Welcome to Stagecoach, unofficially dubbed the “Country Coachella.” As the sister event to the prestigious two-weekend desert destination festival, it occupies the same space at Empire Polo Club in Indio and boasts similarly star-studded lineups every year. This year’s bill includes Post Malone, Lainey Wilson, Cody Johnson, Brooks & Dunn, and Diplo. Plus, an up-and-coming artist named Ink.
While a newcomer to Stagecoach, Ink (born Atia Chade Boggs) has been on a musical journey that extends back many miles. Along the way, she’s done everything from singing on street corners to co-writing verified country anthems “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” for Beyoncé’s genre-shattering Cowboy Carter. Still, establishing herself as a solo artist remains a lifelong goal, and a Stagecoach slot is the stuff of dreams. Suffice to say, the gravity of this moment is not lost on Ink.
Big Buskin’ Backstage
“This is bucket list for me. You know what I mean?” Ink is speaking from the artist compound, close enough to backstage that you can hear the thump of the PA in the distance. Today is a star-studded affair. David Lee Roth just joined Teddy Swims for a rendition of Van Halen’s “Jump.” There is a Mila Kunis sighting. Guy Fieri’s entourage is milling around his trailer, passing out burritos and bandanas.
As the circus passes by, Ink reflects on her incredible rise from busking in Atlanta to co-writing with the biggest names in pop music to being a solo act on the verge of a festival breakthrough.
“My first time coming to Stagecoach was with Diplo,” Ink says, adjusting her shades and leaning forward, beaming all the while. “I was sitting on a couch somewhere, trying to figure out how I was going to get to Stagecoach because somebody left a comment on my page that said, ‘You look like you’re at Stagecoach already.’”
Her voice is warm and low, tough but inviting, as if letting you in on a secret—which she is. “I had no idea what it was,” Ink admits. “I looked it up, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s me.’ Then out of nowhere, Diplo texted me and said, ‘Hey, you want to go?’ And I’ve been coming every year ever since, hanging out with him.”
"I was sitting on a couch somewhere, trying to figure out how I was going to get to Stagecoach."
Germany to Georgia
Hanging with a massive DJ and industry figure would phase most of us; for Ink, it’s merely another moment in a rise that feels predetermined. But the timeline of her life has been marked by contrasts, beginning with her birth overseas to a military family.
“Germany to Georgia, that’s definitely not typical,” she confirms. “You can blame my mom for that. She had me over there.” However, for Ink, the South remains home. “All my family is from Georgia—both sides. My grandma is from Alabama, but everybody. So, it’s just organic roots.”
Her musical beginnings are woven just as tightly into her life. “I always say my first breath coming out of the womb had to be a song,” she says. “I remember that feeling that I don’t know what else is happening on earth and what else this purpose is meant to be, but it’s for this.”
A recent photograph on Ink’s Instagram shows the young artist on the street in Atlanta, holding an autoharp and an acoustic guitar. Her early influences were all over the musical map—unencumbered by style and pointing to the genre-busting songwriter she would become.
“I really got into Charlie Pride,” she reveals. “Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston. Leadbelly, listening to hymns and spirituals. Big Mama Thornton and Ma Rainey—I learned about her in class because she’s from Columbus, Georgia, my hometown.”
"I always say my first breath coming out of the womb had to be a song."
A Bands that Bonds
The collision of classic soul and country is in keeping with her globetrotting early life, which also included a stint in Turkey during her elementary school years. “Traveling so much as a child gave me so many eclectic different experiences,” she says. “A little European energy mixed with a down South vibe, you know what I mean?”
As Ink cut her teeth playing constantly around her hometown, she was simultaneously using her naturally outgoing personality to network, initiating a friendship with songwriter extraordinaire James Fauntleroy. “I met James on Facebook, and he wrote me back. We hit it off and have been homies ever since,” she shares about her early mentor. “We just left Japan together. We went to Tokyo, and we were cooking, using a lot of y’all dope Roland equipment over there.”
Other early characters in Ink’s story include Dallas Austin and Polow da Don. “That’s who I kind of learned the game from,” she says of the latter. “I got out and chased him, and we’ve been tight ever since.”
"Traveling so much as a child gave me so many eclectic different experiences. A little European energy mixed with a down South vibe."
Theodore Thomas AKA Stonii is another writer/producer Ink met while earning her stripes in Atlanta. He remains a core member of her Stagecoach band—a testament to the bond Ink forms with her people. The running theme here is loyalty.
“We kind of took over Atlanta,” Ink says about her and Thomas. “That’s home, and people from Georgia, we take it to the next level.”
Speaking from the band’s Indio Airbnb, the day before the big gig, guitarist James Talbot recalls an interaction that gave him insight into Ink’s authenticity. “She took an Uber all the way to my studio after we’d been writing for a few days just to say how much she enjoyed the sessions,” he says. “And I live in the sticks, outside of Nashville.”
From this widening pool of connections, Ink found herself in more and more exclusive songwriting rooms. The young artist’s way with a hook heart began to spill into the catalogs of acts like Monica, Rick Ross, and Leon Bridges.
“Honestly, now that I talk about it, it happened organically,” Ink says, looking back on the progression. “I might run into them and go up and introduce myself. Sometimes their team tells them about what they think I could offer. I just try to see how I can add value to their story.”
"We kind of took over Atlanta. That's home, and people from Georgia, we take it to the next level."
A Touch of Ink
Over the last few years, the Ink magic has featured prominently on some culture-defining releases. First, there was a pair of massive singles from Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter: “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold Em,” both of which could well become future standards.
