Who's Playing At Stagecoach Festival?

The Stagecoach Festival, a country music festival taking place May 5 and 6 on the grounds of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, has released its artist list and festival lay-out.

According to Billboard, the new event will feature four stages: one headlining stage, an alt-country stage, a bluegrass stage, and a “storytelling” area, featuring “A Prarie Home Companion” creator Garrison Keillor and Texas poet laureate Red Steagall. There will also be plenty of country memorabilia, vintage cowboy materials, folk art, and western heritage installations.

On May 5, fans will be treated to performances by George Strait, Alan Jackson, Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Neko Case, Robert Earl Keen, Nickel Creek, Earl Scruggs, Yonder Mountain String Band, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, and Chris Hillman, among others. The following day will see the likes of Kenny Chesney, Brooks and Dunn, Pat Green, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Drive-By Truckers, the Del McCoury Band, and Bela Fleck.

Stagecoach is the work of Coachella producer Paul Tollet, in conjunction with Louis Messina of TMG/AEG Live and Steve Moore of AEG Nashville. The inaugural festival is shaping up to be a prototype of sorts: The team behind Bonnaroo has established a similar vision for their recently purchased festival space, and is no doubt most interested in how well the Coachella boys pull off their initial effort.

Country music has risen meteorically in the past decade and is now among the most commercially viable mediums in contemporary American music. It should come as no surprise that the forward-thinking producers of popular festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo would head to the country for another revenue stream, and with this line-up the Stagecoach producers are appealing to several different communities within country music. There are not many opportunities to see George Strait, Drive-By Truckers, Robert Earl Keen, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Garrison Keillor in the same weekend, at the same place, for the same price.

If the inaugural Stagecoach goes well, we may be on the verge of a new era in concert festival promotion and production. It remains to be seen whether or not this is a good thing. As long as the festivals themselves hold up, the line-ups consistently deliver and the atmosphere is as free and easygoing as possible, then no one can complain too loudly about the tentacled conglomerates behind them.

At least these guys have taken monolithic ClearChannel out of the equation. That is reason enough to give them an honest shot.

Latest Headlines: Remembering Estelle Bennett Of The Ronettes Rant: Stop Defending Chris Brown The Setty Smooth Challenge: Are You Smooth Enough? 51st Grammy Award Winners Pearl Jam Hits Up The Studio CD Review: The BPA's I Think We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat Super Bowl Half Time: Bruce Springsteen Always Rocks, Never Ages Super Bowl: How Will Bruce Do?

---

blog comments powered by Disqus