Winter 2009
The band tumbles off the stage of the Dosey Doe Coffee House, full of the happy energy that transfers from singer to listener and back again. “The people ate us up,” seems the general consensus of their acoustic set, opening for the Real Life, Real Music event. “This is the target, this is our niche,” says Dixie Trahan of her music and of the night. “We got off the stage just grinnin’.”
Land of Dixie
Welcome to the Land of Dixie. Dixie Trahan, that is. She says, “Country music has always been a constant for me, whether it’s a love song or a hell-raisin’ song. It fits just about any mood. It just lets you express so much emotion.” Originally from Kansas, the singer, as the bumper sticker says, “Wasn’t born in Texas, but got here as fast as I could.” Only twelve days later. Trahan has been singing for as long as she can remember. The petite, sandy-haired singer with a generous smile says, “I grew up in a preacher’s home, but my dad was a closet music fan. When I was bitty, Barbara Mandrell had her show, and I thought, I want to do that!”
Music in the Blood
Her father retired from the church when Trahan was nine years old and drove the family of four around in a van, singing in venues all over North America. After three years of wandering, they bought a fixer-upper in Missouri to serve as a home base during many more years of touring. In fact, Trahan met her future husband, Skeeter, in Louisiana performing. After a letter-writing campaign, Skeeter came to Missouri and learned to play the bass from Trahan’s brother. “He called his mother and said, ’I’m staying.’” Trahan says with a laugh. “He even went on the road singing and playing with our band for about 16 months.”
“We began a family and took a break from music to be normal,” she says of her stay-at-home mom decade. Still, the Trahans treated music as a lifestyle. Her sons, at 15 and 17 years old, and twelve-year-old daughter were all trained in classical violin. “The boys have a band – guitars now, you know – but my oldest can saw on a fiddle,” she says proudly. But as children grow, so can dreams. “We always enjoyed writing and singing and playing. One night, Skeeter called me in and said, ‘This is silly. This is what we love. Let’s find a spot and jump in. Let’s find out if there’s anything to it (music).’”
Making It Happen
Three years ago, they met someone who offered Trahan an introduction in Nashville. She says, “We hit it off on the phone, and the man said to me, ‘Next time you’re in Nashville…’ Well, I didn’t know anybody there and wasn’t going to just be in Nashville, so I made it happen. The following week was Spring Break, so we packed up the kids and went to Tennessee.” The Nashville man sat with his arms crossed and gave Trahan the hard story on singing for a living, but he offered her a chance to practice and record two of her original songs and two others. Trahan sat in their van with an iPod learning the music in one hour before spending the next six hours in the studio creating her album. Trahan says, “We kinda’ did it backwards. We weren’t gigging. So, we put a band together with friends, but we met pros along the way – people who play music for their day job. We needed flexibility and people who have time to practice.”
Dixie’s Tunes
“I’m not really a club singer – though I sing in clubs – and we’re not a dance band – we don’t do weddings – but Alison Krauss…” says Trahan trailing off. That best self-describes her style. On a ballad, Trahan’s voice mimics the bowing of a fiddle – clear and arching with lilting, quick notes and warmth in the lower range. Original song titles include: Life Had Other Plans, Too Far Gone, I Would Have Missed You, Picture Perfect, You’re the Ticket, Fallen Angels which generally brings audience members to her afterwards with their personal stories and more. Trahan made the ballot last year for the Houston Press Music Awards, and says, “We’re writing and playing every chance we get. And keeping busy with Drywater Band when they need me.” She sings covers with Drywater to expand her horizons. “That’s what we do.”
Down the Road
“If we can spend our days and nights doing what we love, we’ll be extremely happy. Doing music all the time, if we can make it. I love being at the studio. When a lyric comes to you in the shower, then, comes together, to fruition, with the tune…Ah, that’s amazing.” Hear and download her songs at dixietrahan.com