When not headlining his own shows, Trevino also keeps good company on the bandstands of Texas, playing bass and acting as bandleader and warm-up singer for Bush, as well as playing live and recording with Don Walser's Pure Texas Band and The Cornell Hurd Band. He's also a featured guest artist on the Hurd Band's latest album, A Stagecoach Named Desire, singing and co-writing one of the most unique country songs ever, "The Genitalia Of A Fool."

Trevino's emergence as one of the hottest new country talents in Texas seems almost preordained. Born in Brownsville and raised in the Austin area, he teethed on some of country's greatest artists, thanks to his father, an avid country fan and record collector. "He was always playing me stuff when I was a kid: Ernest Tubb, Johnny Cash, Brenda Lee, Hank Snow and that kind of stuff. Music was just one of those things that we were never without. So he got my interest going and it just never quit."

Blind since birth, Trevino was never handicapped by his disability. He was formally educated in the public school system, and furthered his country music schooling in the honky-tonks as a mere youngster. "My parents were real good about taking me with them wherever they went. So IÍve been in and out of beer joints as long as I can remember," he explains. "I was exposed to everything from an early age."

At seven years old, Trevino got his first guitar and started taking lessons. "It didn't dawn on me at first that I wanted to be a singer," Trevino recalls. "The guys were teaching me chords, and the only way to for me to put those chords to use was to sing a song. At some point I began to realize that you can entertain people. Then, when I got older, singing became important the main focal point. I started paying attention to guys like Ray Price and Johnny Bush, and when I got old enough to know the difference, I was going, holy shit, these guys can really sing. That's the way I want to sing."

By the time Trevino hit his early teens, his father started persuading local club owners to let his son get up and perform. Justin landed his first professional gig at 13, and by his freshman year in high school, he had formed his own band, Justin Trevino & Sunset Country. The group played juke joints and honky-tonks in and around the Austin area, most notably scoring a monthly stand at the legendary Henry's Bar & Grill in North Austin, a seminal venue for the currently red-hot Austin country scene where the likes of Junior Brown and Don Walser started building their local followings.

Walser and Hurd took the young singer under their wings, mentoring the young talent. And then, at age 16, Trevino got to play for the first time with his hero, Johnny Bush, at the Eisenhauer Road Flea Market in San Antonio. "Harry Weiss, the guy who owns it, had a little beer joint in there called the Red Eye Saloon. He used to have Sunday afternoon jam sessions there. I knew that Johnny would go out there sometimes, so I started going down there and sitting in," says Trevino. After Weiss heard Trevino sing Bush's song "Whiskey River" one Sunday, he promised to introduce the teenage singer to his hero.

"He called me a couple of weeks later, sure enough, and said, can you be here on Sunday? I've got Johnny coming out," recalls Trevino. "So I'm up there singing that afternoon, and Johnny gets up on stage, and he makes this announcement. 'Ladies and gentlemen, IÍm a little under the weather. I've got a real bad cold, and I'm kind of hoarse, and I can't sing. I've been told that this young man knows all my songs. What I'm gonna do is sit here and play lead guitar, and he's gonna sing my songs. So you can look at me and listen to him.'

"Now I'm really on the spot. I've never sung in front of Johnny Bush, and I'm gonna sing his songs." Trevino launched into "Undo The Right," one of Bush's signature songs, and the Texas legend was duly impressed. "I did about 45 minutes singing his songs with Johnny playing guitar," Trevino remembers proudly.

By the time he graduated from high school, Trevino was already feeling the limitations of the weekend beer joint circuit. So he began hiring out as a bass player for Walser and Hurd, eventually joining BushÍs Bandoleros. As well, he's backed up numerous country legends such as Hank Thompson, Kitty Wells, Floyd Tillman, Wanda Jackson and Leona Williams, to name but a few.

Trevino also started recording his own songs in his home studio, assisted by guitarist and fiddler Howard Kalish and steel guitarist Scott Walls of the Pure Texas Band. After Bush laid down drum tracks on some of the recordings, they became Trevino's first album, Texas Honky-Tonk, which he released on his own Neon Nightmare Records. A second album, Loud Music and Strong Wine, was recorded with members of the Pure Texas Band and the Bandoleros, as well as the legendary steel guitarist Jimmy Day.

Now, with Traveling Singing Man, the world at large can hear the talent that has already impressed both the audiences and some of the stars of the Texas country music scene. It's obvious from first listen that Trevino is the real deal, destined to keep the Texas country spirit alive and kicking well into this new century.

Albums by artist:
Travelin' Singin' Man
Scene of the Cryin'

Listen: Click on the track title below. Trouble? Click here.
Travelin' Singin' Man

• All Right I'll Sign The Papers
• She Knows My Weaknesses
• Travelin' Singin' Man
• Brand New Mister Me