Charles Wilburn "Buck" Trent (born February 17, 1938) is an American country music instrumentalist currently performing in

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postmas ...

. He invented the electric

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

and also plays the five-string banjo,

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 origina ...

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 ...

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 ...

, electric bass and guitar.

Biography

Born and raised in

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offic ...

, Trent was performing on radio stations

WORD A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical 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 consen ...

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

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by b ...

, finally arriving in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

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

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a di ...

''. He was a member of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys from 1960-1961,

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 P ...

'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 and musician. He is best known for having hosted ''Hee Haw'', a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark was an important and influen ...

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 first-run on CBS from 1969 to 1971, in syndication from 1971 to 1993, and on TNN from 19 ...

'' from 1974 to 1982. He played lead guitar on

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...

's "I Will Always Love You" and "Jolene". In 2012 Buck was featured on two songs on

Marty Stuart John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American 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 beginning work as a ...

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

, ''

Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into natio ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

'', ''Nashville on the Road'', ''Tommy Hunter Show'', ''

Dinah! ''Dinah!'' is a daytime variety talk show that was hosted by singer and actress Dinah Shore. The series was distributed by 20th Century Fox Television and premiered on October 21, 1974, in syndication. In 1979, the show became known as ''Dinah ...

'', '' Command Performance'', ''Music City Tonight'', and ''

Nashville Now ''Nashville Now'' was 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 host was Nashville TV/radio personality Ralph Emery. The sh ...

''. Trent's performing career also includes many touring shows, in particular he toured the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

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

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 and songwriter. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 19 ...

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 current morning show in Branson, Missouri is called ''Buck Trent Country Music Show'' and (as of November 2015) is 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. Trent is also known for his signature phrase, "Uh-huh, oh yeah," a phrase that originated in a sketch he performed on ''Hee Haw.'' He still utters the phrase as part of his shows, accompanied by a thumbs-up gesture.

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

References

External links

Buck Trent.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trent, Buck American country singer-songwriters American banjoists Living people 1938 births 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