At the age of 85, banjo player and guitarist Buck Trent, who was a key part of the cast of Hee Haw and a two-time CMA instrumental group of the year winner, passed away on Monday, October 9.
Trent relocated to Nashville in 1959 after being born on February 17, 1938, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He began playing with Porter Wagoner's Wagonmasters in 1962 and did so for around ten years.
Trent became well-known for his work as a cast member of the variety show Hee Haw, which ran from 1974 through 1982. Trent would frequently break into such performances with his now-famous exclamation, "Oh yeah!"
Trent participated in a "Kornfield Friends" reunion tour in 2018 alongside Misty Rowe, Jana Jae, and Lulu Roman, three other Hee Haw alumni.
Among other shows, Trent appeared on The Marty Stuart Show and The Porter Wagoner Show during his career.
With their joint effort A Pair of Fives (Banjos, That Is), Trent and fellow country music performer and banjoist Roy Clark achieved a Billboard Top Country Albums success in 1975, peaking at No. 9.
Three further Trent releases had an effect on the ranking: Banjo Bandits with Clark (No. 45), Bionic Banjo (No. 43), and Give Me Five (No. 40) from 1968.
Trent and Clark were the winners of the CMA Awards for instrumental group of the year in 1975 and 1976. Trent traveled with Clark and The Oak Ridge Boys to perform in the Soviet Union behind the Iron Curtain in 1976.
After releasing their record Banjo Bandits two years later, Trent and Clark were nominated for a Grammy for best country instrumental performance.