The 2012 Stagecoach Country Music Festival kicks off today in Southern California, bringing many of country’s top stars to the hot, dry desert stages in Indio, California (the same location as rock festival Coachella) all weekend long.

The artist lineup for the huge, three-day event includes Jason Aldean, Alabama, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Sara Evans, Luke Bryan, and The Band Perry.

The festival is big and broad enough to also include alternative acts like the Jayhawks and Dave Alvin, bluegrass icons Del McCoury and J.D. Crowe, and country music legends Roy Clark, Kenny Rogers, and Ralph Stanley.

Stagecoach runs today through Sunday (April 29), and for those of you who aren’t going, our friends at Riverside, Calif. station KFRG will provide exclusive coverage, including backstage interviews with Brad Paisley, Jason Aldean, Justin Moore, Luke Bryan and many more, plus photos, reviews, and videos.

See the latest reviews, photos, and backstage interviews from Stagecoach. 

See the full Stagecoach lineup.

More Stagecoach Festival information.