In what was one of the most moving performances at the 2017 Stagecoach country music festival, singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens employed a carrot and just a little bit of the stick when explaining her music.
“We’re all beautiful people,” she said with a broad smile, introducing folk singer Richard Farina’s riveting ballad “Birmingham Sunday,” about a 1963 bombing of a Baptist church in Alabama that left four girls dead and injured 22 others.
“But sometimes we do things that aren’t beautiful, and it’s important to remember events like this so we can work together toward the things we all believe in,” Giddens, 40, said from the Mustang Stage on Friday during the first of the three-day festival in Indio.
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Headliner Kenny Chesney performs on the final day of the Stagecoach country music festival.
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Headliner Kenny Chesney performs on the final day of the Stagecoach country music festival.
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Headliner Kenny Chesney greets fans as guitarist Kenny Greenberg, second from left, and guitarist Jon Conley, right, perform.
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Kenny Chesney
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Guitarist Kenny Greenberg performs with headliner Kenny Chesney.
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Two men sleep on hay bales in the empty Mustang Stage as Stagecoach draws to an end on the final day of the Stagecoach country music festival at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, Calif.
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Kendra Ullman and Jordan Bohine embrace at dusk as Travis Tritt plays a love song on the Palomino Stage.
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Fans cheer at dusk as Travis Tritt performs on the Palomino Stage.
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Travis Tritt performs on the Palomino Stage.
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Travis Tritt performs on the Palomino Stage.
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Fans cheer as they listen to Tyler Farr.
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Tyler Farr
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Fans cheer as Tyler Farr performs on the Mane Stage.
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Fans cheer as Tyler Farr performs at sunset on the Mane Stage.
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Tyler Farr, left, and drummer Mark Poiesz perform on the Mane Stage.
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Christopher Garmer poses with his son wearing a John Deere hat, Sean Garmer, 2, of Lakeside, on a John Deere 520 vintage tractor, which is one of 18 on display.
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Los Lobos performs on the Palomino Stage on the final day of Stagecoach.
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Cowboy Junkies lead singer vocalist Margo Timmins performs on the Mustang Stage.
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A view from the La Grande XL ferris wheel of the RV resort.
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Rusty Wink of Leucadia, left, and Kyle Evans of Long Beach sport country-western outfits while riding a two-person bicycle in the RV Resort on the second day of the Stagecoach country music festival at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, Calif., on April 29, 2017.
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Partiers hang out in a portable hot tub in the RV Resort on the second day of the Stagecoach country music festival at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, Calif.
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Kiefer Sutherland performs on the Palomino Stage on the third day of the Stagecoach country music festival at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, Calif.
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The Hillbenders present the Who’s “Tommyy: A Bluegrass Opry” on the Mustang Stage at the Stagecoach country music festival.
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Luke Combs performs on the Mane Stage at Stagecoach.
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Dancers from the Cal Poly Country Line Dancers Club and Cal Poly Square Dancers perform at the HonkyTonk at the Stagecoach country music festival.
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Wynonna & the Big Noise performs on the Palomino Stage at Stagecoach.
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Qunicy Jones and Lauren Anderson of Los Angeles dance while the Steep Canyon Rangers perform on the Mustang Stage.
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The Steep Canyon Rangers perform on the Mustang Stage.
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Jordan Horrillo and Kait Gruber of Sunnyvale dance while the Steep Canyon Rangers perform on the Mustang Stage.
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The crowd cheers as Wynonna & the Big Noise performs on the Palomino Stage.
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Fans cheer Saturday’s headlining act, Shania Twain, on the Mane Stage on the second day of the Stagecoach country music festival in Indio.
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Saturday headliner Shania Twain performs on the Mane Stage at Stagecoach.
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Fans cheer Shania Twain, performing on the Mane Stage at Stagecoach.
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Shania Twain, performs on the Mane Stage.
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Shania Twain on the Mane Stage.
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Country legend Willie Nelson tips his hat to the crowd as he takes the Palomino Stage on his 84th birthday, which he spent playing at Stagecoach.
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Willie Nelson performs on the Palomino Stage.
