In 2006, Newfield departed for a solo career and Aubrey Collins replaced her as lead vocalist. The group disbanded after Collins and Dean left in 2007 and 2008. Newfield released a solo debut album, What Am I Waiting For, in 2008 on Curb Records, while Burns joined singer Michelle Poe to form a duo called Burns & Poe. Burns, Dean, and Newfield reformed the group in late 2013, although Dean left again in 2014. The revived lineup released one more album, Pony Up, via Permian Records in 2016.
History
Trick Pony was formed in 1996 by guitarist Keith Burns and bass guitarist Ira Dean. Both musicians had experience as backing musicians for other country music acts: Burns had previously worked with Joe Diffie, and Dean with Tanya Tucker.[1] Keith and Ira decided to form a group composed of two men and a woman. Completing the lineup was lead singer Heidi Newfield, a friend of Burns's wife.[1] The trio began touring throughout the Southern United States and performed regularly at 8 Seconds Saloon in Indianapolis, Indiana.[1]
Musical career
Ira Dean, Heidi Newfield and Keith Burns signing autographs at the CMA Music Festival in 2006
On a Mission was the title of Trick Pony's second album. Although its David Lee Murphy-penned title track reached Top 20 on the country chart, the second single (2003's "A Boy Like You") failed to enter Top 40,[2] and the group was dropped from Warner Bros.' roster shortly afterward.
In 2004, Trick Pony was signed to its second record deal, this time with Asylum-Curb Records.[4] The group's sixth single overall, entitled "The Bride", was issued that year, serving as the lead-off to their third studio album, R.I.D.E., whose title is an abbreviation for "Rebellious Individuals Delivering Entertainment".[5] The second single from R.I.D.E. was a cover of Bonnie Tyler's "It's a Heartache". Trick Pony's version of the song peaked at #22 on the country chart. The third single from R.I.D.E., "Ain't Wastin' Good Whiskey on You", featured guest vocals from Tracy Byrd, Joe Diffie, Mel Tillis, Tanya Tucker, and Darryl Worley.
Departure of Heidi Newfield and subsequent disbanding
Aubrey Collins, a singer-songwriter from Littleton, Colorado. who had previously been eliminated from ABC's television program The One: Making a Music Star, was chosen as Newfield's replacement in 2007.[9] Collins made her official debut as lead singer in April of that year at the Country Thunder festival in Arizona.[10] Collins left the group in October, saying that although she enjoyed working with the group's other two members, they "had different creative and musical visions."[11] Dean announced his departure in February 2008 and Trick Pony subsequently disbanded.[12] In April 2009, Warner Bros. released The Best of Trick Pony, a compilation composed of songs from the trio's first two albums.
In 2013, Trick Pony's original lineup reunited for a performance at a benefit concert in Boston, Massachusetts.[15] In February 2014, the group announced plans to tour and release new music.[15] The trio had finished several tracks for a new album before Dean left only two months later. In March 2015, he released a solo single, "Nothin' to Do Round Here", which he wrote with Jeffrey Steele and Shane Minor. The song features guest vocals from Steele, Ronnie Milsap, Lee Roy Parnell, Montgomery Gentry, and Colt Ford.[16]
A^ "Just What I Do" did not enter the Hot 100, but peaked at number 3 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which acts as a 25-song extension of the Hot 100.
B^ "On a Mission" did not enter the Hot 100, but peaked at number 10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which acts as a 25-song extension of the Hot 100.
^Conaway, Alanna (23 March 2015). "The boys round here: Former Trick Pony bassist Ira Dean liberates himself from his old group with a collaborative new single". Country Weekly. 22 (12): 62–63. ISSN1074-3235.
