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 for me to put those chords to use was to sing a song. 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 beer 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.

Don Walser and Cornell Hurd took the young singer under their wings, mentoring the young talent. At age 16, Trevino got to play for the first time with his hero, Johnny Bush, in San Antonio. Harry Weiss owned a little beer joint called the Red Eye Saloon there, and Johnny used to stop in. He promised the young Trevino that he would call him if Johnny was planning to come down.

"He called me and said, 'can you be here Sunday? I've got Johnny coming out' and I'm up there singing and Johnny gets on stage and says 'Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm 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.'" Trevino launched into Undo the Right, one of Bush's signature songs, and the Texas legend was duly impressed.

Trevino began hiring out as a bass player for Walser and Hurd, and eventually joined Bush's Bandoleros. In addition, he has 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. To date he has released four superb records: Texas Honkytonk, with Johnny Bush on drums; Loud Music and Strong Wine; Travelin' Singin' Man and most recently, The Scene of the Crying.

MSNBC.com says of the recent release "...a powerful, high-pitched voice, deceptively smooth but with a piercing edge." Trevino includes songs recorded by Connie Smith, George Jones and Ernest Tubb, and he does those songs justice.

At a mere 29 years old, Trevino seems more at home with the classics and he plays a walking shuffle with pride instead of following the current alt-country stare at your shoes and look serious trend. Trevino obviously revels in honky tonk glory, and those in the audience will revel in his beautiful, clear country voice that will bring just a tinge of country music past to your ears.

Information courtesy of The Official Justin Trevino web site.