White Trash was a funk/hard rock/soul band from Queens, New York. They separated themselves from other bands in their genre with their horn section, called the Badass Brass, which gave them a very funky musical sound. They enjoyed some success in the early 90s before disbanding.
Friends Dave Alvin (vocals) and brothers Ethan (guitar) & Aaron Collins (Bass) formed the band in 1985 and first played together at Aaron's bar mitzvah, doing covers of popular heavy metal bands of the time. They used several different drummers until three years later, when Aaron's high school buddy Mike Caldarella joined. They signed to Elektra Records in 1991 and released their self-titled debut album that same year.
The album was fairly successful, fueled by the video for "Apple Pie," which was in heavy rotation on MTV's Buzz Bin. The song reached #39 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, while the album charted at #122 on The Billboard 200. Despite this, they decided to split up because the Collins brothers and Caldarella were not happy with the musical direction the band was headed. While the band was on hiatus, the other single from their album, "The Crawl", was used as the theme song for MTV's The Jon Stewart Show in 1993.
Alvin continued White Trash with an entirely new lineup in 1994. Craig LeBlang took over guitar duties, Eric Brodin handled the bass, & Dave Barckow sat behind the drum kit. They released Si O Si, Que?, which did not feature as much brass as on their debut album and it did not do as well as their first release. Two singles were released from the album ("Minor Happiness" & "Pig")& a tour with New Jersey band Spare Change, but by the time the album came out the music scene had changed radically due to influence of grunge rock and White Trash was viewed as too old school to be viable in the music industry.
White Trash disbanded until 2007 when the original line up got back together for a reunion show at the Crazy Donkey in Long Island, NY. The reaction was so good that the band reformed and played several more shows. In 2008 Dave Alvin and Aaron Collins decided to write new material and get everyone back in the studio to record a brand new album.
In March 2009 White Trash released 3D Monkeys in Space through Gotham Gold Music and the band is currently touring again.
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