Trailer Choir Thrilled to Share Label With Trace Adkins

Trailer Choir joined Toby Keith's Show Dog label when it was still more or less a one-man (or is that dog?) show, with just a few artists on the roster. Now, with the merger between Show Dog and Universal South, the trio -- Big Vinny, Crystal and Butter -- are sharing a record company with several big acts, including newly-signed platinum-selling artist Trace Adkins. But instead of any jealousy, the band members are thrilled to share the label roster with Trace.

"We saw him the night before the announcement, and we didn't know anything about it," Crystal tells The Boot. Running into him at an industry event, she says "they were all getting us together to take pictures with him," even though Trailer Choir had no idea they were about to be label mates.

As fans of Trace throughout his long and hugely successful career, the members of Trailer Choir say Trace has earned their respect both on and off the stage. "The very first time we played on the Toby and Trace tour this past year, we got to come out and do our thing," Big Vinny says. "In the middle of playing, we look over and Trace is sitting on the side of the stage, and he was kind of into it. So we got done and we walked over and he's like, 'That's good stuff right there. I like what you all are doing.' Well then, the next night he was out there, and the next ... "

"Which is really cool," Crystal interjects, "because a lot of artists, when you're on a shared tour, you don't always see the other artist come out. They wait until the second they walk on stage."

"Trace, from that point on, was really cool to us," Big Vinny continues. "As soon as he saw us that night, he came up to us and gave us a big hug ... and then we got the text from our management, 'Oh, by the way, Trace is now part of Show Dog-Universal.'"

Getting ready to release a Trailer Choir album in July, all three are looking forward to working with a larger team. "The cool thing we have now is, with this label merger, we've got a little different system that goes in with that bigger process," Crystal says. "Toby still oversees everything, but now we've got an A&R staff and a couple other people involved. It's a cool thing for us because we haven't had that whole thing."

"But if the album doesn't come out in July, then we really hate the merger!" Butter jokes.

Other artists on the newly formed Show Dog-Universal label include Randy Houser, Joe Nichols, Phil Vassar and Eli Young Band.