“Our singer in Pantera’d is a mail carrier,” says Eric Meyer, who plays guitar in a tribute band that venerates the Texas hard rockers Pantera. “One day he comes in and he’s all excited. He says he was delivering mail in a trailer park in Santee, and a lady came out and stopped him. She said ‘I know you, you’re in that band Pantera’d.’ He stayed and signed autographs. And I said that’s it, you’re a trailer park rock star.”

Thus was born a new local band name. Meyer has been in a handful of local hard rock bands over the years, with 1990s thrash metal act Brick Bath being the better known of them.

As of 2012, Meyer is also a general contractor, in charge of things like the expansion of an East County brewery, Manzanita Brewing Company. “They like our music,” he says, “and they gave us some rehearsal space and in turn, we became their house band.” He says that Trailerpark Rockstar got a permanent band practice room when the new plans were drawn up. “You can’t go wrong rehearsing in a brewery.”

Trailerpark Rockstar, he says, “sounds like anything that would get played on Rock 105.3 radio.” Currently with Corey Mitchell on vocals, Rich Varville playing bass, and James Raub on drums, the project started in 2009 with different members.

Says Meyer, “Nobody’s gonna reinvent the hard rock wheel, but we like to interact with our fans and put on a show. We bring the full package, and give them something to sink their teeth into.”

Trailerpark Rockstar has an eponymous CD, some funny videos, and has performed at Hollywood’s Key Club, at Brick by Brick, the Manzanita Brewing Company (where they have the residency), Lacy J’s, and the old Magnolia Mulvaney’s in Santee. They’ve opened for George Lynch’s band Lynch Mob, Adema, and Hurt.

Meyer is a Dean guitar endorsee and shows up at gigs with two 300-watt Line 6 heads and four 4x12 Basson cabs, packing all that firepower into club-size venues. “Hell, the bass player plays through two 8x10 cabinets,” he laughs.