Banjo participant and guitarist Buck Trent, a two-time CMA instrumental group of the 12 months winner and a distinguished member of the forged of the variability present Hee Haw, died on Monday (Oct. 9) at age 85.
Trent was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina on Feb. 17, 1938, and moved to Nashville in 1959. In 1962, he joined Porter Wagoner’s Wagonmasters, performing with the group for roughly a decade.
Trent’s star rose by way of his work as a member of the forged of the variability present Hee Haw from 1974 to 1982. These performances have been often punctuated by Trent shouting what grew to become his signature phrase, “Oh yeah!” In 2018, Trent was a part of a “Kornfield Mates” reunion tour which additionally featured his fellow Hee Haw alums Jana Jae, Lulu Roman and Misty Rowe.
Throughout his profession, Trent additionally made appearances on The Marty Stuart Present and The Porter Wagoner Present, amongst others.
In 1975, Trent and fellow nation music entertainer and banjoist Roy Clark earned a Billboard Prime Nation Albums hit with their collaborative mission A Pair of Fives (Banjos, That Is), peaking at No. 9. Three different Trent titles impacted the tally: 1968’s Give Me 5 (No. 40), 1976’s Bionic Banjo (No. 43) 1978’s Banjo Bandits with Clark (No. 45).
In 1975 and 1976, Trent and Clark received consecutive CMA Awards for instrumental group of the 12 months. Additionally in 1976, Trent joined Clark and The Oak Ridge Boys for a live performance tour behind the Iron Curtain within the Soviet Union. Two years later, Trent and Clark launched the mission Banjo Bandits, which might earn a Grammy nomination for finest nation instrumental efficiency.
Along with his personal recordings, Trent contributed guitar and/or banjo on enduring recordings by Roy Acuff, Wagoner, Clark, Stuart and Dolly Parton, together with Parton’s “I Will All the time Love You” and “Jolene.” His contributions to music additionally proved modern, because the creator of the electrical banjo.
Within the Eighties, after touring to Branson, Trent started performing and would turn into a longtime performer within the city. In 2004, Trent additionally appeared as a Branson performer within the film Gordy. Later, in 2012, Trent performed on two songs for Marty Stuart’s album Nashville Quantity 1: Tear the Woodpile Down.
Trent was beforehand named as one in every of this 12 months’s American Banjo Museum Corridor of Fame honorees; the celebration is slated for Oct. 12-14 in Oklahoma Metropolis.
Trent’s spouse, Jean Trent, stated in a press release, “It’s with nice sorrow and a damaged coronary heart to say my husband, my love, Buck Trent, went to be with Jesus this morning. I misplaced my finest buddy, and the world misplaced a Grasp Musician and Nation Music Legend. Oh Yeah!”
Jim Halsey, longtime supervisor for Nation Music Corridor of Fame group The Oak Ridge Boys and the late Clark, described Trent as “one in every of my very favourite folks on the planet.” He added in a press release, “I labored with him for years as a companion with the Roy Clark Present. Buck Trent is among the biggest banjo gamers ever. We’ll all miss him. Thanks, Buck Trent, for being in all our lives.”
Roman added in a press release, “Buck was like a brother to me in spite of everything of those years. We’ve shared tons of guffaws and a few tears alongside the way in which, however we by no means left one another’s aspect. We had a bond like no different. I’ll miss the person, however cherish the reminiscences from our 50+ 12 months friendship. My coronary heart breaks for his valuable spouse, Jean, his household, pals, and followers. There’ll by no means be one other like Buck Trent. Oh Yea!”
The Oak Ridge Boys member Joe Bonsall added, “We misplaced an expensive long-time buddy at this time in Buck Trent. Buck toured the Soviet Union with us and Roy Clark in 1976 and we’ve got been shut ever since. Buck was one of many biggest banjo gamers of all time and a really humorous man. We’ll miss Buck!”
