Former Matador resident and Patton Springs graduate Trent Willmon took home a Country Music Award last week for producing the single of the year for singer-songwriter Cody Johnson. The Caprock Courier caught up with Willmon via a questionand- answer email this week, and he shared his journey from small town boy to award-winning record producer in Nashville. Here’s how Willmon described his story.
CAPROCK COURIER: People in this area are very proud of you and have been posting about your award on social media. Did you grow up in the Afton/Dickens County area? What year did you graduate from Patton Springs?
I grew up in the suburbs of East Afton… I went to school in Matador, where my dad taught 4th grade, until I was in the sixth grade, then I transferred to Patton Springs and that is where I graduated in 1991.
Did you do music when you were growing up?
I found an old guitar in our tack room when I was a young kid. It was my mother’s, and there was a chord book in the guitar casethattaught me where to put my fingers. I think I knew about four chords when I went to college at South Plains in Levelland. We weren’t really a musical family, just sang in church occasionally. I am the black sheep, I reckon.
I started out playing in bands all over Texas, eventually moving to Nashville to play bass for another artist. I stayed there, working on ranches and farms until I eventually landed a publishing deal at Seagayle Music as a staff songwriter. Later, I signed a record deal with Sony records and made a couple of albums with them. When my daughter turned 12, I got custody of her and decided to come off the road. About that same time I met Cody Johnson and started writing and recording with him. That was in 2008, and we’ve made quite a few records since then.
What artists do you serve as a music producer for?
Kevin Fowler, Cody Johnson, Emily Ann Roberts, Hayden Haddock, Jake Jacobson, to name a few. There are usually about seven or eight recording projects a year.
Where do you live? Nashville?
Texas?
We have a small farm about 45 minutes west of Nashville, Tennessee, but we spent a lot of time back and forth to Texas. All of my family, including my daughter, and most of the artists I produce live in Texas. So we are more or less dual citizens. Tell us about the award and the music/artist that was recorded for the award.
Cody and I have been recording for a long time; he is originally from Huntsville, Texas. Started out mostly in the Texas music scene, but recently in the last few years, with the help of on demand streaming, he has fans all over the world. “Til You Can’t” was a number one song on billboard for two weeks. We recorded it on this last album, “Human,” and the day we heard the demo for “Til You Can’t,” we knew it was a hit for Cody. I don’t think we ever realized it would become single of the year at the CMA awards. It was quite a nice surprise. Tell us about your family-the one you grew up in, and now?
I grew up on a small cattle farm outside of Afton; both of my parents, Billie and Dean Willmon, were schoolteachers. My brother, Rusty graduated from Matador,and now lives in Austin. I have one daughter, Montana. She lives with her husband, Harrison, outside of Denton. They have one daughter, my new grandbaby Casey Blue.
What’s the best way for your hometown folks to keep up with you? Social media? Website?
Basically I only fool with Instagram, which also posts to my Facebook page. When we have shows, I will post on those pages. We are also planning on releasing a new single in the next couple of months. I also have a website people can contact me through for bookings. Do you get home much?
I do get back occasionally to Dickens County, but not near as often as I used to. I always thought that when I got older, things would slow down, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. What's your next big project?
We are currently working on new music for Cody Johnson, Hayden Haddock, Joey Greer, as well as a few other artists. Shaping up to be a very busy year. How would you describe the kinds of music you like/produce?
Most of my artists are pretty traditional compared to what is on mainstream radio at the moment. We are not really chasing what mainstream radio does. I figure if you are chasing it, you are behind it. We just record what we love, and the fans seem to come to us.
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