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

Steve Earle and The Dukes Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...

and as a member of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's backing band in the mid-90s during the Never Ending Tour. He released his only solo album, ''Most Likely, No Problem'', in 1999.

Early life

Baxter was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

, in 1955. He started learning how to play pedal steel guitar in the 1970s. In the following decade, he met Steve Earle and played in the latter's debut album, ''

Guitar Town ''Guitar Town'' is the debut album from 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 nominated for two 1 ...

'', in 1986.

Career

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

backing band A backup band or backing band is a musical ensemble that typically accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a recording session, and the group may or may not have its own name, such ...

. 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 to ...

s in the early 1990s that he first encountered

, who asked Baxter to give him lessons in how to play steel guitar. He played pedal steel guitar for Dylan's band on his Never Ending Tour from 1992 to 1999 and played pedal steel on Dylan's 1997

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

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 advertising platform. Baxter also appeared on various albums by artists including Ryan Adams, R.E.M., Beastie Boys and Joe Henry. In studio, or while performing live, Baxter played

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) 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 conve ...

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 amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently 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 origin ...

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