Trent Willmon (born March 6, 1973) is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, and producer. Active since 1998 as a songwriter in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, Willmon was signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in 2004. He released two albums for the label (2004's ''

Trent Willmon Trent Willmon (born March 6, 1973) is an American country music artist, songwriter, and Record producer, producer. Active since 1998 as a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee, Willmon was signed to Columbia Records in 2004. He released two albums ...

'' and 2006's '' A Little More Livin''') and charted six singles on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts before exiting Columbia in 2006. A third album, entitled '' Broken In'', was released on the independent Compadre label in February 2008.

Musical career

Willmon was born in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

and was raised on a ranch near

Afton, Texas Afton is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in northern Dickens County, Texas, Dickens County, Texas, United States. History A post office was established in the community under the name Beckton in 1893, and the name was changed to ...

. After 2 years at South Plains College as an Animal Science major, he left to pursue music, playing with several Texas- based bands, including playing bass for bluegrass legend Karl Shiflett. In 1999 he signed a staff writing deal with SeaGayle Music. One of his first cuts as a songwriter was "It Doesn't Mean I Don't Love You", which he co-wrote with

Bobby Pinson Bobby Olen Pinson (born August 10, 1972) is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Nashville in 2005, Pinson made his debut that year with his album '' Man Like Me''. Its lead-off single, " Don't Ask Me How I Know", peaked at No. ...

and Jeremy Spillman. It was recorded by the duo

McHayes McHayes was an American country music duo established in 2003 by Wade Hayes (guitar, vocals) and Mark McClurg (fiddle, vocals). Prior to the duo's foundation, Hayes was a solo artist, and McClurg was a member of Alan Jackson's road band, The Strayh ...

(which comprised 1990s country singer

Wade Hayes Tony Wade Hayes (born April 20, 1969) is an American country music artist. Signed to Columbia Records in 1994, he made his debut that year with his gold-certified album '' Old Enough to Know Better''. Its title track, which served as his debut ...

and fiddler Mark McClurg), and reached 41 on the country charts in 2003. Willmon signed with

in 2004. His self-titled debut album was released that year, and it produced four singles. The first of these was "Beer Man", which peaked at 30 on the country charts. Following it were "Dixie Rose Deluxe's Honky-Tonk, Feed Store, Gun Shop, Used Car, Beer, Bait, BBQ, Barber Shop, Laundromat" at 36, "Home Sweet Holiday Inn" at 49, and finally "The Good Life" at 38. A second album, '' A Little More Livin''', followed in 2006. Although its lead-off single "On Again Tonight" became his highest chart entry at 27, the follow-up "So Am I" peaked at 59, and Willmon exited Columbia's roster. Willmon signed with

Compadre Records Compadre Records is a Houston-based independent record label that specializes in roots music. Compadre's artists include Billy Joe Shaver, Honeybrowne, Suzy Bogguss, Flaco Jimenez, James McMurtry, Trent Willmon, Hayes Carll, among others. Comp ...

in 2007. His third album, '' Broken In'', was released on February 26, 2008. The album produced three singles in "There Is a God", the title track, and "Cold Beer and a Fishing Pole", though none of these entered the charts. In early 2008, he also made his acting debut in the film ''Palo Pinto Gold'', a cowboy film also starring Roy Clark and

Mel Tillis Lonnie Melvin Tillis (August 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s as part of the outlaw country movement, ...

. Willmon also co-wrote

Montgomery Gentry Montgomery Gentry is an American country music duo founded by singers Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, both Kentucky natives. They began performing together in the 1990s as part of two different bands with Montgomery's brother, John Michael Mo ...

's 2009 single "

Back When I Knew It All ''Back When I Knew It All'' is the sixth studio album by the American country music duo Montgomery Gentry. It was released by Columbia Records Nashville on June 10, 2008 (see 2008 in country music). The album's lead-off single, also its title tr ...

" and Steel Magnolia's 2010 single " Keep On Lovin' You".

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willmon, Trent 1973 births American country singer-songwriters Columbia Records artists Living people Musicians from Amarillo, Texas Singer-songwriters from Texas 21st-century American singers Country musicians from Texas