“She was really a driving force behind my musicality,” said Trent, 26. “I owe a lot of who I am to her and my dad.”

Currently living in Paradise, Calif., Trent was born in Anchorage and grew up in Homer, where he was home-schooled by his mother. He began playing violin at age 7. As he got older, other musical instruments caught his attention and he seemed to have a natural ability to figure them out on his own. His high school studies included piano. He performed in Jubilee, the Nutcracker and with the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra.

“He’s really a gifted violinist, played the piano and is a real talented kid,” said Mark Robinson, KPO conductor. “It was obviously very clear he had multiple talents. I was sad when he went away to college.”

After completing his high school studies in 1997, Trent enrolled in Faith Bible College in Des Moines, Iowa, continuing to study violin at Drake University. He graduated from Faith with a degree in sacred music in 2002. For the past year, Trent, his wife, Deborah, and their son, Elijah, have lived in Paradise, where Trent is the pastor of worship ministries for Paradise Alliance Church.

For the past year, Trent’s musical opportunities have multiplied.

“I perform everywhere from small coffee shops to churches, mostly the Christian music scene,” Trent said. “I just got a call today to perform at a 20,000-person festival in April in Yuba County.”

In July, Trent participated in a regional audition for American Idol.

“I made the top 10 in that and then it turned out that the prize was you were flown to Chicago to audition,” he said.

Scheduled to be in Alaska at that time, Trent withdrew from the competition, but the story doesn’t end there. A radio station DJ in the area heard Trent’s American Idol audition and when she and other organizers of “So You Want to be a Star” began looking for talent, they contacted Trent.

“I made the initial top 50 out of hundreds of auditionees and then won my first round with the U2 song, ‘Beautiful Day,’ putting me in the top 10,” Trent said. “This Sunday, I will go head to head with the other nine in the first of several final rounds that will culminate with a live 90 minute televised finale, the winner receiving $25,000 cash and another $25,000 in prizes.”

The contest is televised only in Northern California, which means Marali will be unable to see her son perform.

“I’d be a nervous wreck if I was there,” she said. “I’m very excited and hoping for the best.”

The best, according to Trent, could be anything.

“It’s exciting. It’s scary. I don’t know where this will all end up,” he said.

Wherever Trent’s musical talent leads, he is clear that the destination has to fit his priorities — his family and his faith.

“But to the extent I can marry them together, I would love to be a musician and song-writing at the national level,” he said.

Trent’s Web site, www.trentsmithmusic.com, offers a sample of his music, a review of lyrics he’s written and an avenue for ordering his CD, “Closer.”

“This is really exciting for me to see,” Marali said. “He’s my son, but he’s a person in his own right, an artist and a musician. I really respect where he’s gone with his music and as an individual in this world.”

Laughing, she added, “I know I’m his mom so I’m expected to say that, but I’m telling you I’m not that kind of mom. I’m the kind that, if he didn’t have a good voice, I’d be saying, ‘Honey, I love you, but your voice stinks. You’ve got to be doing something else.’”

That kind of honesty comes through in Trent’s advice to others.

“You’ve got to pursue what’s in your soul,” he said. “That’s what it boils down to. What speaks to you, what you’re passionate about, that’s what you have to pursue.”