Name some successful country bands. Sure, there's Alabama — and a few vocal duos and trios who don't really qualify as bands — but the list isn't much longer.
You can add the Lost Trailers to that list. The Georgia-bred quintet just scored its first Top 10 country hit with "Holler Back." It took eight years, three stolen equipment trailers (hence the name), a gig at Willie Nelson's annual Fourth of July picnic and two record labels, but the Lost Trailers finally have a hit.
"Holler Back" is the title track from the band's latest album, being released Tuesday, Aug. 26. We talked with frontman Ryder Lee, the group's sole remaining Atlanta resident, as the band headed to a gig with Montgomery Gentry in New Hampshire recently.
Q: Congratulations on the Top 10 single.
A: It's really special for us. You know, we all went to high school together, and it's just been a really long road to get here. To hear it on the radio all over the country has been awesome, and especially in Atlanta.
Q: How did the band get together?
A: We got shipped off to a religious school [in Virginia] and that's where we met. It ended up being cool. I'm not sure if it's what our parents had in mind, doing what we're doing now. It was kind of strict up there and we just had a little free time in the evening, and we couldn't leave campus. We didn't have a car or anything, so we'd just go to the chapel and play the instruments there. They stocked it pretty good.
[Guitarist] Stokes and [keyboardist] Andrew [Nielson] are from South Georgia, around Albany. We were based out of Atlanta for a long time. We really found our sound in Atlanta. Since then, a bunch of the guys have moved to Nashville, but I'm holding out.
Q: Bands don't seem to get much respect in Nashville. Has it been an uphill battle?
A: You have to work a little bit harder, but the flip side is you have that internal support group. We've known each other for so long. ... As far as five guys playing, doing what they do, leaving their hearts out there every night on the stage, that hasn't changed since we were playing in that chapel to playing in these arenas.
Q: What do you miss most about Atlanta when you're out on the road?
A: I live down in Inman Park and to me it's like a little small town within the big city. Atlanta's got everything that a world-class city can offer, but when you take that turn onto my street, it's like a little small town. Just walking around the neighborhood with my wife and the dog and hanging out with the neighbors is pretty much what I look forward to when I'm home. You know, the simple stuff.
Q: You've released several albums already, but what's different about the new album?
A: Time. We've never taken the time off the road to make an album that we really felt defined us.
And focusing on putting all of the energy that would otherwise be in the live show onto the record. And finding the right producer. Brett Beavers, who did Dierks Bentley's records, was a real match. He helped us capture that energy and put it into the tracks. To us, this is our debut album, as far as defining our sound and creating a whole picture of who we are as a band. This is our definitive album.
Q: And now you have a Top 10 single to help push the album up the chart.
A: It's a thrill to be out here, having people sing it back. It's something I've had to learn to do quickly, but we all had to learn how to sing over the crowd. That's a cool thing to have to get used to, everybody knowing every word of the song and yelling it back. We're just really anxious to get the album out so that every song is like that.
IF YOU GO...
The Lost Trailers will appear at the Best Buy at the Mall of Georgia in Buford at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28. The band will also play at Wild Bill's in Duluth on Nov. 21.
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