“Lets get those (finger) guns up” said lead singer Kurt Ross said before the country rock and Americana group performed their opener of “Six Gun High” and the energy never let up.

The Inland Empire based Honkytonk Angels Band reunited for the Stagecoach country music festival after being around from 1988 to 1991 and 1991 to 1993.

The group even appeared to have the best engineered set at the festival with crystal clear guitars and vocals before they performed “Bad Girl Blues.”

“We are The Honky Tonk Angels Band from the Inland Empire in Southern California,” Ross said at one point in the set to loud cheers. Other songs included “Lil’ Miss Nasty” and “Baby’s Gone.” “Tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of the first time we played our first gig. It was at the Green Door or Fandango in Montclair,” Ross said toward the end of the set. He added the requirements to join the band were liking country music, George Jones, the Rolling Stones and tequilla.

“Everyone on the stage loves all three,” Ross said, before adding the song “Tequilla Bent and Hell Bound” was “our theme song.”

Ross said he was born in Fontana and raised in Ontario to loud cheers before “Whiskey Shine.”

“Thank you good people. We will see you again,” were Ross’ last words to the crowd.

wes.woods@inlandnewspapers.com

INDIO – Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants, Justin Townes Earle and Jana Kramer all showcased what placed them on the bill for the Stagecoach country music festival on Saturday afternoon.Shiflett, guitarist for the rock superstars Foo Fighters, performed first on the Palomino Stage to a sparse but a passionate crowd. While he performed no songs from his more famous band, he drew in the crowd at his stage with precise playing on “Good Time Charlie,” “The Fugitive” and a George Jones cover of “You’re Still On My Mind.”

“We’re going to play this one for him. In memory of ‘The Possum,’” said Shiflett, referencing Jones’ nickname. Audience members also asked him to perform Foo Fighters material but he declined and just said to see him for a “Q and A,” or question and answer session, afterward.

Earle, son of alt country artist Steve Earle, drew frequent cheers for his Americana and folk sound on songs like “Mama’s Cheers,” “One More Night In Brooklyn” and “Ain’t Waitin.”

At the conclusion of the “Brooklyn” song, Earle candidly said “I don’t listen to my own records so I don’t know how that one ends. So I threw a blues lick on the end. And sometimes I can’t read my own set list.” He also warned people against jumping into the Harlem River before performing “Harlem River Blues” because “I’d hate it if you died from some strange bug.”

Kramer, best known for her role as Alex Dupre on the television teen drama series “One Tree Hill” that concluded last year,gave a surprisingly energetic and well rounded set full of covers and original music.

She started her set with “King Of Apology” and kept things rolling in the 100 degree heat with “Good Time Coming On” and “One of the Boys” before performing verses from Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” and Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.”

Between songs, she would tell the crowd to “let me hear you” and “put those hands together” and the mane stage audience more than happily responded.

wes.woods@inlandnewspapers.com

Complete coverage: Stagecoach country music festival | Photos: Stagecoach – Day 2

INDIO – Stagecoach country music festival acts Roger McGuinn and Old Crow Medicine Show performed two different sets but each resulted in the same great musical result.

McGuinn, lead singer of The Byrds, performed a cover of a Bob Dylan song “My Back Pages” with just a guitar to start off his set on the Palomino Stage while Old Crow Medicine Show played a high-energy and uptempo style of bluegrass, Americana and folk songs inside the Mustang Stage.

Between songs, McGuinn would tell stories like how he helped create a song from Bob Dylan lines on a napkin for “Ballad Of Easy Rider” for the 1969 film and how he was a fan of science and technology which led to the Byrds song “Mr. Spaceman.”

Harrisonburg, Virginia’s Old Crow Medicine Show packed the Mustang Stage with young male and female fans who danced and yelled as the group energetically performed 2006′s “New Virginia Creeper” from the album “Big Iron World” and “Mississippi Saturday night” from the 2012 album “Carry Me Back.” The group also performed “Humdinger” from 2008′s “Tennessee Pusher.”

Over in the Palomino Stage, McGuinn described 1969′s “Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man,” which he said was fleshed out in ahotel room while he was “picking” with deceased Joshua Tree musician Gram Parsons. The song is about a DJ who would not play their record, McGuinn added.

Like most of the other acts Friday, the sounds for McGuinn and the Old School Medicine Show were crystal clear and neither artist had issues with their microphones.

wes.woods@inlandnewspapers.com

Complete coverage: Stagecoach country music festival | Photos: Stagecoach – Day 2

INDIO – Trace Adkins won over the mane stage at the Stagecoach country music festival on Friday night with his deep voice and hit songs while actor Jeff Bridges used his charisma and musicianship to do the same at the Palomino Stage.

Adkins used his deep baritone to crank out hits like 2008′s “You’re Gonna Miss This” to loud singalongs while Bridges performed mostly covers like Tom Waits’ “Never Let Go” to consistent cheers.

