As a child, Cowessess First Nation band member Trent Agecoutay would listen to his father Jim Agecoutay craft songs at the family’s kitchen table. With a tape recorder, cigarette, and pot of coffee at the ready as his father wrote, Trent’s admiration for his father’s music grew. Now, Trent is honoring his late father with “Burn A Smudge,” the excellent new single from Trent’s forthcoming album entitled Uncle Trent and Friends – Legacy.
Trent, who grew up in Red Deer, Alberta but currently resides in Calgary, has done his father proud with this single. “Burn A Smudge” is one of the tracks from Legacy featuring material all written or co-written by Trent and his late father who performed across Western Canadian barrooms for over 40 years.
“Burn A Smudge,” which Trent says is “a song about redemption,” is a fantastic track that instantly brings to mind the ’70s country outlaws, particularly Waylon Jennings. Trent strums a guitar, singing about the big city and urban life while looking to happier, simpler times of being around family, and cooking bannock over an open flame. Trent is backed by a great supporting cast who flesh out the toe-tapping nugget with aplomb. The instrumental homestretch allows each musician to show their talents in mini solos, whether it’s piano, lap steel guitar, mandolin or electric guitar.
Trent helped his father (a residential school survivor) in various ways, whether through loading gear into and out of venues or playing alongside him for over 20 years dating back to 1993. And he has done a remarkable job in capturing his father’s music. “Burn A Smudge” is one of the tracks to be featured on an album set to be released in the spring of 2025. Trent’s musical journey began when he started writing songs when he was 12. In 2014, Trent released his debut album I Don’t Regret A Thing. Since that time, he released Now…And Then in 2018 and A Place To Call Home in 2022.
“Burn A Smudge,” alongside other material on the album, was cathartic for both Trent and his brother Bryce to grieve their father’s passing and “reconnect” with him spiritually. Unfortunately, Jim Agecoutay passed away on April 29, 2023, before the project was completed. But various organizations, including the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Calgary Arts Development, and The Central Music Festival Society, helped in getting the album across the proverbial finish line.
It’s also the latest offering from a musician who has used his music to “express the human experience; raw, witty, and unwavering.” Trent was nominated for a Native American Music Award for Best Blues Recording (“Dancing Along”) which also hit number one on the Indigenous Music Countdown in 2023. Additional nominations have come from the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, the Indian Summer Music Awards, Indigenous Music Awards, and the 2023 Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards. He was received the Shane Yellowbird Award for Music at Edmonton’s Okimaw Awards.
In addition to his music Trent has done voice over work including two audio books for Durville Publishing in addition to being an on-air personality at Windspeaker Media. He’s also a podcaster, with his initial podcast Do You Hear Me Now…Amplifying Indigenous Voices (along with Curt and Chelsie Young) helping spread music from Indigenous Artists across the country during the pandemic. The second podcast with Curt Young is The Deadly Uncle Podcast, which is a “safe space to connect Indigenous men and boys to their culture and communities.”
A video for “Burn A Smudge” is also in the offing, but for now fans will have to settle for an amazing and authentic single. “Burn A Smudge” is proof that when it comes to Trent Agecoutay and his late father, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
