A true child prodigy, Hill Country blues artist Trenton Ayers started playing guitar when he was only four years old and gave his first live concert performance at the ripe old age of six. By the time he was twelve, he’d joined his first band, The Burnside Exploration, and shortly afterward embarked on his lifelong touring career.

In 2007, he joined The Electric Mudd, followed by The Muddy Trio (2008) and The Cedric Burnside Project (2011), with whom he hit the high seas as part of the legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise, heralding his first European tour. Nominated for a Grammy at age 29, he began officially endorsing Zemaitis Guitars in 2017, when he also launched Ayerskidd Nation T-Shirts, his own brand of merch.

In 2022, he was featured on the G Love and Special Sauce album Philadelphia, Mississippi, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts. Following his first self-released single (Shoulda Been My Woman), he self-released his debut album (A Father Son Legacy) in 2023.

Trenton became one of our Next Generation artists in 2024, the same year we honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He attracted lots of new fans in 2025, when he performed at Telluride Blues & Brews Festival in Colorado as part of the Music Maker contingent.

Taking It to The Mountain, his first album on the Music Maker label, was recorded at the Music Maker Studios in Fountain, NC in 2025. Produced by longtime Music Maker producer Jimbo Mathus, who wrote many of the songs and coached Ayers through the process of finding his own voice, it’s a fine addition to the Music Maker catalogue that Trenton can be rightly proud of.

“I brought Trenton to Music Maker to help him create a great record that he could base a career on,” says Jimbo. “And that’s exactly what he did.”

Written by Cree McCree

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