Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle Headline Pet Rescue Concert Benefit at The Cutting Room Tonight

Tonight, December 4, 7PM-11PM, the inaugural "Halos and Heartbeats" at The Cutting Room, a holiday spectacular concert & fashion benefit show, will feature headline performances by legendary music icon Emmylou Harris and acclaimed Nashville singer-songwriter Steve Earle. Hosted by Tish and Snooky of Manic Panic, this benefit extravaganza will also showcase the talents of Blue Coupe, Joe Hurley, Eddie Brill (current warm-up comedian for The David Letterman Show), Michael Musto, Murray Weinstock, and other surprise appearances.

A Celebrity Silent Auction will include priceless items such as an autographed electric guitar by Joan Jett and signed one-of-a-kind dog collars by Betty White and custom designed collars by Todd Oldham. Tickets to Halos and Heartbeats are $100 for seating and $65 for standing room only. Tickets are available at ticketfly.com.

The event will benefit Frankie's Friends, a non-profit foundation dedicated to helping save pets when their families cannot afford life-saving veterinary care.

The opportunity to bid on silent auction items will be available throughout the evening and in advance of the event via bidding by text messaging. The auction will be a virtual red carpet with items including: "Lunch with a Hotshot Producer" with Rick Schwartz (BLACK SWAN, Gangs of NY); signed CD and personal phone call with Janis Ian; marketing consultation services by Maverick Events, custom clothing by Nashville's Katy K, as well as Jill Rappaport's dog clothing line; artwork by artist & founder of Emily the Strange Rob Reger; and autographed photos and signed posters by Bob Gruen, Leee Childers, Katy Winn, Katy Perry, Howard Stern, and Peter Max; jewelry, innovative lifestyle packages and swag including Tripp NYC, Hollywood Mirror, Sourpuss Clothing and Cosmic Debris.

Already celebrated as a discoverer and interpreter of other artists' songs, 12-time Grammy Award winner Emmylou Harris has, in the last decade, gained admiration as much for her eloquently straightforward songwriting as for her incomparably expressive singing. On Hard Bargain, her third Nonesuch disc, she offers 11 original songs-three of them co-written with Grammy– and Oscar–winning composer Will Jennings-that touch on the autobiographical while reaching for the universal. On her track, "Big Black Dog," with its loping canine-like rhythms, is a true tale, about a black lab mix named BellA. Harris, who runs a dog shelter called Bonaparte's Retreat on her property, rescued Bella from the Nashville Metro pound and provided an especially happy ending to her story: "She goes on the tour bus with me now, along with another one of my rescues. I think of all the years on the road I wasted without a dog. They make it so much more pleasant. I'm making up for lost time now, that's for sure."

Stephen 'Steve' Fain Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and country music as well as his political views. He is also a published writer, a political activist and has written and directed a play. When he first came to prominence in 1986, he was viewed as a savior of country music (along with the likes of Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam) and hailed by some as the "new Bruce Springsteen". In 1975, Earle moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he met and worked with Guy Clark and his wife Susanna. Clark was active in Earle being employed as a songwriter. Earle did backing vocals on "Desperados Waiting for a Train" (together with Emmylou Harris) on Clark's first album Old No. 1. In 2011, Earle released a folk-rock project that he titled after a Hank Williams song, "Never Get out of This World Alive." In July 2012, Earle hosted an event called Woodyfest, in celebration of Woody Guthrie's 100th birthday, in New York City. Today, Steve Earle is regarded for successfully bridging the rock-country music gap, blending the two genres to create a new, beautifully unique style that few musicians have been able to replicate.

Tish & Snooky helped ignite the late '70s PUNK scene with MANIC PANIC and its evolution as the internationally renowned hair color and cosmetics company it is today. It all began in 1977 when two New York born sisters Tish and Snooky, (at the time singers in the original Blondie lineup) added some extra ambition to their rock 'n' roll lifestyle and opened America's very first punk-style boutique on NYC's infamous St. Mark's Place. Tish and Snooky watched their hair dye worn proudly by high fashion models and celebrities of all kinds. Suddenly MANIC PANIC exploded in the magazines, television, and major motion pictures. With the millennium came major international distribution for the line. The sisters still continue to rock out with their punk band Sic F*cks reuniting for special occasions. Tish & Snooky also make frequent guest appearances accompanying greats like Robert Gordon, Ronnie Spector, Tony Visconti, and Patti Smith.

Frankie's Friends is a 501(c)(3), non-profit foundation dedicated to finding cures and saving pets with cancer and other life-threatening illness and injuries. The foundation was started in 1998 by veterinarian Neil Shaw who found that few alternatives exist for the large number of pets from loving and responsible families who simply are unable to pay fully for an unexpected illness. Based on each individual case, families always provide some contribution of funds for their pets' care. Funds raised through Halos & Heartbeats will assist families who demonstrate substantial financial need and whose pets have a good prognosis for recovery to a normal quality of life for a reasonable period of time. In the NYC metropolitan area, pets being assisted by Frankie's Friends are treated at BluePearl Veterinary Partner in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. BluePearl further discounts the cost of treatments for pets funded by Frankie's Friends.

"Halos and Heartbeats" - Concert Benefit for Frankie's Friends The Cutting Room, NYC (44 East 32nd St) Tuesday, December 4, 7PM-11PM

Pictured (side): Emmylou Harris. Photo Credit: Carla Ciuffo.