Masked man Orville Peck brings country music and air of mystery to Coachella and Stagecoach festivals

Country and alternative rock artist Orville Peck is joining an exclusive club of musicians that have been tapped to perform at both the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and its sister Stagecoach Country Music Festival back-to-back in Indio this month.

Crossing over and playing to the vastly different audiences each festival attracts is a feat only a few have accomplished, including Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam and The Avett Brothers. Country, soul and R&B artist Yola will also perform at both festivals this year.

“It’s a beautiful compliment and also it’s exciting,” Peck said during a recent interview. “I love that my music seems to be able to crossover not only music genres, but genres of people. We do notice the sheer diversity of people in the crowd at my shows, which has always been a beautiful and obvious point to us on tour. We bring together a bunch of different people that maybe wouldn’t be in the same room typically, so that’s a great feeling.”

Peck performed at Coachella on Sunday, April 17, and will return for weekend two on April 24. He’s also headlining Late Night in the Palomino, the after party on the Palomino Stage, at Stagecoach on April 30. In between festival gigs, he’s got sold-out shows at Humphreys Concerts By the Bay in San Diego on April 25 and he’s joining country legend Tanya Tucker at Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown on April 28. He’s also performing at the new Palomino Festival with Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson & Family, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and more on July 9 at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Though he currently resides in Los Angeles, Peck was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and also lived in London, England, and Toronto, Canada. But until this year, he’s never been to Coachella or Stagecoach. He said he’s heading into it mostly prepared with both new music and fresh outfits.

Peck, who is a stylish, openly gay man known for sporting a cowboy hat and an eye mask layered with fringe, is still somewhat of a mystery. He never shows his full face in public and shares very little about his personal life in interviews or on social media. He does, however, bare all in his music with his smooth, deep vocal — kinda like Elvis Presley with a bit more twang. Though primarily labeled a country artist, Peck isn’t afraid to significantly blur the lines musically by adding in elements of pop, folk, post-punk and shoegazing indie pop-rock.

His 2019 debut album, “Pony,” with the singles “Dead of Night” and “Turn to Hate,” earned him several Juno Awards. He’s also teamed up with several other artists for projects and was featured on drag queen Trixie Mattel’s EP, “Full Coverage, Vol 1,” as the pair covered Johnny and June Carter Cash’s hit “Jackson.” Peck was also one of the LGBTQ artists invited by pop star Lady Gaga to record versions of her songs for the “Born This Way The Tenth Anniversary” album, for which Peck covered the album title track. Last year, he and fellow alt-country artist Paul Cauthen formed a Righteous Brothers cover duo, dubbed the Unrighteous Brothers.