Stagecoach Festival

Time to book a hotel room in Indio. The next Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival will be April 17 to 19 and its country cousin, the Stagecoach Festival, will be the following weekend, April 25 and 26. No word on the talent lineups yet. Why is Coachella being held a week earlier next year? AEG Live, the concert promotion company that became a partner in the event in 2001, is also the corporate engine these days behind the grand old New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which will be held April 24 to 26 and April 30 to May 3. For logistical reasons the decision was made to avoid overlap.

This Saturday at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio, the Mavericks will make their first bona-fide concert appearance in nearly seven years. The show by the revered and genre-defying band is being billed as a reunion and constitutes one of the marquee special facets of this year's festival in the desert. It's also a standout moment for the band, whose members are coming back together after a turbulent career run that began with a rewarding string of albums and singles in the '90s but ended in frustration when their label dropped them and the group disbanded.

NASHVILLE -- Hayes Carll, 32, arranges his long limbs around a high-top table in the bar of a trendy Nashville restaurant. He's clearly out of place, but frequenting these locales comes with the new visibility he's earned as one of the most talked about emerging artists in the country arena. Rave reviews of his third full-length album, "Trouble in Mind," have cascaded in from any number of outlets, transforming this journeyman singer-songwriter with the face of a prairie dog into one of the must-see performers at this weekend's Stagecoach Festival at the Empire Polo Field in Indio.

MUSIC Stagecoach festival Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood are all veterans of the Stagecoach Festival, colloquially regarded as "the country Coachella. " Their megastar wattage gets a nice underpinning this year from grizzled veterans such as Kris Kristofferson and Leon Russell and edgy youngsters such as Phosphorescent and the Punch Brothers. Empire Polo Grounds, Indio. Today-Sun. http://www.stagecoachfestival.com. EVENTS 'Skydreamers' The new exhibition at the Autry traces the history of human flight through photos, artworks and memorabilia.

Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood are all veterans of the Stagecoach Festival, colloquially regarded as "the country Coachella. " But their megastar wattage gets a nice underpinning this year from grizzled veterans such as Kris Kristofferson and Leon Russell and edgy youngsters such as Phosphorescent and the Punch Brothers. Empire Polo Grounds, Indio. 1 p.m. Sat.-Sun. $149. http://www.stagecoachfestival.com.

A list of upcoming concerts across the Southland, with on-sale dates in parentheses. Empire Polo Club Stagecoach Festival 2010 with Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood, April 30-May 1 (Fri.) Gibson Amphitheatre Toby Mac, Jan. 22 (Fri.); Power 106 FM's Cali Christmas with Ice Cube and more, Dec. 3 (Sat.) Wiltern Pete Yorn, April 6 (Fri.) Hollywood Palladium Afshin & Mehrshad, Nov. 24 (now) The Music Box Dweezil Zappa, Dec. 3-4 (now)

This Saturday at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio, the Mavericks will make their first bona-fide concert appearance in nearly seven years. The show by the revered and genre-defying band is being billed as a reunion and constitutes one of the marquee special facets of this year's festival in the desert. It's also a standout moment for the band, whose members are coming back together after a turbulent career run that began with a rewarding string of albums and singles in the '90s but ended in frustration when their label dropped them and the group disbanded.

MUSIC Stagecoach festival Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood are all veterans of the Stagecoach Festival, colloquially regarded as "the country Coachella. " Their megastar wattage gets a nice underpinning this year from grizzled veterans such as Kris Kristofferson and Leon Russell and edgy youngsters such as Phosphorescent and the Punch Brothers. Empire Polo Grounds, Indio. Today-Sun. http://www.stagecoachfestival.com. EVENTS 'Skydreamers' The new exhibition at the Autry traces the history of human flight through photos, artworks and memorabilia.

Saying that "life is short and precious," Wynonna Judd confirmed this week that she and her mother, Naomi Judd, will reunite on stage for the first time in seven years as the headliners of the 2008 Stagecoach Festival next May in Indio. The Judds will perform the first night of the May 3-4 festival. This year's lineup also features Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts and Gretchen Wilson. Tickets go on sale Nov.

