Stagecoach 2024: Giving the women who dominated the country music festival their due

Women in country music are known for their powerful voices, lyrics and stage presence.

But they're often not appreciated to the extent they deserve in a male-dominated genre, which is why we have compiled a list of some of the women who gave fantastic performances during the 2024 Stagecoach country music festival.

They're all up-and-comers in the genre and performed early in the day during the festival — so we're hoping they come back at even later time slots.

Tanner Adell

Tanner Adell is one of the four Black female artists featured on Beyoncé's "Blackbiird" on her latest album, "Cowboy Carter." Outside of her collaboration with the iconic singer, Adell released her first album, "Buckle Bunny," last year and recently released a new single "Whiskey Blues."

She was the first to perform on the Mane Stage on Saturday — an upbeat start to the festival as people filled onto the Empire Polo Club grounds in Indio. Some of the songs she featured included “FU-150,” “I Hate Texas,” and “See You in Church.”

While she didn't bring out Beyoncé, she did bring out The Harbin Sisters to dance during "Buckle Bunny." The steps to the dance are featured on their TikTok account. It's hard not to want to move to Adell's country pop tunes.

Stagecoach's lineup has also predominately been filled with white artists over the years, though that's been progressively changing lately. It's nice to see that this year they invited several talented Black artists in the genre like Adell and Miko Marks, who is also on this list.

Ashley Cooke

Ashley Cooke brought joy to many festivalgoers by performing covers of popular songs from their childhood, like "Come Clean" by Hilary Duff and "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne. She also covered “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane (made popular by Rascal Flatts for the animated film "Cars") and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” by Stevie Wonder.

It showcased her range — Cooke would truly be suited to any genre. But at the moment, she's on the rise for country music. She recently won a CMT award and is nominated for an ACM award. She's also been charting for her song "your place," which is about a cheating ex-boyfriend (a common theme for some of the best country songs).

The reason why she’s been so successful was apparent during her Stagecoach performance as she sang songs off her album “shot in the dark." Her lyrics resonate with fans, and she's a delight to watch perform.

Annie Bosko

Annie Bosko said it was her dream to perform at Stagecoach — so much so that she told the audience she had second degree burns and came anyway.

She was on probably the smallest stage there, at the Toyota Music Den. But she made the absolute most of it, starting and ending with high energy. She sang and danced to songs like “Boots On,” “Neon Baby” and one she has coming out this year with Dwight Yoakam called “Heart Burn.” Bosko even hopped onto the dance floor with the audience for her last song, “Honky Tonk Highway.”

Bosko has toured with Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley and Blake Shelton, and recorded backing vocals for Adele, Andrea Bocelli and Darius Rucker, according to her website. She's clearly someone to keep an eye on in the country genre, and Stagecoach should probably consider giving her a bigger stage to perform on next year.

Katie Pruitt

Katie Pruitt's lyrics are filled with heartfelt and powerful messages.

During her Stagecoach set, she asserted her opinion that country music is protest music. One of the touching songs she performed was “Loving Her," which is about loving a woman despite homophobic prejudices.

"If loving her's a sin, I don't wanna go to heaven. No there's nothing else up there I could need," she sang. "And if I'm sinnin' everyday guess I'll sin all seven. If I can still have her by the end of the week."

She has two albums out — "Expectations" and recently "Mantras." Honestly, her entire discography is a must listen for country fans and it was amazing to see just a bit of it live.

Lola Kirke

Lola Kirke was the first performer to kick off the entire festival on Friday, though festivalgoers almost missed her when the gates didn't open on time. Luckily, they pushed her set back by about 20 minutes.

You may recognize her from her acting career, which has included roles in series and films like "Mozart in the Jungle" and "Gone Girl." But Kirke is also a country singer, which may seem unexpected to some. It shouldn't though — the genre suits her voice perfectly.

She came out on stage in an all-red outfit to sing songs like “He Says Y’all,” “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” and a new one she said would be released soon called “Thank God For Cigarettes, It's the Least He Could Do.” A big thanks to Stagecoach for delaying her set so fans could catch her, though next time the festival could also just open on time.

Lauren Watkins

Lauren Watkins jokingly asked her Stagecoach audience if they were there to see her perform at the Bud Light Backyard because there was air conditioning there, but it was clear from all the cheering that they were really there to see her strong set. Cool air was just a bonus.

She owned the stage like a singer with years of experience, so it's hard to believe that she's only getting started. Watkins had what her website called a "double-shot debut" with the albums "Introducing: Lauren Watkins" and "Introducing: The Heartbreak" last year. She sang songs like “Fine County Line,” “Anybody But You” and a new song being released in May called “Mama, I Made It" during the festival.

Watkins has also opened for artists like Jameson Rodgers, Morgan Wallen, Lily Rose and Austin Snell, according to her website. Any country fan that's listened to her has surely been quick to add her songs to their playlists.

Miko Marks

Saying Miko Marks has a powerful voice is almost an understatement. Her vocals are killer, and you can't truly appreciate how much so until you've heard her live.

She's had years to hone her craft — her first albums "Freeway Bound" and "It Feels Good" were released in 2005 and 2007 respectively. But then she took a 14-year hiatus. She told the audience on Sunday that she actually thought she was done with music, and then she came back to make music with the band The Resurrectors.

The Resurrectors were, of course, with her for her Stagecoach set. She had the earliest time on Sunday, and so only a small crowd had gathered to watch them. They booed when she said she going to perform her last song, “Feel Like Going Home.” An understandable feeling, seeing as strong singers like Marks are a treat to be able to listen to in person.

Ani Gasparyan covers the western Coachella Valley cities of Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City. Reach her at ani.gasparyan@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Stagecoach 2024: The women who dominated the festival