Trailer Choir photo courtesy of Show Dog Nashville.

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 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 release their self-titled debut, 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 through it all, everyone stands to have one serious good time.

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.

The group's building momentum reached new heights when, after yet another packed show, Toby Keith introduced himself. "And then it was off to the races," Big Vinny says. Trailer Choir were soon on a tour bus headed out on Toby's Big Dog Daddy tour, where they played side stages, beer stands, parking lots – anywhere they could find fans to listen. "Toby said get your stuff, get the band, just get out there and introduce yourselves and play," Butter says.

Keith's fans enthusiastically embraced the band and their good-time sound. Songs from the album "Off The Hillbilly Hook," including the title track, "My Next Five Beers," "Rollin' Through The Sunshine" and "Rockin' The Beer Gut," as well as their "did you see that?" stage show, led to a multitude of accomplishments.

These included 49 shows opening for Keith, performances at the CMA Music Festival and National Finals Rodeo, "Off The Hillbilly Hook" featured in the movie and soundtrack of the feature film Beer For My Horses, and the original song "Last Man Standing" used by ESPN & ABC in a national NASCAR promotion. And as 2009 broke, words Butter told a Nashville journalist almost a year prior began to look prophetic: "We're very serious about our songwriting, even though our songs are about having a good time," Butter said at the time. "And there will come a time when a deeper side of what we do will come out."