The holidays are no more than a few weeks away, and America’s favorite female pianist Lorie Line is coming to town to help Ames ring in the new year — with real bells.

Line fans have been known to bring their own bells to the pianist’s annual holiday concerts, so that at selected parts of the concert they can play along with the rest of the pop orchestra.

Line said the tradition started one year after a singing contest she initiated between the two sides of the concert hall.

After fans on one side of the hall beat fans on the other side, she suggested that the fans on the losing side bring bells to the concert next year to increase their volume. And they did.

“[The concerts] are full of bells,” Line said. “[Fans] get to play on five of the pieces.”

If concertgoers forget to bring bells to the concert, that’s no problem.

“We sell bells at the concerts,” Line assured.

Line has earned recognition during her 10-year career as one of only two women to gain national recognition in the New Age category, boasting 15 recordings, 1.5 million albums sold and her own record label.

But she didn’t start out performing on the big stage; she got her start performing at a department store.

In 1988, Line landed a job at Dayton’s department store in Minneapolis, playing her own arrangements for the shoppers. Not long after she started playing, customers noticed her talent and wanted to hear more.

“People just kept coming up to me and asking me if I had a CD,” Line said.

So Line took $2,500 in seed money from her husband’s 401K and headed to California to record her first album.

After the recording was finished, she brought it back to Daytons, set up a CD display, and slowly, her career began to blossom.

Even though Line hoped to sell her music after it was recorded, she said she never expected her career to grow as much as it has.

“You always have hopes that you’ll get to do something,” Line said. “But I didn’t have anything specific in mind.”

But for her 40-day holiday tour, during which she will perform for thousands of fans doing 46 shows in 30 major cities, she does have a few things in mind.

Line hand-picked 14 musicians from the Twin Cities area to accompany her on different songs during the concert.

Even though the musicians are only hired for a 30-day period, Line said they have to go through the same process required for any other job.

“They audition, and I take a look at the chemistry,” Line said. “We also interview them.”

The musicians only rehearse for a week before they start their tour, but Line said everything always falls together perfectly by the time they have to play.

Part of this is because by the time the musicians start practicing, almost every other facet of the concert has already been considered.

“All the charts are ready to go, and the whole show is thought out by the time they get their music,” Line said.

Although she calls her group of musicians an orchestra, the types of instruments played aren’t necessarily the kind seen in most symphony halls.

Instruments such as bagpipes, banjos, harmonicas, Irish whistles and Renaissance woodwinds are just a few of the sounds she has included in her holiday scores.

While they may seem like an odd choice, these instruments are chosen because they provide the sound that can best communicate Line’s piece to the audience.

“[The different sounds] give the audience a ton of variety,” Line said. “When you have 14 players, you can do a lot.”

Because of the eclectic lineup of music she prepares, Line said anyone can feel at home during her holiday concerts regardless of their religious backgrounds.

“There’s a celebration theme,” Line said. “You could have any religion and come — it’s not about Christmas, necessarily.”

Line and her pop chamber orchestra will play at Stephens Auditorium Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30.50, $26.50 and 22.50. There is a $2 discount for groups of 20 or more.