They’re country, but they’re not your grandpa’s idea of country.
Trailer Trash – which bills itself as a modern country band — is no stranger to Western Massachusetts, having performed across the region at places like Fountain Park in Wilbraham, Holyoke Heritage State Park, and The Student Prince in Springfield.
Now, the group is making a return downtown for a free concert at MGM Springfield as part of the casino’s Free Music Fridays, Winter Edition series. The concert will be staged in the Aria Ballroom on Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7.
“Put on a pair of boots and a cowboy hat if you like, or just come as you are,” the band’s website states.
Trailer Trash is made up of the talent of Joe Fazio, lead vocalist and guitarist; Jeff DeCarli, keyboard and vocals; Bill Brault, bass and vocals; Bob Stanek, guitar and vocals; and Jim Stanek, drums.
Bob Stanek took time out for a phone interview with The Republican before Friday’s concert. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q. Can you tell me a little more about Trailer Trash? You guys are no stranger to performing in Western Massachusetts, but what is your story?
A. We are all experienced band guys. We’ve been around since the ‘90s, playing out in different bands and on the club scene. Around 2011, 2010, the band we were all in together was one of about a dozen bands that were all competing for the same crowd, basically all playing the same type of music. There wasn’t really anybody doing modern country at the time, which seemed to be one of the most popular genres out there. We took a hard look at that and started doing that. Our first show, we opened up for ourselves, believe it or not. Trailer Trash opened up for the old band, and there was roughly nine people in the room. We kind of grew it from there. Once the club owners heard what we were doing, it wasn’t too hard to get bookings. The tricky part was to grow the setlist and to get people to show up.
Q. I saw that you guys describe your sound as “not your grandpa’s kind of country” on your website. Can you elaborate on that?
A. If you listen to the songs on the radio, the original songs, versus the way we play them, we’ve made most of them our own. We’re still technically a rock band. We’re billed as a country band, that’s primarily what our setlist is, but if you see some of these artists live, you’ll realize that the guys that are in the bands are actually rock musicians. It’s not Buck Owens or Roy Clark or things like that. It’s definitely a rock show, and that’s the way we’re doing it. We also mix in modern rock and classic rock, as well as some hip-hop. It’s quite a varied setlist, to say the least. Our motto is “if it’s a good song, it’s a good song.”
Q. What are some of your band’s biggest inspirations?
Q. It’s pretty varied. Everything from jazz music for myself, to Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rush, and some of the modern country bands. Anything that’s good. I’m not pigeon-holed into one type of music, and I don’t think the rest of the band is, either. Our bass player has a massive metal background, for example.
Q. So is there some metal thrown in there too?
A. It depends on what you consider metal. That’s a wide net, too, if you talk about metal. We’ll play some Papa Roach, things like that, so we’re definitely approaching it, but we’re not doing Slayer or anything like that.
Q. And do you have any favorite songs that you get to perform?
A. I don’t know about a favorite. We do know well over 200 songs, and we try to change up the setlist at least monthly now, so it’s varied.
Q. How does it feel to be coming back to MGM Springfield to perform?
A. MGM is always a good time. Lots of people actually come to see us there, it’s pretty impressive. We played outdoors the summer before last, and there were tornado warnings that were expiring at 5 o’clock. We started at 7:30 and the whole outdoor area was just jam-packed full of people. I couldn’t believe the response we got. We’re playing the winter concert series (Feb. 9) and we’re working on a booking for the summer concert series.
Q. Anything else in the works for Trailer Trash?
A. Not currently, no. We’re pretty busy. We all have full-time jobs, and we all have families. For the amount of shows that we play, the biggest question we get is, “how do you guys do it?”
Q. For sure. How do you balance everything?
A. Right, how do you balance it? We have a pretty good method of doing it, with a shared calendar. Family comes first.
Q. And do you guys have family come out to the concerts a lot?
A. The kids come once in a while. We’re their parents, so it’s no big deal for them, they hear it all the time. When we play Fourth of July in East Longmeadow or other town concerts, they’re definitely there. On the bar scene, they’re not.
Q. Anything else you’d like to add?
A. We really appreciate the support that we’ve been given over the years, and we do our best to keep the show as fresh as possible. We’re just five guys having fun in front of an audience that’s having fun, and we try not to take that for granted.
