Gary Allan has seen a lot of life-altering changes -- both personal tragedies and professional successes -- since he last took the stage at Chilifest in 2003.

The tattooed California native is coming back to Snook for this year's festival, which will take place April 4-5, organizers announced last week. And this time he'll be headlining.

Aaron Watson, Pat Green, Stoney LaRue and the Randy Rogers Band are also on the bill. Tickets are expected to go on sale Monday.

The line-up is a switch from 2003, when Allan took a spot underneath artists such as Willie Nelson and Pat Green. Then a rising star who had already scored a No. 1 country single with Man to Man, Allan would top the charts twice more -- with Tough Little Boys and Nothing on the Radio -- within months of the Chilifest appearance.

Then in 2004 his wife, an attendant he met on a flight to Dallas, committed suicide after bouts with depression and crippling migraine headaches.

His dark and intensely personal follow-up album, Tough All Over, debuted in 2005 at No. 3 on the Billboard charts with songs such as I Just Got Back from Hell and Life Ain't Always Beautiful.

"Forgive me if I had any part, if I ever broke your heart in two," he sang on Back from Hell. "Forgive me for what I didn't know, for what I didn't say or do. And God, forgive me as well, because I just got back from hell."

Last year saw the releases of two new albums -- a greatest-hits compilation and Living Hard, which incorporated more rock elements with songs such as Wrecking Ball and the title track.

"It's not like I was trying for a new direction ..." he said of the album on his Web site. "l feel like I've got this young crowd with me now, I've got these rocker kids in my audience. And I grew up with that music, too.

"I feed off the audience, whatever they're really wanting is what they drag out of me. I've got the edgy side of the country crowd -- and I want to keep them."

Now in its 18th year, Chilifest was started by a Texas A&M University fraternity and was initially geared primarily toward students. These days the event, which was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1999, attracts tens of thousands of country music fans.

Chilifest Chairman Travis Britt said he and other organizers received a lot of positive feedback from fans after Allan's performance at Big State Festival in Brazos County last October.

"We've grown a lot," Britt said of the five years since Allan's last Chilifest appearance. "He's grown also, so he was perfect for the event this year."

Tickets will cost $30 in advance and $35 at the gate.

In addition to the music, organizers said they expect about 470 teams to participate in the chili cook-off this year. A Friday night concert, open only to the teams, will feature The Woods, Ryan Turner, Granger Smith, Bleu Edmondson, Owen Temple and Gary P. Nunn.

• Craig Kapitan's e-mail address is craig.kapitan@theeagle.com.