Traynor formed his first band, the Black Bottom Stompers, in 1949. In 1951 he joined the Len Barnard Band and that same year was voted best trombonist in the "Make Way for the Bands" poll. He also made his first recordings with this band. He and his band were also a regular feature at Athol's Abbey, an underground bar and grill on the corner of St Kilda Road and Park Street (known now as the "Domain" beneath the late Domain Hotel, now a commercial complex during the 1970s.
