Trailer Choir added to Winstock ‘09 line-up

Show Dog Nashville band Trailer Choir has been added to the Winstock 2009 line-up to replace Kristy Lee Cook, who has canceled her tour and regrettably cannot perform at Winstock. Trailer Choir will hit the Emerging Artists Stage with two performances Friday night at 7:50 and 9:55 p.m.

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.