Buck Trent

Charles Wilburn "Buck" Trent is an American country music instrumentalist currently performing in Branson, Missouri. He invented the electric banjo and also plays the five-string banjo, dobro, steel guitar, mandolin, electric bass and guitar.

Biography

Born and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Trent started performing on WORD (AM) Radio at the age of 10. He traveled to California and Texas, finally arriving in Nashville in 1959 where he joined the Bill Carlisle Show and first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry. He was a member of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys from 1960-1961, Porter Wagoner's "Wagon Masters" from 1962 to 1973, and also appeared on the Roy Clark Show and Hee Haw. He played lead guitar on Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" and "Jolene". In 2012 Buck was featured on two songs on Marty Stuart's album, "Nashville, Vol. 1: Tear the Woodpile Down".

Over his long history, Trent has received many awards and nominations. He was twice named the Country Music Association Instrumentalist 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 Porter Wagoner Show and Hee Haw, other television credits for Trent include The Marty Stuart Show, Country's Family Reunion on RFD-TV, Mike Douglas Show, The Tonight Show, Nashville on the Road, Tommy Hunter Show, Dinah!, Command Performance, Music City Tonight, and Nashville Now.

Trent's performing career also includes many touring shows, in particular he toured the Soviet Union with Roy Clark in 1976. This was the first country music act to tour the Soviet Union. In the early 1980s while on tour with the Porter Wagoner Show, Trent came to Branson, Missouri and performed at the Baldknobber's Jamboree Theatre. Several years later he opened for Mickey Gilley at the Mickey Gilley Theatre in Branson, Missouri and then in 1990 became 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.

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

References

External links

• Buck Trent.com