony that would formally execute the beforementioned agreement, Cotton Eyed Joe received a phone call from Prentice on the morning of September 9, 2023, in which he verbalized the signed contract was forthcoming and he requested that Cotton Eyed Joe move forward in announcing the date of the event (concert and meet-and-greet) and the price of admission for both ($99/ticket, concert; $199/ticket, concert/meet-and-greet.) Therefore, in good faith, on September 10, 2023, Cotton Eyed Joe made such an announcement about the event, published the price of the tickets, and tickets went on sale on September 11, 2023.

“The response was tremendous, temporarily shutting down our ticketing system – with 460 concert tickets and 43 concert/meet-and-greet combo tickets sold. We pride ourselves on providing an intimate event experience – with approximately 2,000 seats available at our venue – and looked forward to hosting the concert goers.

“What happened next was very much to the surprise of Cotton Eyed Joe. Unfortunately, instead of Anthony coming back to Cotton Eyed Joe directly for a professional discussion about the agreement we were asked to produce specific to the terms and conditions for the September 27, 2023 concert and meet-and-greet, on the afternoon of September 11, 2023, Anthony decided to express his concerns through his social media platforms. Anthony’s statements were beyond misleading and did not at all appropriately represent the conversations that had occurred throughout the process to create a formal agreement. It wasn’t until after the media frenzy ensued that Cotton Eyed Joe received a phone call from Prentice expressing concern for the prices that had been previously agreed to, verbally. Ultimately, on September 11, 2023, Prentice notified Cotton Eyed Joe of Anthony’s decision to end the discussions and cancel the September 27, 2023 event.

“Had Anthony and Prentice first reached out to us for a professional conversation about their concerns with the contract, Cotton Eyed Joe feels confident an agreement could have been reached in a respectful manner. Instead, what has happened has portrayed Cotton Eyed Joe in a disparaging manner plagued with misinformation. We hope this statement helps to appropriately outline the facts.

“Moving forward, we wish Anthony nothing but the best in his professional endeavors, and felt it necessary to share our perspective relative to our work, in this regard. Thank you.”

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