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.
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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).
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
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Charlie Rich, who released several hit songs featuring Pete Drake on steel -
NASHVILLE – NOVEMBER 26: Hee Haw cast from left; Lulu Roman, Don Rich, Jeannine Riley, Buck Owens, John and Jim Hagar and Susan Raye. Image dated November 26, 1969. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) -
Portrait of the cast of KFRC radio's the 'Happy Go Lucky Hour,' San Francisco, California, 1930. Pictured are, standing from left, Al Pearce, Edna O'Keefe, Cal Pearce, Jean Clarnioux, Norman Neilsen, Hazel Warner, Abe Bloom, Monroe Upton (as Lord Bilgewater), and Harry 'Mac' McClintock; and seated from left, Tommy Harris, Charles Carter, Edna Fisher, and Cecil Wright. (Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images) -
MUNICH, GERMANY – Sam Brown performs on stage at the Theaterfabrik in Munich Germany in 1990. (Photo by Bernd Muller/Redferns) -
Waylon Jennings, who had a major hit with a Ray Pennington song -
AUSTIN, TEXAS – Texas Country singer Dale Watson and his Lone Stars perform during the Lynyrd Skynyrd concert at the Cedar Park Center. (Photo by Suzanne Cordeiro/Corbis via Getty Images) -
HOUSTON, TEXAS – Toni Braxton performs during the New Edition Way Tour at Toyota Center on April 04, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Eugenia R. Washington/Getty Images)
