FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011

CONTACT: Lee Harstad, (605) 578-1876 or lee@deadwood.org

                   Wanda Goodman, (605) 773-3301, wanda.goodman@travelsd.com

Christmas in the Black Hills to Air Nationwide Monday

DEADWOOD, S.D. – The Black Hills will be featured on a national level this holiday season. “A Christmas in the Black Hills,” a one-hour holiday special filmed in Deadwood and the Black Hills, will premier on Monday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. CT/6 p.m. MT on Great American Country (GAC).

Hosted by famed country duo Big & Rich, the special also features Thompson Square, Bradley Gaskin, Tracy Lawrence, Andy Gibson and The Farm in holiday scenes and songs around South Dakota’s Black Hills. Performances were filmed for the special at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, on Deadwood’s Main Street, Mt. Moriah Cemetery and the Saloon #10, the 1880 Train in Hill City, the Mickelson Trail, Pactola Lake, a buffalo herd and other locations.

According to GAC, during the special, Big & Rich will perform “Blue Christmas” and “Drunk on Christmas,” an original song by Saturday Night Live’s Jimmy Fallon. Bradley Gaskin sings “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem” while Thompson Square shares their rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” from the back of a horse-drawn sleigh as well as “Christmas in Dixie,” and Tracy Lawrence hops on a 19^th century locomotive for “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Andy Gibson performs both “The Christmas Song” and “Feliz Navidad” and The Farm contributes their version of “Oh Holy Night.”

Christmas in the Black Hills wraps with the artists joining together for a medley of holiday classics. The special will re-air on GAC throughout the holiday season. The Deadwood Chamber of Commerce, the City of Deadwood, Deadwood Mountain Grand and the South Dakota Department of Tourism partnered to bring GAC to the Black Hills to produce the special.

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