William "Bucky" Baxter (1955May 25, 2020) was an American guitarist. He is best known as a member of Steve Earle and The Dukes and as a member of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's backing band in the mid-90s during the

Never Ending Tour The Never Ending Tour is the popular name for Bob Dylan's ongoing touring schedule which began on June 7, 1988. The tour amassed a huge fan base with some fans traveling from around the world to attend as many Dylan shows as possible. Dylan him ...

. He released his only solo album, ''Most Likely, No Problem'', in 1999.

Early life

Baxter was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, in 1955. He started learning how to play

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

in the 1970s. In the following decade, he met

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...

and played on the latter's debut album, ''

Guitar Town ''Guitar Town'' is the debut studio album from American singer-songwriter Steve Earle, released on March 5, 1986. It topped the ''Billboard'' country album charts, and the title song reached #7 on the country singles charts. Earle was also no ...

'' in 1986.

Career

Baxter was a founding member of The Dukes, Earle's

backing band A backup band or backing band is a Band (music), musical ensemble that typically Accompaniment, accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a Studio recording, recording session, and the ...

. He subsequently featured in three other albums by Earle – '' Exit 0'' (1987), '' Copperhead Road'' (1988) and '' The Hard Way'' (1990) – providing vocals and guitar. It was on one of Earle's

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

s in the early 1990s that he first encountered

, who asked Baxter to give him lessons in how to play steel guitar. He played

for Dylan's band on his

from 1992 to 1999 and played pedal steel on Dylan's 1997

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winning album, '' Time Out of Mind''. After his time in Dylan's band came to an end, Baxter released a solo album, ''Most Likely, No Problem'', in 1999. He was one of three co-founders of Moontoast, a social

rich media Interactive media refers to digital experiences that dynamically respond to user input, delivering content such as text, images, animations, video, audio, and even AI-driven interactions. Over the years, interactive media has expanded across ...

advertising platform. Baxter also appeared on various albums by artists including

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American Rock music, rock and Country music, country singer-songwriter. He has released 30 studio albums and three as a former member of Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left Whiskeytown and released ...

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

and

Joe Henry Joseph Lee Henry (born December 2, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He has released 15 studio albums and produced multiple recordings for other artists, including three Grammy Award-winning albums. Early life H ...

. In studio, or while performing live, Baxter played

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 ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

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 ...

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 ...

Death

Baxter died on May 25, 2020, in Sanibel Island, Florida, at the age of 65, according to his son, Rayland. No cause was given.

Discography

Source:

References

*Gray, Michael. ''The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia'', 2006, p. 41

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Bucky 1955 births 2020 deaths People from Melbourne, Florida Pedal steel guitarists Guitarists from New Jersey Guitarists from Florida American male guitarists