by Marisa Brown The framework for country band the Lost Trailers has been around ever since guitarist and songwriter Stokes Nielson and a high school friend of his from Atlanta, keyboardist/vocalist Ryder Lee, released the independent CD The Story of the New Age Cowboy. It worked out so well that Nielson took the songs to the Nashville bar circuit, playing with Lee, a drummer, and a bassist as Stokes Nielson & the Lost Trailers, a name that was spawned from the fact that their tour trailer had been stolen twice (and once more when the Lost Trailers' established lineup was playing together). In 2000, Nielson, who was also working as a DJ for a Nashville radio station, had the chance to interview Willie Nelson for his show, an opportunity he used to give a demo copy of their work to Nelson. The country music legend so much liked what he heard that he invited them to play at his annual Fourth of July picnic in Texas. Nielson and Lee accepted, bringing in brother Andrew Nielson on bass, Jeff Potter on drums, and Manny Medina on rhythm guitar to complete the quintet. Soon the band was performing over 200 shows a year, and by 2004 they had released their debut record, Welcome to the Woods. Producer Blake Chancey (Dixie Chicks, David Allan Coe) was in attendance at the Lost Trailers' concert in Fort Worth, TX, and was so impressed by the band that he offered to produce their next album. In the spring of 2005, the band met up with Chancey in Nashville and began recording songs. By fall, the Lost Trailers were signed to BNA Records, which issued their Chancey-produced self-titled record in 2006.