3 Years Ago Today, We Said Goodbye to the Country Music Multi-Instrumentalist and ‘Hee Haw’ Star Who Played With Dolly Parton, Bill Monroe, and Porter Wagoner

On this day (October 9) in 2023, country music banjo player and guitarist Buck Trent died in Branson, Missouri, at age 85. A two-time Country Music Association Instrumental Group of the Year winner, Trent was a member of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys from 1960 to 1961 and Porter Wagoner’s “Wagon Masters” from 1962 to 1973. He also played on two of Dolly Parton’s biggest hits, “I Will Always Love You” and “Jolene”.

Today, we’re remembering the legendary country musician on the third anniversary of his passing.

Buck Trent Invented the Electric Banjo

Charles Wilburn “Buck” Trent was born on February 17, 1938, in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

First picking up a steel guitar at age seven, he was performing on local radio stations by age 10. Seven years later, Trent traveled to Asheville, North Carolina, to perform with Cousin Wilbur and Blondie Brooks.

In 1959, he moved to Nashville, where he joined the Bill Carlisle Show and made his Grand Ole Opry debut.

Following a brief stint with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys, Trent began a decade-long journey with Porter Wagoner’s Wagon Masters in 1962. During this time, he also designed the electric banjo, an instrument shaped like a steel guitar which featured a mobile bridge used to change the pitch.

The story goes that Trent was staying at Mom Upchurches’ Boarding House in Nashville with Howard White, a steel guitarist who played on the road with musicians like Cowboy Copas and Hank Snow.

As the two discussed music, White showed Trent a bar that he had filed down to use as a capo to change the pitch on his steel guitar.

Noticing the bar was the same height as the wooden bridge on his banjo, Trent replaced the bridge with the bar and added five grooves. He then teamed up with Shot Jackson of Sho Bud Steel Guitar Company to amplify the electric sound.

A Prolific Career

Until 1974, Buck Trent honed the signature Porter Wagoner sound with his innovative banjo style. He also played the 5-string banjo, dobro, guitar, steel guitar, mandolin, and bass guitar.

Spending 12 years as part of Wagoner’s band, Trent played on all recordings for country singer Norma Jean during her time on the show. When Dolly Parton replaced her as the “girl singer”, he continued that streak, playing on classics such as “I Will Always Love You,” “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “Mule Skinner Blues,” and “My Tennessee Mountain Home.”

Following his 1974 departure from the Wagon Masters, Trent linked up with country singer and Hee-Haw co-host Roy Clark. Becoming the first country music act to tour the Soviet Union, the duo released two albums together, A Pair of Fives (1974) and Banjo Bandits (1978).

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Trent also appeared regularly as a featured musician on Hee-Haw.

Featured image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum