Trailer Choir

Trailer Choir
Fortney (left) and Hickerson (right) in Portland, Oregon on May 25, 2012
Background information
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Country
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Show Dog-Universal, Hollaville
Associated acts	Toby Keith
Website	http://www.trailerchoirmusic.com/
Members	Marc "Butter" Fortney Vencent "Big Vinny" Hickerson
Past members	Crystal Hoyt

Trailer Choir is an American country music duo composed of vocalists Marc Fortney and Vinny Hickerson, known by their respective stage names Butter and Big Vinny (A.K.A. Bigg Vinny and Bigg Vinny the Mack.). The group began as a trio with Crystal Hoyt and was signed to Show Dog Nashville, a label owned by Toby Keith, in 2007. After recording the song "Off the Hillbilly Hook" for the soundtrack to Keith's film Beer for My Horses, Trailer Choir charted the singles "What Would You Say", "Rockin' the Beer Gut" and "Rollin' Through the Sunshine" on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. These singles were followed by an extended play called Off the Hillbilly Hook and an album called Tailgate. Hoyt departed the group in February 2011. The remaining members took a small hiatus in 2012, but started touring again in 2013.

Trailer Choir was founded in 2004 by Marc Fortney, known as Butter, along with Vinny Hickerson and Crystal Hoyt, who are respectively known as Big Vinny and Crystal in the group. Trailer Choir had originally started as a loose association of musicians, usually including Fortney and Hickerson, that played cover shows at fraternities and clubs in order to make some money and have some fun, rather than as an intended career path. Wanting to add original music without losing the audience led the group to writing and playing the party anthem style they are known for. They then started performing original shows during the week, while continuing to play the frat houses and clubs on the weekend.

At one performance in late 2006, a fan named Crystal Hoyt jumped on the stage and took over Hickerson’s microphone, thus becoming a member of the band until she parted ways with them in early 2011. Not long after Hoyt joined them, Toby Keith showed up at one of their original performances on "The Billy Block Show" at a club called 12th & Porter. When Billy Block told them that Toby Keith was there wanting to talk with them, they at first thought he was joking.

The trio signed to Show Dog Nashville, a label owned by Toby Keith, in June 2007. After Keith had them play for the staff of his record label, they were offered a deal on the spot, and after signing on a Tuesday, they were on a tour bus by Thursday as part of Keith’s Big Dog Daddy tour. Keith left it up to them to make it work, so they played anywhere they could find fans, including side stages, beer stands, and parking lots. Hickerson reports averaging 50 pop worms a day.