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Neil Young makes a surprise appearance as he plays harmonica with Mickey Raphael, second from left, during Willie Nelson’s finale. At left is Jamey Johnson, from right are Margo Price and John Doe.
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Neil Young makes a surprise appearance as he plays harmonica with Mickey Raphael in an exchange, third from left, during Willie Nelson’s finale. From left are Lucas Nelson and Jamey Johnson; from right are Margo Price and John Doe.
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Stagecoach performers join Willie Nelson’s finale on his 84th birthday.
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Willie Nelson performs on the Palomino Stage.
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Margo Price performs on the Palomino Stage.
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Robert Ellis performs on the Mustang Stage on the second day of the Stagecoach country music festival.
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Maren Morris performs on the Mane Stage.
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Tommy James and the Shondells perform on the Palomino Stage.
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Tommy James and the Shondells at Stagecoach.
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Fans sing along to Tommy James and the Shondells.
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Nikki Lane performs on the Mustang Stage.
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Nikki Lane performs on the Mustang Stage.
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“Cowboy” Eddie Long plays the steel guitar during Jamey Johnson’s performance on the Palomino Stage.
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Jamey Johnson performs on the Palomino Stage.
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A fan watches Jamey Johnson’s performance from another’s shoulders at the Palomino Stage.
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Fans cheer as Willie Nelson and Family perform during the second day of the Stagecoach country music festival.
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Fans cheer as Randy Houser takes the Mane Stage on the first day of the Stagecoach country music festival at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio.
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Fans cheer as Randy Houser performs on the Mane Stage on the first day of Stagecoach.
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The bassist of the Randy Houser band, Tripper Ryder, greets fans at dusk on the Mane Stage at Stagecoach.
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Fans cheer as Randy Houser performs at dusk on the Mane Stage at Stagecoach.
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Fans cheer as Randy Houser performs at dusk on the first day at Stagecoach.
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Drummer Kevin Murphy performs with Randy Houser at Stagecoach.
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38 Special vocalist and guitarist Don Barnes, left, and guitarist Danny Chauncey perform on the Palomino Stage at Stagecoach.
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Fans cheer as 38 Special performs on the Palomino Stage.
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Randy Houser performs on the Mane Stage.
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Fans sing along as Dierks Bentley performs on the Mane Stage.
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Friday’s headlining performer, Dierks Bentley, performs “Different for Girls” featuring Elle King on the Mane Stage at Stagecoach.
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Dierks Bentley sings “Different for Girls” with Elle King on the Mane Stage.
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Dierks Bentley encourages the crowd to sing along during his performance at Stagecoach.
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Dierks Bentley, center, performs on the first day of Stagecoach.
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Dierks Bentley lets the audience in on his Stagecoach performance.
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Dierks Bentley performs on the Mane Stage.
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Cole Swindell encouarges the crowd during his performance on the Mane Stage at Stagecoach 2017.
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Cole Swindell performs on the Mane Stage.
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The Blasters guitarist Keith Wyatt, left, and vocalist and guitarist Phil Alvin perform on the Palomino Stage.
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The Blasters vocalist and guitarist Phil Alvin performs on the Palomino Stage.
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Fans cheer in the front row as Dylan Scott performs during Day One at Stagecoach.
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Dierks Bentley flips a bottle at his bar while hanging out in his trailer before headlining Friday night at Stagecoach.
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The Zombies perform on the Palomino Stage.
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Maddie Marlow of Maddie & Tae performs on the Mane Stage.
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Fans cheer as the Zombies perform on the Palomino Stage.
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Son Volt members, from left, Jay Farrar (vocal, guitar, harmonica), Chris Frame (guitar), Mark Spencer (keyboard, steel guitar) and Andrew Duplantis (bass, backing vocal) perform on the Mustang Stage.
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Bob and Bernadette Kennedy, of Valley Center, dance as Son Volt performs on the Mustang Stage.
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Jerry Lee Lewis, 81, performs on the Palomino Stage.
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Jerry Lee Lewis, 81, performs on the Palomino Stage.
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Rhiannon Giddens performs on the Mustang Stage.
