Trailer Choir isn’t your average country act. The duo made up of Marc ‘Butter’ Fortney and Vincent ‘Big Vinny’ Hickerson signed with Average Joes Entertainment in 2015. They took some time to talk to New England Country Music about their latest single ‘Ice Cold Summer’, their new label, and Vinny’s time on The Biggest Loser.
In 2011, after ending up in the hospital, Big Vinny went on The Biggest Loser. Vinny said it’s the best thing that ever happened to him and without that chance he probably wouldn’t be here today. “I thank God every day that I got the opportunity to go and make my life better and get a second chance to do it right this time. It’s something I don’t take for granted.” Vinny said the best lesson he took away from his time on The Biggest Loser is “your health is your wealth.” You really need to be healthy to really be able to enjoy life.
Butter said that during the time Vinny was away on The Biggest Loser he grew up a lot, getting married and starting a family. He told us, “I still get a little loose in turn three sometimes, but I had to grow up a lot and I think it’s reflected in our music and our business. I think it gave us a chance to understand how lucky we are to have something together as a team.”
Their time off made them even more motivated to keep making music and they used that time to really focus on songwriting. Butter and Vinny also had the chance to work with some other songwriters, and they really wanted to write songs that they were excited about. Vinny said they had enough songs to probably make three or four records. Butter told us, “We’ve always been songwriters and that’s how we met, as songwriters. If we didn’t do anything ever again and we just became housewives we’d still write songs every day.” Vinny chimed in with, “I’d make a helluva housewife, I don’t let dishes ever pile up, I’m good at keeping the dishes done.”
The duo co-wrote their latest single, ‘Ice Cold Summer,’ with Brandon Ray Tant and Scott Martin Mills. When asked what the inspiration behind the song was Vinny said, “Well funny enough, I was watching Frozen. I love the movie, in that there’s a part where they say ‘it’s so cold, but it’s summer’ and I was like it’s ice cold but it’s summer, it’s ice cold summer.” Vinny then texted Butter the idea and they ended up writing the song backstage at a benefit they were playing for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
When it came to picking ‘Ice Cold Summer’ to be their single it was an easy decision for the duo. The week after it was written, the song was added to their live shows and people were coming up to the duo after the shows and asking where they could buy it. Vinny told us the fan reaction to ‘Ice Cold Summer’ is “what Trailer Choir has been built on, good times and people smiling. We don’t know if our songs are gonna change the world, but if they can change somebody’s Friday night that’s a pretty cool thing.”
Trailer Choir recently signed with Average Joes Entertainment. The duo said they have been friends with Colt Ford and the guys at Average Joes Entertainment for many years. They tend to do things their own way that fits the style of music that Trailer Choir does and “they’re kind of inside the outside of the box like we are.”For those that have not had the pleasure of seeing Trailer Choir live, Butter gave us the greatest definition of their live show saying, “We’re a backyard bbq in high definition, we’re macaroni salad (that’s a mayonnaise based macaroni salad not mustard) and we’re sweet tea and unsweet tea and cold beer all in one backyard bbq in high def.”
Trailer Choir has gotten to open for artists like Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, ZZ Top, and Keith Urban and they’ve studied all these other artists. This in turn has helped them to make their live show even better over the years. Butter and Vinny have different parts about performing that they enjoy the most. For Butter, his favorite thing is that folks are coming to the show to take a break from life to listen to music and enjoy some entertainment and he says they are there for the same reason to take a break from life and to see people smile. Vinny says for him he loves when the crowd is singing to them. “As you start off writing a song one day in some room back in Nashville, you don’t know that you’re gonna write a song that everybody’s gonna want to sing along to.” That’s the ultimate compliment for an artist when people know their songs and want to sing them with the artist.
Trailer Choir is going to be busy this summer touring and playing shows. If you haven’t already, make sure to check out their single ‘Ice Cold Summer.’ We look forward to hearing more from this duo in the future.