Alberta musician Devin Cooper has heard a lot about Prince Albert, and hopes his first trip will be a memorable one.
The Country Music Alberta award winner has distant relatives from the Prince Albert area, but has never visited. He’ll be in Prince Albert on Wednesday performing at the Rock Trout Café along with Mariya Stokes as part of the Stripped Down (but Fully Clothed) Tour.
Cooper said he’s excited to make the trip.
“The shows have been great. It’s been really fun,” he said.
“We’re kind of feeling out the room, seeing how each room feels, and putting a show together that’s going to resonate with that room the best. Every night is a unique experience for everybody who’s coming to the show.”
Cooper arrives in Prince Albert after a successful summer. He nabbed six nominations at the 2025 Country Music Alberta Awards—more than any other solo artist—and a new single. He said it was a huge honour to receive so many nominations.
“It’s incredibly humbling,” said Cooper, who was named Horizon Male Artist of the Year at the 2023 awards. “Coming up, (there are) all these people in the industry I’ve looked up to as mentors and friends and working to strive towards things that they’ve also achieved, so then to be acknowledged and recognized by your peers is a really cool thing. It’s such an honour every single time, regardless of winning the award or just being nominated.”
Cooper’s summer single, ‘Memories That Made Us’ has an ‘80s anthem rock feel inspired by Tom Petty and Bryan Adams. Cooper said those two artists made a big impression on him when he was growing up, and he thought that musical style fit the song well.
“‘Memories that Made Us’ is such a reminiscing song, looking back on the past and looking back on the last decade of my life,” he said. “We wanted to tie into that nostalgic feel and that nostalgic sound.”
Cooper will also be playing music from his 22-track album ‘Good Things: Deluxe Edition’, which he released last year. He also plans to perform some new music he spent the last few months working on.
“(I’ll) kind of beta-test them with the crowd, see how the crowd responding to them, see what people like, see what’s resonating with me,” he said. “That’s also a really fun part of this tour. Because it’s stripped down—just us and our acoustic guitars—we can try out new stuff and change things each night.
“There’s a ton of new songs that have been written and now we’re just going through and trying them all out and seeing what resonates with us and seeing what resonates with all the listeners as well.”
Cooper is headlining the Prince Albert stop on Stripped Down, but the tour has been a combined effort with Stokes, another Alberta musician who earned national recognition in 2024 as a semi-finalist in SiriusXM’s Top of the Country competition.
The two musicians alternate headlining the tour in different cities. Cooper said it makes for a more efficient schedule, and gives them both chances to connect with new audiences.
“Mariya and I are both at the same level in our careers,” he said. “Each of us have different fan bases in different markets. We thought if we head out and we play a tonne of different markets, we’ll be able to alternate who has the bigger draw in each market. It’s a great way to chance up the show each night.”
Stripped Down (But Fully Clothed), an acoustic tour with Devin Cooper and Mariya Stokes, stops at the Rock Trout Café on Wednedsay, Oct. 29. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the show starting at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $10 at the door. Seating is first come, first serve.
