Charles Wilburn "Buck" Trent (February 17, 1938 – October 9, 2023) was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

instrumentalist. He played the five-string banjo,

dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, electric bass and guitar.

Biography

Charles Wilburn Trent was born on February 17, 1938. Trent was performing on radio stations

WORD A word is a basic element of language that carries semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguist ...

and WSPA in Spartanburg by age 11. He traveled to California and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, finally arriving in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in 1959 where he joined the Bill Carlisle Show and first appeared on the ''

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

''. He was a member of

Bill Monroe William Smith Monroe ( ; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre takes its n ...

's Bluegrass Boys from 1960 to 1961,

Porter Wagoner Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The Por ...

's "Wagon Masters" from 1962 to 1973, and also appeared on the ''

Roy Clark Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer, musician, and television presenter. He is best known for having hosted '' Hee Haw'', a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark wa ...

Show'' and ''

Hee Haw ''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired from 1969 to 1993, and on TNN from 1996 to 1997. Reruns of the series were broadcast on ...

'' from 1974 to 1982. He played on

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

's "

I Will Always Love You "I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, expressing Parton's decision to pursue a solo career ...

" and " Jolene". In 2012 Buck was featured on two songs on

Marty Stuart John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country music, country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before be ...

's album, "Nashville, Vol. 1: Tear the Woodpile Down". Over his long history, Trent received many awards and nominations. He and Roy Clark were twice named the

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...

Instrumental Group of the Year (1975, 1976) and he was twice the No. 1 Instrumentalist of the Year for the Music City Awards. Included in his nominations are the 1976 No. 1 Instrumentalist of the Year for Record World, 1972 through 1981 No. 1 Instrumentalist for the Music City News Awards and in 1979–1981 Instrumental Group of the Year (with Wendy Holcomb in the Bluegrass category) for the Music City News Awards. In addition to ''The

Show'' and ''

'', other television credits for Trent include ''The

Show'', ''Country's Family Reunion'' on

RFD-TV RFD-TV is an American pay television channel owned by Rural Media Group, Inc. The channel features programming devoted to rural issues, concerns and interests. The channel's name is a reference to Rural Free Delivery, the name for the United St ...

, '' Mike Douglas Show'', ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

'', ''Nashville on the Road'', ''Tommy Hunter Show'', '' Command Performance'', ''Music City Tonight'', ''

Nashville Now ''Nashville Now'' is an American talk show that focused on country music performers in the style of ''The Tonight Show''. The show aired live on weeknights on TNN from 1983–1993. The program was hosted by Nashville TV/radio personality Ralph ...

'', and '' Dinah!'' Trent's performing career also included many touring shows, in particular he toured the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

with

in 1976. This was the first country music act to tour the Soviet Union. In the early 1980s while on tour with the ''

Show'', Trent came to

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, Missouri, Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County, Missouri, Stone County. Branson is in the Ozarks, Ozark Mountain ...

and performed at the Baldknobber's Jamboree Theatre. Several years later he opened for

Mickey Gilley Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936 – May 7, 2022) was an American country music singer, businessman, actor, and musician. Among his hits are " Room Full of Roses", " Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time", and “ Lonely Nights”. ...

at the Mickey Gilley Theatre in

and then in 1990 he became the first national act to open a live music show in Branson, performed in the morning. Trent's morning show in Branson, Missouri was called ''Buck Trent Country Music Show'' and (as of November 2015) was performed at Baldknobbers Jamboree Theatre. In 2016, his show moved to the Jim Stafford Theater. In 2017, he moved to the Branson Famous Theatre with the Baldknobbers. In 2023, Trent was inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame under the 5-String Performance category. Trent was also known for his signature phrase, "Uh-huh, oh yeah," a phrase that originated in a sketch he performed on ''Hee Haw.'' He uttered the phrase as part of his shows, accompanied by a thumbs-up gesture.

Death

Trent died on October 9, 2023, at the age of 85.

Discography

*''The Sound of Bluegrass Banjo'', 1962 *''The Sound of Five String Banjo'', 1962 *''Gime Five'', 1966 *''5-string General'', 1967 *''Sounds of Now and Beyond'', 1972 *''A Pair of Fives (Banjos That Is)'', 1974 (with Roy Clark) *''Bionic Banjo'', 1976 *''Oh Yeah! Banjos, Boisterous Ballads, And Buck'', 1977 *''Banjo Bandits'', 1978 (with Roy Clark) *''Spartanburg Blues'', 2018 *''Christmas: Buck Trent Style'', 2023

References

External links

Buck Trent.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trent, Buck 1938 births 2023 deaths American country singer-songwriters American banjoists Musicians from Spartanburg, South Carolina Guitarists from South Carolina American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from South Carolina 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from South Carolina Blue Grass Boys members