Mallory Chipman is no stranger to the Prince Albert arts scene, although her newest act might be.
The Alberta-based singer toured Prince Albert in 2023 as one half of alt-country group The Goddamsels, and will be back in Prince Albert on Thursday, May 9 performing as a solo act.
“It was just a really lovely venue that we played at, and we were really warmly received there, which was so fantastic,” Chipman said during a phone interview from her home in Edmonton. “I remember we stayed with somebody in (Prince Albert) and woke up basically on the edge of this beautiful forest just outside of town. I was like, ‘oh my gosh, I want to come back to this beautiful place,’ so, then I thought, ‘okay, let’s make it happen.”
Wednesday’s show at the Rock Trout Café marks her first solo performance in Saskatchewan since 2017. She arrives with a newly released single called ‘Crow’s Feet’, and a new album ready for release in late summer.
Chipman drew on her feelings about change and having to accept things you can’t change in ‘Crow’s Feet’. The entire song is self-produced, with Chipman recording and mixing it from her own home.
“It was a really fun project for me in that way to be involved in all of those different parts of the process,” she said.
“I wrote it based on some of my own feelings around just growing older, watching people and the City around me change with time, making peace with that, and with the feeling of that happening to one’s self as well,” she added. “I tried to capture that in a way—the ambivalence I feel in a sense that it’s hard to watch some of these things change around you, but at the same time there’s nothing we can really do other than accept and embrace what that brings.”
While Chipman is excited for ‘Crow’s Feet’, the single won’t be on Songs to a Wild God, her new album. Chipman actually recorded that album two years ago while in the studio for a separate project, but held off on releasing it until this year.
The album focuses on connecting to nature and a sense of place, a theme that frequently pops up in Chipman’s work.
“I’m super excited,” she said. “It’s been such a long time coming…. I recorded the EP I released last year called ‘As Though I had Wings’ and in the end I just did them together. We were in the studio already and I had the tunes ready, but wanted to give that (EP) some breathing room to exist on its own before releasing this next one. It’s really exciting because I have been sitting on it for a long time.”
Chipman will perform with special guest Taya Lebel at the Rock Trout Café on Thursday, May 9. The doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the show starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door.
