Trick Pony formed back in 1996 by guitarist Keith Burns, who was at the time playing with Joe Diffie's band. He wanted a group in which it would be made up of three distinct and unique members.[2] He approached bassist Ira Dean, who was working with Tanya Tucker at the time as well; he liked him due to his unique style, sense of humor, and musical abilities.[2]Heidi Newfield was brought on after a conversation with Burns' then-wife. All three of them had been in Nashville for years without success.[3] Eventually, Dean was fired from Tucker's band and Burns left Diffie's band. Eventually, a demo tape reached the hands of Chuck Howard, an executive at Warner Bros. Nashville; he would sign them to the label in early 2000. There were initial concerns over the band due to fears that country radio wouldn't play them as they were not doing the country-pop sound that was popular in the genre at the time.[3]
Content
Lead singer Heidi Newfield compared the group to Fleetwood Mac during an interview with The Free Lance–Star magazine.[3] While Newfield sings lead vocals on nearly all the songs, there is a big exception; on the song "Just What I Do", Keith Burns sings lead vocals.
Trick Pony debuted to positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic's Liana Jones gave a positive review, comparing Newfield's sound to artists like Dolly Parton and Bonnie Raitt. They called it an "impressive first effort by a group that promises to have more shots of whiskey and good songs up their sleeves." Ken Rosenbaum of the Toledo Blade gave a positive review, ending his review by saying "It comes together with freshness and exuberance."[6] The New-England located The Day named it as one of the best albums of 2001, saying that the trio "rocks with attitude and an infectious sense of fun."[7]
Commercial performance
Trick Pony debuted at its peak position of number 12 on the Top Country Albums chart, scanning 17,000 copies. This would go on to break a record for highest first week sales by a duo/group's debut album, surpassing the 11,000 Rascal Flatts had sold with their eponymous album.[8] The sales led the album to skip the Heatseekers Albums and chart at number 91 on the Billboard 200, where it peaked. In total, the record would spend 104 weeks on the country albums chart. It is their most successful album to date, being certified Gold for 500,000 shipments by the RIAA.
