Antsy McClain

Although Nashville, TN serves as home base for Antsy McClain & the Trailer Park Troubadours, the group stands well apart from the prevailing currents of country music. The ensemble's name signals that the material leans away from solemnity, yet McClain operates as no mere novelty performer. Instead the Troubadours function as a shifting roster of accomplished musicians capable of delivering cowboy jazz, Tex-Mex waltzes, country ballads, and soulful R&B dance tunes with equal ease. McClain contributes original songs, a relaxed tenor marked by the quiet poise typical of the finest country vocalists, and a raconteur's knack for conversation, resulting in performances that feel simultaneously rustic and refined.

Ronnie Joe McClain entered the world in 1962. Childhood unfolded across a series of modest trailer parks in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee alongside an Avon-selling mother and a father employed as a Wonder Bread delivery driver. That background has shaped his songwriting and worldview ever since. "People hear the phrase Trailer Park Troubadours and expect to see something out of an episode of Cops or Jerry Springer," McClain observes in his good-natured drawl. "But we don't take the low road. There's no blue material. When we sing about adult themes and relationships gone wrong, it's not in a jaundiced way. We always deliver some semblance of hope. We're about lightness and laughter and positive energy. Our shows stir up the endorphins and get you interested in living. Life is too short to dwell on the negative."

Early exposure came through eight-track tapes and vinyl records, with 1970s singer-songwriters capturing his attention. Jim Croce, who remains a favorite, opened pathways to James Taylor and John Denver. Later discoveries included Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC, and other high-volume rock outfits. His mother's Motown holdings and groove-oriented selections were balanced by his father's affinity for George Jones, Dolly Parton, and Tammy Wynette. Despite residence in isolated small towns, his listening habits proved as wide-ranging as the music he now creates with the current Troubadours lineup.

A 1970s Sears guitar served as his initial instrument, purchased after mowing lawns to raise funds. Recognizing that artistic progress would require self-reliance, McClain proceeded independently; both parents supported his creative pursuits yet could not supply financial assistance. Already a songwriter and storyteller during high school, he entered performance later than many peers. "I've only recently been able to admit that I'm an entertainer," he notes. "I was embarrassed for a long time. I started getting serious about music in my late twenties, while I was in college studying art. I don't take rejection well and I wanted to work on my craft before I threw it out, so I was a closet singer/songwriter guy for a long time."

Employment spanned farms, factories, and restaurants. He continues to work as an artist, designing artwork for his own CD releases, and has also served as a teacher, tour guide, and Japanese interpreter. "When I was traveling as a Japanese interpreter for the auto industry in the '80s, I took my guitar with me and wrote in hotel rooms. In between I'd soak up the stuff by Guy Clark, Kristofferson, and other great songwriters."

Initial performances took the form of Parlor Concerts and House Parties alongside friend Flem (Stephen Fleming) on second guitar and harmony vocals. Growing audiences coincided with a songwriting agreement from a Nashville publisher, prompting the pair's relocation to Music City. Although the publishing contract proved short-lived, it positioned McClain at the center of activity. "When we first got to town, we went to a writer's night open mic where everybody gets to do two or three songs," McClain remembers. "We sat through hours of crying in your beer and slit your wrist kinda sad country songs. I had two of the same type things and I threw 'em out and started developing more songs about trailer park life to get peoples attention and stand out." The nickname Antsy, bestowed during high school for his restless energy and fidgety dancing, supplied further rationale for standing apart. McClain and Flem gradually expanded their following, adding musicians until the group became the Trailer Park Troubadours. Early promotions framed them as a comedy act, yet McClain recognized the constraints of that designation. "Comedy is a guy in a clown suit; humor has a more literate attitude. I'm a storyteller with a self-deprecating approach. I was voted class clown in high school, but I consider myself a humorist and don't take myself too seriously. I love making people laugh, but I want to be taken seriously as a writer."

Following the cultivation of a substantial underground following in Nashville, the Trailer Park Troubadours captured first place in 1993 on a Nashville Star Search program hosted by Charlie Daniels, receiving a $25,000 prize that funded the band's debut album. "That was nine albums ago, and we're still at it," McClain states. Extensive touring, primarily across the South and West Coast, has supported releases including Doublewide & Dangerous (1998), Way Cool World (2000), and Trailercana (2007). Most appeared on McClain's own DPR imprint; Trailercana marked his first pursuit of national distribution. "I believe in the old fashion way of attaining success," he notes. "Build a fan base in your home town, spread it out to a regional level and then take it national. Having your own label and co-producing your own music is challenging and liberating. We had deals with some smaller labels that went under along the way, so I was able to watch and see how they did things."

Trailercana fuses traditional country, blues, doo wop, R&B, Tex-Mex, honky tonk, gospel, and additional styles into a warm, down-home atmosphere. The album stands as his most polished and unified effort, aided by longtime band members and select Nashville session players. "I had a clear vision of where this album wanted to go, but you rely a lot on the other guys in the studio. Everyone who plays has a limited vocabulary, and you often hear the same licks on every record made in Nashville, but if you come in with fresh upbeat music, it catches 'em off guard and they do something new."

Funds for Trailercana were secured through contributions from fans known as Flamingo Heads, named for the plastic pink flamingos commonly displayed on southern trailer lawns. Hundreds of supporters donated roughly $100 apiece and receive acknowledgment in the CD booklet via small photographs placed within a miniature map of the fictional Pine View Heights Trailer Park. "I went into hock to get this album out," McClain remarks. "The fans chipped in to help, so we owe this one to the Flamingo Heads."

Promotion of new material involves two iterations of the Troubadours—one Nashville-based, one California-based—alongside solo and duo Kitchen Table Tours that recreate a trailer-park kitchen onstage, complete with refrigerator and lava lamp, fostering an intimate setting for songs and stories drawn from trailer-park existence. The solo collection Time-Sweetened Lies, consisting of serious country material, appeared in 2005. Additional solo and Troubadours projects are slated for spring 2008.