Trent Hemphill

Trent Hemphill was born in 1959. Both brothers were raised in Bastrop, LA, but traveled the country extensively as part of the Hemphill Family gospel music group. Trent started playing bass guitar in the group in 1974, and piano in 1980. All the while, they worked for their father Joel Hemphill’s entertainer bus company, Hemphill Coach Company. Their jobs included interior conversions, cleaning and washing buses.

In January 1980, their father sold his business and ceased operations. Later that year, the brothers, at the ages of 20 & 21, purchased two 1965 Silver Eagles buses and Hemphill Brothers Coach Company was founded.

Meanwhile, their primary roles remained to be part of the Hemphill Family gospel group. The group continued to tour until 1989, and by then they had earned 8 Dove awards and recorded 30 albums. When the gospel group retired, Joey and Trent turned their bus business into a full-time project. They built a shop at the current location in Whites Creek in 1995. Having countless hours on buses as passengers, Joey and Trent knew the needs of drivers and passengers. This was a great asset when they began building buses. Taking a huge risk, they were one of the very first companies to begin building star buses and custom interiors for artists, providing custom design by having personal meetings with the artists. In 1998, Hemphill Brothers Coach Company was the first in the industry to start paying drivers directly from their payroll, instead of drivers getting paid by the customers – assuring drivers that they would get paid every time.

In November 2023, Hemphill Brothers Coach Company was sold to Dreamliner. By that time the fleet had grown to 125 buses and 250 employees.

Joey and Trent are now pursuing other interests and reside in the Nashville area.