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Jeff Riback of San Diego listens to the music while kicking back in a lawn chair near the Mane Stage.
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Elle King performs on the Palomino Stage on Friday.
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Dylan Scott performs on the Mane Stage on Friday.
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The three-day Stagecoach country music festival begins at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, on April 28, 2017, as fans run to stake out spots on the lawn.
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A woman falls as crowds rush past the gates to secure the best seats as the first day of the three-day Stagecoach country music festival begins. She recovered quickly and headed to find a good seat.
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Crowds rush past the gates to secure the best seats as the first of the three-day Stagecoach country music festival begins at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio on April 28, 2017.
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Dancers crowd the Go Country 105 stage at the Stagecoach country music festival.
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Allison Batteate, left, and Sharon Castello, both of Livermore, crochet as they camp lakeside in a 1960 Corvette trailer at the Stagecoach country music festival.
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The sun sets behind the mountains as a group of friends play a drinking game outside their trailer in the RV Resort at the Stagecoach country music festival.
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The sun sets behind the mountains as a camper climbs onto his RV roof for a better view in the RV Resort at the Stagecoach country music festival.
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Caitlyn Kelley, left, and Ashlee Herr, both of Huntington Beach, pose with a cowboy silhouette in the RV Resort at the Stagecoach country music festival.
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Ian Ray of Anaheim Hills and Allison Kingsley of Newport Beach dance on a makeshift dance floor made of plywood in the RV Resort at the Stagecoach country music festival.
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A couple parade around the RV Resort at sunset at the Stagecoach country music festival.
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Trevor Johnson of San Diego throws a lasso around beer boxes made into the shape of a bull atop a pickup in the RV Resort at the Stagecoach country music festival.
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Travis Miller of Pedicab people movers of Orlando, Fla., gives Donelle Nubia of Long Beach a ride to her RV with her belongings.
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Line dancers crowd the Go Country 105 stage at the Stagecoach country music festival.
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A swarm of bees focus on a lemonade stand on the first day of the three-day Stagecoach country music festival.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Backed by a muscular five-piece band that included Louisiana musician Dirk Powell, with whom she produced and wrote many of the songs on her new “Freedom Highway” album, Giddens also included the title track from that collection, a vintage civil rights-era song originally recorded by the Staple Singers.
Stagecoach most often is about good times and celebration, but Giddens, who came to prominence with her folk-rooted band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, which played Stagecoach in 2008, had more on her mind as she prepared to take the stage on Friday.
“I’m not shying away from anything,” the North Carolina bred-singer and multi-instrumentalist said backstage a few minutes before her performance. “We’re doing what we always do.”
Her Stagecoach set was the launch point for a new U.S. solo tour over the next several months, one that concludes with an Oct. 25 stop at Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A.
A few minutes earlier, Giddens had been backstage, bounding in place to the potent Americana rock of Son Volt and was sporting a colorfully incongruous outfit that combined an elegant maroon-and-black corset over a layered black skirt on top of pink running shoes, which she would ditch before taking the Mustang Stage barefoot.
Her music is founded in blues, gospel and folk sounds with little that could be called traditional country. Her Stagecoach performance included one fleet and fiery fiddle duet with multi-instrumentalist Powell, which harkened back to the African American string band music that has long been the Chocolate Drops’ specialty.
PHOTOS: Faces of Stagecoach 2017 »
But she noted that “I have a little stronger connection to the country music world now,” referring both to her recent duet with Eric Church on his hit single “Kill A Word” and her recurring role on the “Nashville” TV series, revived recently by the Country Music Television cable channel after ending its five-season network TV run on ABC last year.
“I get recognized now and then,” she said with a demure smile.
As for the powerful social and political statements in some of the songs from her two solo albums — “Tomorrow Is My Turn” in 2015 and “Freedom Highway” — Giddens said she wasn’t about to soften her approach for a country music crowd that’s often engaged in literal flag-waving and has in years past erupted in spontaneous chants of “USA! USA!” when the mood struck.
“I’m not here to apologize for anything we do,” she said. “We pretty much let the songs speak for themselves.”
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