Post Malone, country covers and how he won over Stagecoach
Post Malone's long-awaited "official" arrival as a country music superstar finally occurred in April's last weekend at Indio, California's recently completed Stagecoach Festival.
Throughout the weekend, alongside much-anticipated headlining sets from Eric Church, Miranda Lambert and Morgan Wallen, the "Rockstar" artist and North Texas native's desire to perform country music on festival culture's pinnacle stages and appear at one of the American West's highlight country events likely gained the most eyes and attention of the weekend.
Post Malone's Saturday Night 'Mane Stage' set
On Saturday evening, Malone brought out special guests for his first-ever 45-minute country cover set on Stagecoach's Mane Stage. The event included appearances from Dwight Yoakam, Brad Paisley and Sara Evans.
Malone's work onstage highlighted his last year working in Nashville recording as an artist and his fandom of the genre.
"We're going to be doing a bunch of songs that I f---ing love," stated Malone, who introduced himself by his government name, Austin Richard Post, before his Saturday evening set.
In years past, the "Rockstar" artist performed Sturgill Simpson's "You Can Have the Crown" and Brad Paisley's "I'm Gonna Miss Her" during Matthew McConaughey's "We're Texas" fundraising event after Winter Storm Uri in 2021.
Thus, his interests are as much defined by country music's traditions as by more Americana-inspired leanings.
Saturday evening's work proved this even further.
His set opened with Tyler Childers' "Whitehouse Road," but Dwight Yoakam joined for "Little Ways."
Then, in a full circle moment, Brad Paisley joined the stage for his song "I'm Gonna Miss Her,"
After asking the crowd to appraise his performance, Paisley noted Malone was "made for this." Then, they performed Vince Gill's 1992 hit "One More Last Chance."
Digging even deeper into his country bag, recent Grand Ole Opry inductee Evans appeared to perform her 2000s-era mainstream country favorite "Suds in the Bucket."
Not to be just limited to Hall of Famers and Opry members, Malone played what felt like karaoke-style covers of sing-along pop-country hits, including Tim McGraw's "Don't Take The Girl," John Michael Montgomery's "Be My Baby Tonight," "Chattahoochee" by Alan Jackson, Toby Keith's "Who's Your Daddy" and in the set's most Texas-friendly move, Poteet, Texas native George Strait's 1995 chart-topper "Check Yes or No."
How much did Post Malone and Morgan Wallen hang out at Stagecoach?
During the encore of Stagecoach's final "Mane Stage" headlining set of the weekend, Morgan Wallen brought out Malone to perform their often teased duet "I Need Some Help." Rumors continue to abound about when Post Malone's full country album will arrive. It's a safe assumption to presume that the album, in all likelihood, will feature the track.
Malone's appearance on Sunday evening did not just fuel those speculations.
Over the weekend, a TikTok-recorded video surfaced of Malone and Wallen performing what appears to be the previously-mentioned "I Need Some Help" in the back of a flatbed truck in Joshua Tree, California. Neither Malone nor Wallen's teams have confirmed this was the case, though Malone's TikTok account reposted the clip.
Post Malone seemed to be everywhere at Stagecoach
Though he didn't perform "Levii's Jeans" as Beyoncé did not make a Stagecoach appearance, as many hoped; Post Malone certainly made his presence known and visible throughout the festival. Scroll through an Instagram search and find him backstage with former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, among many.
Stagecoach isn't the only place you'll typically find Malone making himself acquainted with country music's stars and famous friends backstage.
Recently, he also made his Ryman Auditorium debut, joining acts including Sam Hunt, Jon Pardi, Megan Moroney, Ben Rector, Ian Munsick, Nate Smith, Mat Kearney, Edwin McCain, Grace Bowers, and Lauren Watkins onstage for multimedia personality Bobby Bones' 7th Annual Million Dollar Show at the legendary Ryman Auditorium on April 5, 2024, which raised $215,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Post Malone covers country and wins over Stagecoach crowd