“Bey, she sees everything,” she says of the superstar known for her grasp of the zeitgeist. “She has a real eye and a real ear.”
While Ink appears preternaturally calm in all situations, the opportunity to work with Beyoncé must have carried some pressure. She trusts that results are best left to the universe. “Do what you do best, and if it’s meant to align, it’ll align,” Ink confirms. “She doesn’t need to work with anybody. She does what she wants. So, to bring my perspective to an already legendary situation, that’s a blessing.”
Next on her growing list of professional wins was placing three co-writes on Kendrick Lamar’s GNX, one of which, “Luther,” earned a Grammy for Record of the Year. “Kendrick and Sounwave, these guys are geniuses,” she enthuses about her collaborators. “They literally put it together, and pop it up to me like a candy store.”
Ink also confirms that there is far more to Lamar than listeners may be aware. “A lot of people don’t know he loves writing R&B music; he’s great at it. He’s just so well-versed.”
As for some alternate highlights from her songwriting oeuvre, Ink points to “Don’t Check on Me” by Chris Brown featuring Justin Bieber. (“That’s a great one on the guitar.”) With over 414 million listens on Spotify alone, “Addicted,” her foray into EDM with The Chainsmokers and Zerb, is another personal fave. “We went to Jackson Hole for the video in Wyoming. We got horses, ski joint, and dog sleds—all types of shit.”
"I want to have visions come to life with the word, the message, the impact, and the creativity."
The Legend of a Turquoise Cowboy
Ink’s love of pop music’s visual language extends into her idiosyncratic solo identity—all wild west vibes and hip-hop swag. The rich cinematography of the “Turquoise Cowboy” video is a doorway into her penchant for myth-building, including precious stones, dusty roads, mysterious figures, and a classic Western-style shootout updated for 2026.
“I directed it as well with my friend Ben Mark, and came up with how I wanted the scenes to be,” she says. “I went to film school, so I love film, cameras, and everything to do with storytelling. I want to have visions come to life with the word, the message, the impact, and the creativity.”
Creativity is in abundant supply on Ink’s latest release, BIG BUSKIN’. In addition to the aforementioned “Turquoise Cowboy” (nearly a de facto Ink theme song), the album is rife with everything from a honky-tonk banger like “Hoedown” to the poignant “Blink of an Eye.”
There’s also an X factor to Ink’s sound, something she deems “psychedelic chords.” It’s not something the artist can easily describe, but she knows it when she feels it. “I started twitching. I got that Parliament in me—I’m just funky,” she laughs, referring to the sonic lineage passed down from George Clinton.
“You gotta hold tight to the funk, and I feel like the funk is just psychedelic,” Ink posits. “You don’t know where it’s gonna take you. It just leads you down a rabbit hole, and you come back better and more in tune.”
"You don't know where it's gonna take you. It just leads you down a rabbit hole, and you come back better and more in tune."
The Mane Stage
All different facets of the Ink experience are on full display the next day on the Stagecoach Mane Stage. Despite a short-lived evacuation on Saturday night due to winds, the show is back on. And Ink is in it to win it, planning to wring every bit of sweat out of her set. Striding out in an immaculate leather-denim fit, enhanced, of course, by copious amounts of turquoise jewelry, the artist is fully in her element, coaxing the crowd to sway and put their hands in the air.
Live, Ink is backed by an accomplished crew of players, bringing these songs to life for a festival crowd primed for a party. In addition to Thomas and Talbot are MD/keyboardist Robert Reese, bassist Eric Gill II, Jeremiah Barkdoll on pedal steel, guitarist Matthew Buscarino, Jordan Hemby on drums, and DJ Andrew Hypes.
The group (along with her hardworking media team) has spent the better part of the week rehearsing at Roland studios in Inglewood. As a result, the unit is in perfect synch with its dynamic frontperson. Throughout her set, Ink makes frequent reference to the long journey from Atlanta to this storied stage.
By the time the band kicks into the heartfelt “God’s Been Drinkin’,” the growing audience is utterly swept up in the power of the music. Ink is bringing the brand of raw emotional intimacy she perfected busking in Georgia to the desert, and they are here for it.
"That’s why I was busking every day in Atlanta. I was putting the paint where it ain't."
Smiling at the lip of the stage, looking up at her daughter, is Ink’s mother, Valerie. You get the feeling she saw this coming, yet that doesn’t make the reality any less profound. “It’s a blessing to watch her journey and see her fulfill her dream; it’s truly amazing.”
Putting the Paint Where it Ain’t
A day earlier, in the artist compound, Ink explained the ethos that drove her ambition in the early days. “That’s why I was busking every day in Atlanta. I was putting the paint where it ain’t.” The credo appears on the back of one of her numerous bespoke outfits. It tracks. At Stagecoach, she’s doing the same thing.
“I’m just going out there in the streets and taking my art to the people,” she says. “It’s just natural for me.”
Following this weekend, which her team has branded “Ink Coach,” the next phase includes more live shows. One appearance is a slot at another iconic festival: Lollapalooza in Chicago. “This was always my plan: work as a songwriter and come back to the artistry and go full-fledged,” Ink says. “So it’s full circle. I told the guys, ‘I’ll come back, and we’ll put the band back together.’”
Like many experiences in Ink’s world, the flow of events feels fated. “I could write it down, and it wouldn’t even be this good,” she says. “To have real life become greater than the vision is incredible, but I knew. You always got to answer the heart’s call.”
