Brent's life today is a reflection of the basic values he learned as a child. The first of three children, he was born February 22, 1960 in Nashville, TN. "Every Sunday we'd go to church, then go to my grandparent's house for dinner. We'd sit around and sing," he recalls. "From an early age I was always intrigued with instruments. Pianos, guitars, banjos, mandolins, but the thing that got me the most was how everyone would be singing their own harmony part, yet they'd weave it all together into this awesome sound. Brent soon taught himself those harmony parts. He played his daddy's quartet records over and over for hours, picking out the vocal parts by ear. The guitar was another story for Brent. It didn't come to him nearly as easy. He first picked it up when he was ten. Although he was born left-handed, he tried to play right handed, like the rest of
his family, but he couldn't get it. In frustration, he gave it up. A few years later, a friend came over to Brent's house with a guitar. When the friend left the guitar at Brent's, he decided to give it another try. "I picked the guitar up and turned it over, so it looked upside down but felt totally natural in my hands. Before long I taught myself to play that way."