Trailercana

As a former trailer inhabitant myself, I was quite curious to see how Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours’ latest album, Trailercana, would move me. While I was not immediately turned off as Antsy and his band of rockabilly misfits cranked out twangy opener “Living in Aluminum” and other saloony sing-alongs, Trailercana isn’t an album I’d listen to more than once.

Not to say Antsy and the Trailer Park Troubadours don’t do what they do well. Fans should be more than pleased with the band’s latest backyard barbeque effort. I’m just not a fan of the genre - kind of Dire Straits meets Jimmy Buffet in a back-country bar. However, I’m highly appreciative of musicians with an authentic sound and sense of humor, and in that regard, Trailercana will resonate, given the right audience.

With track titles like “KOA Refugee,” “Ron Howard’s Brother,” and my personal favorite, “I Was Just Flipped Off by a Silver Haired Old Lady With a ‘Honk If You Love Jesus’ Sticker on the Bumper of Her Car,” Trailercana delivers melodic comical narratives with a genuine fondness for the trashiness of trailer park living – true Americana – with guitar slides and harmonies to boot.

And while I cringe at the thought of joining the Troubadours’ cult of fanatics (dubbed ‘flamingo heads’), I’m still a sucker for a well-groomed man in wingtips and black-framed glasses. If you are one to indulge your curiosities, Trailercana might just be worth a listen.

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