Trent Agecoutay brings it all back home with his smouldering new single Burn A Smudge — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
As a child, Cowessess First Nation band member Agecoutay would listen to and watch his father Jim craft songs at the kitchen table with the help of a tape recorder, cigarette and pot of coffee. Now, Trent is honouring his late father with this excellent new single from his forthcoming album Uncle Trent and Friends: Legacy, a collection of songs written or co-written by Trent and Jim, who performed across Western Canadian for over 40 years.
Burn A Smudge, which Trent says is “a song about redemption,” recalls the likes of Tony Joe White and Waylon Jennings. Trent strums a guitar, singing about the big city and urban life while looking to happier, simpler times of being around family, 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 on piano, lap steel, mandolin and electric guitar.
Making the album was cathartic for both Trent and his brother Bryce, helping them grieve their father and reconnect with him spiritually. Jim passed 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.
Trent helped his father (a residential school survivor) in various ways, whether by loading gear or playing alongside him for over 20 years. And he has done a remarkable job in capturing his father’s music. His own 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.
Trent has been nominated for a Native American Music Award for Best Blues Recording (Dancing Along), which also hit No. 1 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 is a podcaster who has done voiceover work for audio books, been an on-air personality.
Check out Burn A Smudge above, hear more from Trent Agecoutay below and join him on his website, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
