Trent Willmon

A straight-ahead country singer who blends the traditional Texas country values of George Strait with the easy touch of Alan Jackson, Trent Willmon had a handful of Top 40 Billboard Country hits in the mid-2000s. "Beer Man" was the first song to take him to the charts, followed later that year by "Dixie Rose Deluxe's Honky-Tonk, Feed Store, Gun Shop, Used Car, Beer, Bait, BBQ, Barber Shop, Laundromat." In 2006, "On Again Tonight" gave him his biggest hit when it peaked at 27, but by the end of the decade, he had moved from majors to independents. Willmon spent the 2010s as a behind-the-scenes songwriter, writing tunes recorded by Maddie & Tae, Kevin Fowler, Blake Shelton, Eric Church, and Brad Paisley. When he launched his performing comeback with the "Southern Land" single in 2023, he remained an indie artist. Trent Willmon was born March 6, 1973, in Amarillo, Texas, the son of Dean Willmon, a schoolteacher and cattle rancher, and Billie Willmon. He was raised on a ranch near the tiny West Texas town of Afton. His mother gave him a guitar when he was 16, and he learned to play, but he was also interested in other activities, and he won blue ribbons from the 4-H Club and the FFA (Future Farmers of America) for livestock judging, cooking skills, and speech-making, which earned him a scholarship to South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, where he initially majored in animal science and agriculture. By his second year, however, he had switched to the music department, and then he dropped out to play bass in a bluegrass band. In 1995, Willmon moved to Nashville, where he found work caring for horses while trying to get his songs heard. He signed a song-publishing contract in 1998, then organized a band and began playing in honky tonks. Finally, he was signed to a contract by Columbia Records, leading to the release of his first single, "Beer Man," in 2004, followed by "Dixie Rose Deluxe's Honky Tonk, Feed Store, Gun Shop, Used Car, Beer, Bait, BBQ, Barber Shop, Laundromat." His self-titled debut album appeared in October 2004. After the success of his first full-length album, Willmon headed to The Castle Recording Studios (onetime home of infamous gangster Al Capone) in Franklin, Tennessee, to record his sophomore effort, A Little More Livin', which was released in 2006. The album generated a hit with "On Again Tonight," which went to 27, but its sequel, "So Am I," stalled at 59. He moved to Compadre Records for 2008's Broken In, then released Little Ol' Cafe on Feed Store Records in 2010. Willmon transitioned to professional songwriting in the 2010s, spending the decade writing tunes cut by a wide variety of country artists, including Eric Church, Kevin Fowler, Red Steagall, Randy Houser, and Montgomery Gentry. Eventually, he started working as a producer, helming records by Hayden Haddock, Chancey Williams, and Cody Johnson. Willmon returned to recording in early 2023 with the ballad "Southern Land."
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo