Goldenvoice delivers 'outside of the box' Stagecoach lineup
Country festival set to feature diverse artists including Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert ZZ Top and Gregg Allman
Goldenvoice delivers 'outside of the box' Stagecoach lineup Country festival set to feature diverse artists including Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert ZZ Top and Gregg Allman Check out this story on desertsun.com: https://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/2014/10/06/stagecoach-lineup/16832371/
Bruce Fessier, TDS Published 4:31 p.m. PT Oct. 6, 2014 | Updated 4:32 p.m. PT Oct. 6, 2014
Country royal couple Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, seen arriving at this year Academy of Country Music Awards, will headline the 2015 Stagecoach country music festival (Photo: AP photo )
Stagecoach: California's Country Music Festival just distanced itself a little more from Nashville.
The 2015 Stagecoach lineup was announced Monday with such top-selling modern country artists as Blake Shelton, headlining on Sunday, his wife Miranda Lambert, topping the Saturday bill, and Tim McGraw, headlining the opening night on Friday, April 24.
But this lineup also features more blues-based artists than any of the previous eight Stagecoach festivals at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.
Those include ZZ Top and Gregg Allman on Saturday, and George Thorogood and the Destroyers and Eric Burdon and the Animals on Sunday. The Outlaws, best known for the country rock jam "Green Grass and High Tides," also will blur country, rock and blues lines when they perform on Sunday.
Festival founder Paul Tollett showed his modern country acumen last year by booking artists such as Eric Church, Brantley Gilbert and Hunter Hayes as they were peaking. But he said he felt he needed to expand the Stagecoach parameters to keep up with changing tastes.
"We knew everyone was so well versed in country music," he said in an e-mail, "but (we) were surprised to learn they were also fans of blues, rock and folk. We saw people moving all over the field last year, catching smaller acts in Palomino or Mustang stages, and then back for mainstream country on the Mane Stage. This showed us that we need to deliver things outside of the box. Stagecoach fans are expecting more from us."
This lineup includes such diverse country artists as the legendary Okie from Muskogee, Merle Haggard, and an up-and-coming band from Muskogee, the Swon Brothers, who finished third in last season's "The Voice." Bluegrass artist turned country pop singer Vince Gill will appear with his country swing band, the Time Jumpers. Mickey Gilley, who came to epitomize urban cowboy music in the film, "Urban Cowboy," also is on the bill.
So is the prize-winning new bluegrass band, Old Salt Union, and country pop artist Mac Davis, who hit big writing for Elvis Presley. The legendary harmony group, the Oak Ridge Boys, are returning and so is Nashville artist Jake Owen, who had a no. 1 hit this year with "Beachin'." Country outlaw Steve Earle is booked and so is Pegi Young, the soon-to-be ex-wife of Neil Young.
Not surprisingly, reaction to the lineup was as mixed as the lineup. Chris Miller, who has photographed most of the Goldenvoice events at the Empire Polo Club, sees the lineup as a return to the adventurousness of the early lineups.
"The original Stagecoach featured the Drive-by Truckers, the Old 97's, etc.," he said. "Then (it) sold out to 'Nashville pop' for a few years. Nice to see some variety, to include people who actually perform the music they write themselves, back into the lineup."
But others didn't want to see the boundaries of country music stretched too far.
"Country should stay country," said long-time promoter and music manager Manuel Montoya. "I support all genres of music and like George Strait puts it, I like a little twang in my music, raised in the San Joaquin Valley, just down the road from Bakersfield."
"It's not a good thing for a country festival," said Susan Kelly, a country music fan who was campaigning for the local band R. Buckle Road to get into Stagecoach. "Nothing personal, it seems they belong in a different venue... Seems so sad that Merle is fourth best in the lineup."
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14. General admission weekend passes are $269 with kids 10 and under free. Goldenvoice will again offer Corral ticket choices, enabling ticket buyers to buy tickets for the Corral Standing Pit — a standing room only section directly in front of the Mane stage — or Corral Reserved Seating. Each will have VIP access to the Saloon located to the right of the stage.
For more information, including various levels of camping luxury, visit stagecoachfestival.com.
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