Who are Trailer Choir? Are they the fun loving entertainers who rocked thousands on Toby Keith's tour, or three seriously determined entertainers who've poured everything into their careers? Are they emcee Butter and pop-worming Big Vinny or two serious and committed songwriters? Are they the beautiful and charismatic Crystal or the small town Louisiana girl with the big voice? Are they the party anthem "Rockin' The Beer Gut" or the heart-wrenching "What Would You Say?"
Yes. Yes they are.
For Trailer Choir, the last 18 months have been a frenetic introduction to the national stage. From their signing with Show Dog Nashville and releasing a self-titled EP to being named About.com's Best New Country Duo/Group, the trio made a notable impression on country music without seeming to pause for so much as an extra breath. But as they turn to 2009 and beyond, Butter, Big Vinny and Crystal know their story will be told only as the full spectrum of their music unfolds for all to hear. Sheer energy got their foot in the door, but it is their heart that will help them take the room. And nothing exemplifies that heart quite like "What Would You Say."
Butter, from Ashtabula, Ohio, grew from the class clown with dreams of a future in baseball into an unexpected devotee of music after winning a school talent show. His focus quickly became singular, leading him to Nashville despite the financial difficulties of starting a life in music. "I had a student loan that looked like I should have been a doctor, but through it all I kept playing, building up a show and working my way toward this," he says. "As Big Vinny and I got deeper into Trailer Choir and saw our fan base grow, we started to allow the thought that this might be bigger than the sum of its parts."
That total grew exponentially when one of their earliest fans made an unusual demand. "I jumped on stage with them one night," Crystal says. "I was getting frustrated because one of their songs really needed a female harmony so I just took over a microphone."
The Cheneyville, Louisiana native left her hometown at 19 with a potent voice, but only a month's rent in her pocket. Her Nashville experience started in a familiar way – long on struggle, short on just about everything else. "I didn't realize I'd have to go so long without money, without sleep, working all day and going out all night every night looking for a way to make it work," she says. Meeting Big Vinny and Butter, and quickly developing a musical connection with them, put Crystal – and Trailer Choir – on a much different course.
The group's building momentum reached new heights when, after yet another packed show, Toby Keith introduced himself. "And then it was off to the races," Big Vinny says. Trailer Choir were soon on a tour bus headed out on Toby's Big Dog Daddy tour, where they played side stages, beer stands, parking lots – anywhere they could find fans to listen. "Toby said get your stuff, get the band, just get out there and introduce yourselves and play," Butter says.
Keith's fans enthusiastically embraced the band and their good-time sound. Songs "Off The Hillbilly Hook," "My Next Five Beers," "Rollin' Through The Sunshine" and "Rockin' The Beer Gut," as well as their "did you see that?" stage show, led to a multitude of accomplishments.
These included 49 shows opening for Keith, performances at the CMA Music Festival and National Finals Rodeo, "Off The Hillbilly Hook" featured in the movie and soundtrack of the feature film Beer For My Horses, and the original song "Last Man Standing" used by ESPN & ABC in a national NASCAR promotion. And all this activity culminated in the November 2008 release of the four-song EP Trailer Choir, produced by Keith himself.
But as 2009 broke, words Butter told a Nashville journalist almost a year prior began to look prophetic: "We're very serious about our songwriting, even though our songs are about having a good time," Butter said at the time. "And there will come a time when a deeper side of what we do will come out."
And the manifestation of that statement is their latest single "What Would You Say," a song with a poignant back story. Butter got a call from his father, who said, "I've got a song idea for you."
“He’s called me many times,” Butter says, “and I don’t think I’ve ever used one of his ideas, as much as I love and respect him.” This time was different. Butter's father began a conversation with his son about the Sago, West Virginia mine collapse that claimed the lives of 12 miners. In the following days of recovery, it was discovered that a few of the men were able to write and leave a couple short notes to their loved ones. One of the notes recovered was from Martin Toler, Jr. which read “Tell all that I’ll see them on the other side. It wasn’t bad. I just went to sleep. I love you, Jr.” Butter says, “My father and I talked about the mining accident and both of us were taken back by the loss and devastation it must have had on the families and friends of the miners and the Sago community.”
"Dad asked what I would do in that situation, knowing my chances were fading," Butter says. "’What would you write in that note,' he said. 'What would you say?’”
A couple weeks later, Butter approached Big Vinny with the idea of the song who loved the idea, so the two sat down and started to write “What Would You Say.”
Butter explains, “over the course of the next eight hours we cried out loud. We talked about our families and we tried the best we could to embrace what those men must have faced in their last moments.” As the song started to take shape they realized that this was a song not only about those men, but it was a song about living life to the fullest; a song about living your life with no regrets and making the most out of every chance you have to be with the people you love and know.
After several hours of writing and working on the idea they both felt like they had done their best in trying to capture all the emotions that they felt. Butter says, “We hope the song will shine a beautiful light on those hard working men that were found dead in the early morning of January 4th, 2006, 41 hours after the incident began. Hopefully, their sacrifice will inspire all of us to live every single moment we have on this earth.”
And it already seems to be affecting the way country radio programmers view Trailer Choir. Even before the song was released, stations who had heard a preview or even simply heard about the song were calling Show Dog asking for it. "What Would You Say" is the lead single from a full album project already nearing completion.
"This song is pure Trailer Choir," Crystal says. "As much as anything we've done before. It's just a perfect way for us to open this next chapter."
"It's as real as life gets," Big Vinny adds. "Sometimes you need to remember what's really important. And that's what Trailer Choir is all about."
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"OFF THE HILLBILLY HOOK" VIDEO SHOOT IN DOWNTOWN LA.
See Trailer Choir In Toby Keith's Feature Film!