On the mane stage Friday night, Adkins also performed 1996′s “Every Light In The House,” 2010′s “This Ain’t No Love Song” and described deceased legend George Jones, who died Friday, as “my friend.” “How you doing? It’s good to be back at Stagecoach,” Adkins said early in his set to noisy cheers and yells.

Inside the Palomino Stage, Bridges started off with a hat and sunglasses but later took them off to loud cheers. Before he performed Michael McDonald’s “She Lay Her Whip Down” and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Lookin’ Out My Back Door.”

“A little Creedence from The Dude,” Bridges said to loud applause before the 1970 “Lookin’ Out My Back Door.”

Both acts sounded sonically great, but Bridges appeared to confuse his audience at times when they weren’t sure to cheer or laugh early on and his voice was not always great but he clearly enjoyed his set.

wes.woods@inlandnewspapers.com

Complete coverage: Stagecoach country music festival | Photos: Stagecoach – Day 2

INDIO – Country music superstars Toby Keith and Hank Williams Jr. each entertained their respective audiences Friday night at the Stagecoach country music festival with a mix of hits and covers of artists like deceased legend George Jones or Hank Williams Sr..

Main headliner Keith performed Jones’ “She Thinks I Still Care” and “Daddy Come Home” while Williams Jr. performed “Your Cheating Heart” by his father.

As headliner, Keith said of Jones, who passed away Friday at age 81: “Godspeed George Jones. God bless George Jones. I’m going to try to do a couple of George Jones songs to show what real country music sounds like.” Earlier in the show, Keith added that Jones “was approachable, a great singer and he is the face of country music.”

Williams Jr., besides covering his father, also covered “Walk This Way” and he rapped the song like the 1986 Run-DMC version as well as Jerry Reed’s “East Bound and Down” from the 1977 film “Smokey and the Bandit” and “I Walk The Line” by Johnny Cash.

The artists played their own hits as well as Keith tore through “Red Solo Cup,” “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “Beer for My Horses” and his set ender with Trace Adkins “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).” The song is Keith’s but Adkins, who performed on the same stage earlier in the night, joined him.

Williams Jr. performed songs like “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight,” and “Keep The Change” with the lyrics “I’ll keep my freedom / I’ll keep my guns” drawing a loud cheer. He also performed 1980′s “Woman I’ve Never Had” with lines including the Friday fan favorite of “I like to ride my horse and shoot my gun.”

Both mane stage sets sounded great musically while Keith’s used flames and an extensive video on stage before his performance about Clancy’s Tavern. Williams Jr.’s stage set-up was basic but the singer would change hats every couple of songs and played the fiddle to loud applause.

wes.woods@inlandnewspapers.com

Potomac, Maryland’s Rose played selections from her debut album “Cut to Impress,” which was released in March. Despite being a new artist, fans near me loudly sang lyrics to most every song including the singles “Better” and “I Ain’t Your Mama.”

Smith’s set included hits like 1967′s “Cincinnati, Ohio” and 1968′s “Run Away Little Tears” as well as 2011′s “What’s a Heart Like You Doing in a Fool Like Me.”

On the mane stage when Rose performed, her sound was well engineered as every instrument could be heard loud and clear despite the heat. Frequently Rose would also discuss her songs before performing them.

“We can be your wife, we can be your girlfriend but we ain’t your momma,” Rose says before performing her single to loud yells and cheers.

Inside the Palomino Stage, the 71-year-old Grammy Award winning Smith was also assisted by a well engineered set that showcased her amazing voice. At one point, she asked the audience if they knew who she was.

“Yes!” the crowd yelled back at her. She then asked what song they wanted to hear and the audience asked for her hit “Cincinnati, Ohio.”

“I don’t know that one,” Smith said with a laugh before performing the song.

wes.woods@inlandnewspapers.com

INDIO – Commander Cody, with his keyboard and backing band, performed a set of hits that brought to life the crowd inside the Palomino Stage at the Stagecoach country music festival.Cody, who’s group is also known as Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, initially drew a small crowd to the Palomino Stage but by the end of his set it was more than half full with many in the audience toe-tapping or head nodding to the mix of country swing, rockabilly and blues.

Formed in 1967, the band on Friday afternoon in the more than 90 degree sun performed songs such as 1972′s “Hot Rod Lincoln,” 1973′s “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) and 1975′s “Don’t Let Go.”

When the set wrapped up, Cody walked away from his keyboard to massive cheers with a slight limp before he grabbed a bottle of water and a cane.

The Palomino stage, during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival last weekend, was the massive Sahara Tent.

For the Stagecoach festival, the tent was basically hollowed out with its elaborate LCD lighting system removed. In its place was lots of hay bales and a simple stage set up where people could bring their lawn chairs, and in one case, a dog, and watch the music.