Country music fest in Benson this weekend has '90s hitmakers

A whole bunch of 1990s country stars, including headliners Tracy Byrd, Mark Chesnutt and Rodney Atkins are on the lineup for the fourth annual Cochise Country Music Festival at 4Ever Ranch in Benson. 

Billed as the biggest country music festival in southeastern Arizona, the three-day event Friday, March 20 to Sunday, March 22, could bring at least 1,500 people to Del and Shannon Thola's 20-acre ranch at 714 N. Madison St.

The couple bought the ranch, a former equestrian center where they still hold horse auctions, in December 2022 and launched the festival three months later. 

"I've been wanting to do this for a long time," said Del Thola, who moved his family to Benson from Tucson 25 years ago. "I'm a drummer, and I enjoy music and I thought, what an opportunity to bring something to southeast Arizona. Nobody really does much with the '90s artists."

About 900 people turned out for that first festival, which includes camping on the festival grounds and the couple's adjacent Red Barn RV Park and Campground.

The next year, headliners BlackHawk, Shenandoah, Montgomery Gentry and Neal McCoy brought in over 1,000, while 1,500 turned out for last year's event with Aaron Tippin, Diamond Rio, Sawyer Brown and Pam Tillis.

"It seems like it's growing about 20%, 25% every year," said Thola, who also owns several businesses in Benson. "So we're hoping this year we got a little better weather so we can grow it a little faster."

This year's festival will feature jumping castles and inflatables for kids and adults, and a mechanical bull. Kids 10 and younger are admitted free, and active duty military with ID get in free on opening night Friday. 

The festival also features vendors selling food, clothing, jewelry and other handcrafted goods. 

New this year: Gates will open at 9 a.m. daily for campers, and parking at the Red Barn RV will be cashless; visitors will pay with a phone app.

This year's lineup includes several early 2000s artists, including Chris Cagle, a 25-year veteran singer whose hits include "Chicks Dig It," "Laredo" and his lone No. 1 song "I Breathe In, I Breathe Out."

He's opening Friday for Rodney Atkins ("Farmers Daughter," "Cleaning This Gun," "If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)." That day also features Texas country singer Brooklyn Fenn and Arizona native Matt Farris.

Neo-trad country singer Tracy Byrd ("Holdin' Heaven," "Lifestyles of the Not so Rich and Famous," "Watermelon Crawl") will cap a day of newcomers on Saturday.

They'll include the recently inducted Grand Ole Opry member John Foster, a 19-year-old singer-songwriter and a 2025 "American Idol" runner-up; Kelsey Hart, who infuses 1990s country into his songwriting and performing; and Emily Ann Roberts, a season nine finalist on "The Voice" on Blake Shelton's team. Tucson's own Billy Shaw Jr. Band gets things started in the first show of the day. 

The festival's finale on Sunday opens with Arizona singer-songwriter Kira Brown's Honey Girl. "Thinkin' Bout Cheatin'" singer-songwriter Mae Estes is in the mid-afternoon slot before opening act Little Texas — country music's answer to the soft pop stylings of Air Supply — warms up the stage for headliner Mark Chesnutt ("Bubba Shot the Jukebox," "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," "Almost Goodbye") with their hits "My Love," "Some Guys Have All the Love," "God Blessed Texas" and "Life Goes On."

Tucson's Brian Beckman Band will play the Friday and Saturday night after parties.