Crude but popular European stage worker (9)
I believe the answer is:
inelegant
'crude' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'popular european stage worker' is the wordplay.
'popular' becomes 'in' ('in' can mean trendy).
'european' becomes 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'stage' becomes 'leg' (a leg is a stage of a competition).
'worker' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant).
'in'+'e'+'leg'+'ant'='INELEGANT'
'but' is the link.
(Other definitions for inelegant that I've seen before include "Awkward - graceless" , "Not stylish or refined" , "less than couth" , "Eglantine (anag)" , "not the cultivated sort" .)