Trent Willmon's story almost reads like a gunfighter's ballad. He was born in Amarillo, Texas, and grew up on a cattle ranch down in the west Texas town of Afton. On his 16th birthday, Willmon's mother gave him an acoustic guitar, perhaps not knowing that it would change his life and make him a gritty singer-songwriter. After playing the standup bass for a bluegrass band, Willmon knew that he had to branch out on his own and carve out a comfortable spot where he could flourish as a solo artist. He moved to Nashville in 1995 and worked with horses before signing a song publishing deal three years later. After playing the honky-tonk circuit, he inked a deal with Columbia Records and unleashed his first single, "Beer Man," in 2004. His music is as rugged as he looks but it carries a playful pop sensibility that's sure to catapult him into the kind of superstardom that he probably could care less about.
