Trick Pony

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.{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p458006|pure_url=yes}} |title=Trick Pony biography |accessdate=2007-12-18 |last=Huey |first=Steve |work=Allmusic}} Additionally, Dean's brother is fellow country music singer-songwriter Billy Dean.{{Cite news |last=Blackwall |first=Sam |date=September 5, 2001 |title=Trick Pony: An overnight success after 5 1/2 years |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OisvAAAAIBAJ&dq=Trick+Pony&pg=PA38&article_id=2079,940671 |access-date=March 18, 2025 |work=Southeast Missourian |page=10B}} 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. The trio began touring throughout the Southern United States and performed regularly at 8 Seconds Saloon in Indianapolis, Indiana.

File:Trick Pony2.jpg in 2006]]

By 2000, Trick Pony was signed to a record deal with Warner Bros. Records. The trio released its self-titled debut album that year. Serving as its lead-off single was "Pour Me" which reached #12 on the Billboard country music chart. The album's next two singles were "On a Night like This" and "Just What I Do", which reached #4 and #13 on the country chart.{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008|publisher=Record Research, Inc|year=2008|page=427|isbn=978-0-89820-177-2}}{{cite web |url=http://countrymusic.about.com/library/bltrickponyrev.htm |title=CD review: Trick Pony - Trick Pony |accessdate=21 August 2008 |last=Downs |first=Jolene |work=About.com}} In 2001, the trio also received the Artist of the Year award from the Country Music Association.{{cite web |url=http://www.gactv.com/gac/ar_az_trick_pony/article/0,,GAC_27020_4736021,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130123163957/http://www.gactv.com/gac/ar_az_trick_pony/article/0,,GAC_27020_4736021,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-23 |title=Trick Pony biography |accessdate=2007-12-18 |work=Great American Country }}

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, 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. 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".{{cite web |url=http://countrymusic.about.com/od/news/a/trickpony_cma.htm |title=Trick Pony Rides A Bumpy Road To Maturity |accessdate=2007-12-18 |last=Caviness |first=Crystal |work=About.com}} 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.

In October 2006, lead singer Heidi Newfield announced that she would be leaving Trick Pony in pursuit of a solo career. She made her official departure at the end of the group's December 2006 tour.{{cite web |url=http://www.countrystandardtime.com/news/newsitem.asp?xid=268&t=Heidi_Newfield_leaves_Trick_Pony |title=Heidi Newfield leaves Trick Pony |accessdate=18 December 2007 |date=1 November 2006 |work=Country Standard Time}} The same month, Gary Allan charted with "A Feelin' Like That", which Dean wrote with David Lee Murphy.{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1544314/dierks-bentley-hits-chart-milestone.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091016110435/http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1544314/dierks-bentley-hits-chart-milestone.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 16, 2009|title=Dierks Bentley hits chart milestone|last=Gilbert|first=Calvin|date=28 October 2006|work=CMT|accessdate=3 April 2010}} Newfield began recording her first solo album for Asylum-Curb in June 2007.{{cite web |url=http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,,GAC_26063_5601518,00.html |title=Heidi Newfield Hits the Studio |accessdate=18 December 2007 |date=25 June 2007 |work=Great American Country |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130123174315/http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,,GAC_26063_5601518,00.html |archivedate=23 January 2013 }} She made her solo debut on Cledus T. Judd's 2007 album Boogity, Boogity - A Tribute to the Comedic Genius of Ray Stevens, on which she, Judd, and Keith Urban performed a cover of Ray Stevens's 1969 single "Gitarzan".

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/535067 |title=Trick Pony Shows Off New Lineup |accessdate=2007-12-18 |date=2007-05-31 |work=Broadcast Music Incorporated}} Collins made her official debut as lead singer in April of that year at the Country Thunder festival in Arizona.{{cite web |url=http://www.countrystandardtime.com/news/newsitem.asp?xid=537&t=trick_pony_debuts_new_line_up |title=Trick Pony debuts new line-up |accessdate=2007-12-18 |date=2007-04-18 |work=Country Standard Time}} 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."{{cite web |url=http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,,GAC_26063_5717197,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130123145317/http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,,GAC_26063_5717197,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 January 2013 |title=Trick Pony Looks for a New Lead Singer |accessdate=18 December 2007 |date=6 October 2007 |work=Great American Country }} Dean announced his departure in February 2008 and Trick Pony subsequently disbanded.{{cite web |url=http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,3034,GAC_26063_5806996_,00.html |title= Ira Dean Ends Ride With Trick Pony |accessdate=15 February 2008 |date=15 February 2008 |work=Great American Country}} In April 2009, Warner Bros. released The Best of Trick Pony, a compilation composed of songs from the trio's first two albums.

Newfield released her solo debut album, What Am I Waiting For, via Curb Records in 2008. Burns, meanwhile, founded the duo Burns & Poe with former DreamWorks Records Nashville artist Michelle Poe.{{cite web|url=http://www.theboot.com/2009/03/16/keith-burns-and-michelle-poe-form-new-duo/|title=Keith Burns and Michelle Poe Form New Duo|last=Richardson|first=Gayle|date=2008-03-16|work=The Boot|accessdate=2009-05-23}} Dean began writing songs for other artists, including Montgomery Gentry's 2009 single "One in Every Crowd". In July 2011, he signed to a recording contract with Average Joes Entertainment.{{cite web|url=http://www.theboot.com/2011/07/26/trick-pony-ira-dean-solo-album/|title=Trick Pony's Ira Dean Inks Solo Deal|last=Stromblad|first=Cory|date=July 26, 2011|work=The Boot|accessdate=July 26, 2011}}

In 2013, Trick Pony's original lineup reunited for a performance at a benefit concert in Boston, Massachusetts.{{cite web|url=http://www.musicrow.com/2014/02/trick-pony-reunites/|title=Trick Pony Reunites|date=February 11, 2014 |work=MusicRow|accessdate=February 11, 2014 }} In February 2014, the group announced plans to tour and release new music. 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.{{cite journal|last=Conaway|first=Alanna|date=23 March 2015|title=The boys round here: Former Trick Pony bassist Ira Dean liberates himself from his old group with a collaborative new single.|journal=Country Weekly|volume=22|issue=12|pages=62–63|issn=1074-3235}}

;Notes

• 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.

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Category:Country music groups from Tennessee

Category:Curb Records artists

Category:Musical groups established in 1996

Category:American musical trios

Category:Warner Records artists

Category:Vocal trios