With nearly seventy musical acts in town for the Stagecoach Musical Festival, we thought you might find it interesting to understand a little bit about the music fans in town for the greatest country music festival in the United States.
The Country Music Association did a study of 25,000 country music fans and found that the ‘average’ fan earns $75,000 a year. Nearly 75% own a home with half of the families earning over $100,000 a year. One-third have children and a net worth of over $300,000 while approximately 25% have college degrees. Of all Americans, 42% or 95 million consider themselves as country music fans who collectively spend $16 billion a year dining out.
One of the foods that country music fans rejoice in is barbeque. Then again, who doesn’t?
When it comes to barbeque, there are a number of cooking techniques. Smoking is where the meat is cooked at 240-280 degrees for hours. Baking is done in a brick or convection oven while braising combines the dry heat of a charbroiler with the moisture of a broth-filled pot. The most common style is grilling over a hot fire. While some barbecuers use electricity, gas or charcoals, many skilled barbecue aficionados use different types of wood. Some of the woods preferred include cherry, hickory, mesquite, maple, oak, peach, pear and walnut.
Sean Smith of local caterer CV BBQ uses a regional style of barbecuing from the Santa Maria Valley in Santa Barbara County that finds its roots in the 1800’s. After seasoning the beef tri-tip with his signature rub, he lets the meat marinate for a few days before cooking on an iron grill over the coals of red oak wood.
To taste CV BBQ’s Santa Maria styled barbecued tri-tip, you can find them at the Stagecoach Musical Festival or visit them any Thursday at Palm Springs VillageFest.
