By Tanna Friday
Editor
NASHVILLE — Three Alabama natives, now Nashville residents, are heading back to hometown Alabama this weekend as a header for the Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce 38th Annual City Fest.
The Sweet Tea Trio, comprised of singers, Savannah Coker, Kate Falcon, and Victoria Camp, are no strangers to the area.
“I am from Birmingham,” said Coker. “Kate is from Gadsden, and Victoria is from Tuscaloosa.”
“We have quite a few friends from Trussville and Birmingham because it was the central location to practice and rehearse when we first started out as a trio.”
One person is local artist and Trussville native, Jackson Capps, who will be opening for the trio on Saturday.
“He was basically trying to teach us a lesson and show us how to sing harmonies,” said Coker. “He put us all in a room and said ‘sing this song and learn the harmonies’ and we did. He wasn’t necessarily trying to create a trio, but instead teaching us harmony.”
Coker said that after their meeting the three personalities and vocals meshed.
“We just stuck to it and here we are five years later,” she continued.
After many practices together, the trio decided to enter a singing competition.
“For the competition we needed a name,” said Falcon. “That’s kind of how we came up with the Sweet Tea Trio. It was like ‘we need a name,’ and we ended up sticking with it because everyone in the competition seemed to love it. After singing many songs together, we decided to stick together.”
The trio placed first in the competition and the Sweet Tea Trio was born. Now the Alabama natives live in Nashville.
“We were visiting Nashville for the last three and a half years,” said Camp. “We moved last June and are about to celebrate a year. It has been great. We love the city.”
The trio recently had the opportunity to tour with music artist, Kid Rock.
“A little over a year ago, Kid Rock discovered us on YouTube,” said Coker. “He liked what he heard and invited us on his Kid Rock Chillin’ the Most Cruise last April. We just returned from our second cruise last month. He listened to our shows, fell in love with our sound and asked to set up some meetings once we ported.”
In January, the trio signed a 5-year co-management deal with Kid Rock and Vector Management Group.
“Vector Management Group and Kid Rock are both of our managers,” said Coker. “It is a great relationship and we love the whole team.”
Sweet Tea Trio labels their music as country with a compilation of many artist’s influences.
“Savannah really likes the Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain, and Aerosmith,” said Camp. “Kate really likes musicians like Journey, Tricia Yearwood, Faith Hill, and Martina McBride. I kind of bring in the influence of the classic country artist such as Willie, Waylon, Hank Williams and Fleetwood Mac.”
“When you combine these genres together and place them into a country group, you get a really cool, country sound with bluegrass undertones and rock vibes,” she said. “It is just the coolest thing ever. We love creating new music.”
The trio shares that they are in the process of creating a new album.
“I think this album is really shaping the trio into what we have always wanted to sound like as a trio in whole,” Camp continues. “We are really excited.”
If you would like to follow the Sweet Tea Trio, they are available on all social media platforms including Snapchat.
“You may find our previous released EP on Spotify as well as iTunes,” said Falcon. “Our previous EP is self-titled (Sweet Tea Trio), so it is pretty easy to find. You can also visit SweetTeaTrio.com to check out all of our tour dates, videos, and new merchandise coming soon.”
The trio shared their excitement about performing in this Saturday’s City Fest.
“It is always so exciting to come back to Alabama,” said Coker. “Performing to our home state always gives us butterflies.”
“You can just expect a lot of energy,” said Falcon. “Something that we pride ourselves in is our live shows. We like to keep the energy up and have fun with our fans. Typically, we will get some of the kids on stage to do something crazy.”
“We perform a good mix of originals and covers,” said Camp. “We are even playing some of our new songs now, which will be very exciting. For the people who want to hear something new, we’ve got it coming up for Trussville’s City Fest.”
The Sweet Tea Trio will take the stage this Saturday, May 5 at 8 p.m. in historic downtown mall area.