The Goddamsels explore sisterhood and friendship on debut CD

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The Goddamsels are all about friendship.

 

 The Edmonton meets Montreal alternative country duo will be playing the Slice, Wednesday, Aug. 17.

 

 The duo, Montreal based Frédrique “Freddi” MacDougall and Mallory Chipman met while playing with the house band of popular Edmonton venue the Blue Chair, and found an instant connection.

The Goddamsels play the Slice, Aug. 17. photo submitted

 MacDougall was playing with the band  in 2011 and Chipman joined in 2015. They decided to form the Goddamsels in 2017 , finding common inspiration in modern acts like First Aid Kit and country artists Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton and Emmy Lou Harris plus the Chicks.

 

“ I also grew up listening to people like Lucinda Williams,” she said.

 

  MacDougall loves singing with Chipman.

“It’s great . It’s a lot of fun. I  love the way she can sing harmonies. She sings just the right harmony. She’s so talented,” said MacDougall from Montreal.

 

“Our voices blend so well together. She sings higher and my voice is lower,” she said.

 

“For years people said they liked how our voices complemented each other so we decided to start a group together. And then the pandemic happened,”  she said, adding they had just started to write music together. 

 

“ It’s challenging, but it also opened up a creative space for new narrative in country music,” she said, adding they started working on new music in fall 2020.

 

“We started working together around the same time I moved to Montreal. So we did  a lot of FaceTime and sending texts with lyric ideas,” MacDougall said.

 

 In August 2021, they got in the studio with producer Scott Franchuk, who has worked with a lot of popular groups including Scenic Route to Alaska.

 

“ I do a lot of back and forth from Montreal to sing with her,” she continued.

While she was born in Alberta, MacDougall has French -Canadian roots and wanted to explore them by moving to Montreal.

 

“It’s a beautiful city, but I also way love coming back to Alberta . There is so much talent here,“ he said.

 

They begin a quick Alberta Tour at the Slice in support of their debut EP “ Wayward Daughter.”

 

 They will be backed by Scenic Route to Alaska bassist Murray Wood and drummer Shea Connor and guitarists Kyle Shaboda and Brett Hansen.

 

Their lyrics explore a range of subjects

 

“The first song,‘Wayward Daughter’ is about our friendship, love and sisterhood,” she said.

 

“Other songs are about grace and taking care  of each other. Rollanda is about jazz musician Rollanda Lee who passed away. She was a family friend of Mallory’s,” she said, adding  they also explore a range of styles.

““WaywardDaughter’ is more country, ‘Catch Myself’ is more pop and “Sorry” is more of a rock song,” she said.

 

 

 MacDougall is looking forward to playing  Lethbridge.

 

“I’ve never played there, but It has a really vibrant arts community like a lot of smaller cities do. And Shaela Miller is from Lethbridge,” she said.

 

 The Goddamsels play the Slice at 8 p.m.Wednesday, Aug. 17.

“We have about two hours of music, so we’ll probably split the show into two 45 minute sets,” she said.

 

“ We’re just excited to be able to play again,”she said, adding an Eastern Canadian tour is also in the works, though nothing has been finalized yet.

 The Goddamsels play the Slice, Wednesday, Aug. 17.

— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor

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Last Updated ( Friday, 19 August 2022 11:47 )