Ryder Lee and Stokes Nielson met in a church band as teenagers, and they’ve been making records together ever since.  Their high school friendship begat a country band of five called The Lost Trailers, who have blazed their way through hundreds of honkytonks, joints, roadhouses, night clubs and concert halls.  They are a band that came together naturally, matured creatively, perform explosively and have poured all of that into HOLLER BACK, their new album on BNA Records.

"Anyone who has ever seen us live is going to hear the first 15 seconds of “Holler Back” and say ‘There’s The Lost Trailers.  Those are the guys I saw open for Chesney or open for Sugarland’,” says Stokes, tagged on the band’s website as The Writer.

The new band caught a break early, as their demo found its way to Willie Nelson, who invited them to perform on his annual Fourth of July picnic.  By the time they got to Austin, they had changed the band’s name, thanks to some unfortunate incidents involving successive equipment trailers.                

“What we learned from that experience was that putting on a great show will build a fan base,” remembers Stokes.  “If you do it night after night, your fan base will grow.  If you earn those fans early on, they will stay fans for life.  Even after all these years, Willie puts on a great show every night, and he takes care of his fans, and we strive for that sort of connection with our fans.”                

“Alabama has always been one of our biggest role models,” says Stokes.  “It turned out that the first songs Ryder and I performed in front of an audience were Alabama songs.  It was such a thrill to be on the same label where they spent their career, and signed by the guy who broke them.  It just felt like it was meant to be.”                

Through 2006, The Lost Trailers maintained their permanent temporary bus residence, headlining clubs like they had always done, and opening dates in massive arenas for established stars like Sugarland, Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley and another great teacher, Kenny Chesney. “What we learned from Kenny was put out great songs, put out songs you believe in, and that your fans believe in,” says Stokes. 

“We took six months off to make this record (Holler Back),” says Ryder.  “We haven’t taken that much time off the road in six years.  We poured all of that energy that would have gone into performing live, and put it on this record.  Everything we have done for the last seven years has led to this record.

Most Played New Country Group of 2008 Kicks Off 09 in Super Style                

When The Lost Trailers, the most played new group of the year in 2008 according to Mediabase, debuted their title track single, “Holler Back,” they probably didn’t expect it to turn into football’s newest craze.  The high-energy smash stayed in the Top 10 for over a month last summer and was such a hit that it was recorded to a football version and personalized for nearly 60 college and professional teams. More than 600 radio stations across the country heard the Super Bowl customized version of “Holler Back” begin Westwood One’s exclusive coverage of the Super Bowl.