The Stagecoach Festival now has the Eagles and an unofficial new motto: "Don't fence me in." Organizers of the huge country festival in Indio have announced a surprise third day of music and, by booking the bestselling country rock band ever, the May event is broadening its fan base and genre embrace. The newly announced day, May 2, will also feature performances by John Fogerty, Trisha Yearwood, Shelby Lynne, Glen Campbell and newcomer Rissi Palmer.

Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood are all veterans of the Stagecoach Festival, colloquially regarded as "the country Coachella. " But their megastar wattage gets a nice underpinning this year from grizzled veterans such as Kris Kristofferson and Leon Russell and edgy youngsters such as Phosphorescent and the Punch Brothers. Empire Polo Grounds, Indio. 1 p.m. Sat.-Sun. $149. http://www.stagecoachfestival.com.

A list of upcoming concerts across the Southland, with on-sale dates in parentheses. Empire Polo Club Stagecoach Festival 2010 with Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood, April 30-May 1 (Fri.) Gibson Amphitheatre Toby Mac, Jan. 22 (Fri.); Power 106 FM's Cali Christmas with Ice Cube and more, Dec. 3 (Sat.) Wiltern Pete Yorn, April 6 (Fri.) Hollywood Palladium Afshin & Mehrshad, Nov. 24 (now) The Music Box Dweezil Zappa, Dec. 3-4 (now)

Just as last week's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival turned to the sweet-tempered hits of Paul McCartney, this weekend's two-day Stagecoach country music festival celebrated easy, universal pleasures -- like a spirited afternoon drinking game.

Two faces of contemporary country music stood in striking relief at the third edition of Stagecoach, the country music festival held in Indio over the weekend. On one side, topping Saturday's bill, was Brad Paisley, a self-professed music geek who has risen to the top with an estimable string of hits built on brilliant lyric twists ("I'm Gonna Miss Her [The Fishing Song]"), the occasional bawdy double-entendre ("Ticks") and even profundity ("Whiskey Lullaby").

Time to book a hotel room in Indio. The next Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival will be April 17 to 19 and its country cousin, the Stagecoach Festival, will be the following weekend, April 25 and 26. No word on the talent lineups yet. Why is Coachella being held a week earlier next year? AEG Live, the concert promotion company that became a partner in the event in 2001, is also the corporate engine these days behind the grand old New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which will be held April 24 to 26 and April 30 to May 3. For logistical reasons the decision was made to avoid overlap.

One of those golden moments you hope for at gargantuan music gatherings like the weekend Stagecoach Festival in Indio came Saturday night, when the Judds, Naomi and daughter Wynonna, resuscitated their monstrously successful '80s act in what was billed as a "one-night-only reunion."

The first Stagecoach festival came to a close on Sunday with the prospect of losing money, but also with a big-boned optimism about its future as 55,000 fans over two days came to hear Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, George Strait and 50 other acts perform at a country show put together by rock promoters. The people behind the 8-year-old Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival tried their hand last weekend at a country counterpart, and by the final notes on Sunday they were ready to book year two.

"Do you guys out here like the real, hard-core, traditional bluegrass music?" Jamie Dailey, of the fast-picking band Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, inquired Sunday afternoon at the Stagecoach Festival here. Those gathered at his feet roared back: "Yes!"

NASHVILLE -- Hayes Carll, 32, arranges his long limbs around a high-top table in the bar of a trendy Nashville restaurant. He's clearly out of place, but frequenting these locales comes with the new visibility he's earned as one of the most talked about emerging artists in the country arena. Rave reviews of his third full-length album, "Trouble in Mind," have cascaded in from any number of outlets, transforming this journeyman singer-songwriter with the face of a prairie dog into one of the must-see performers at this weekend's Stagecoach Festival at the Empire Polo Field in Indio.

Staff writer Randy Lewis sorts out the festival, hour by hour: 3 P.M. CATCH IT IF YOU CAN SONS OF THE SAN JOAQUIN Emphasizing the western half of country-western music, this Central Valley-based trio continues the tradition of Sons of the Pioneers with harmony-laden tales rooted in the vast American frontier. (Palomino, 3:10-3:50) 4 P.M. CATCH IT IF YOU CAN DON EDWARDS The cowboy troubadour from Texas is widely respected for his historically informed, unromanticized approach to western music and culture.