Glasgow Songwriter Round – Mallory Chipman, Ursula Grant, Maddisun, Steven Bamidele – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut – Glasgow – January 26, 2026.
Written by celtic music radio on January 29, 2026
I took a sidestep from Celtic Connections to attend a “songwriters in the round” event at the legendary King Tut’s venue. My initial motivation was to hear Canadian artist Mallory Chipman who had mightily impressed two years ago at the Danny Kyle Open Stage where she was performing as half of the Goddamsels – whom I subsequently featured on my radio show.
So, while expecting great things from Mallory (she did not disappoint), I was unfamiliar with the other three performers on the night and was very pleasantly surprised to hear three young songwriters all of whom deserve a bright future and a long musical career.
Just a wee word about the venue: this was my first time at King Tut’s – famed for being the launching ground for Oasis and many others – and it was not what I was expecting. Surprisingly small and intimate, a well-lit stage, excellent sound team, a relaxing atmosphere, and not a bad drop of IPA! I did, however, note the free earplugs available at the bar to help patrons cope with the rockier atmosphere of band gigs. It really is quite small, and I can only imagine the sound pressure! The Songwriter Round is a monthly event at the venue and is designed to showcase new and emerging artists.
Each performer had four songs, and Mallory acted as host. Showing canny professionalism, she began the evening with an atmospheric sing-along number that warmed up the audience nicely. Big Sky Country, evoked Canada’s wide open spaces and prairie skies and was originally recorded with a 13 person choir – the audience in this case taking on the choir role. Twin Stars was a ballad about a friend who had miscarried while bearing twins. I have to comment here on Mallory’s gift for a lyric: this was profoundly moving with nary a hint of mainstream Nashville schmaltz.
Her next two songs were a showcase for Mallory’s formidable vocal technique. Love Song no.1 was written for her husband (sitting next to me) with a real touch of jazz showing in its unconventional but smoothly rendered 5/4 time signature and a superb scat-singing section. Her closing number, Sing Me Home, was an in memoriam for an aunt who had died young. Towards the end of the song, Mallory constructed audience-astonishing rising pyramids of notes that were just stunning to listen to.
She was followed by Ursula Grant (expertly backed on guitar by Rob McLaughlin aka Shorthouse) whose deceptively young appearance hides a lot of musical experience. Ursula has already toured abroad, appeared on bills with major artists, and has obviously learned a lot from her home background as she is the daughter of renowned Glaswegian singer-songwriter James Grant.
Ursula’s first two songs were delivered with a sensitivity to dynamics and a melodic feel that impressed. Woman on Fire had a very relevant political theme inspired by learning about how so many women across the world had no authority or choice over their own bodies and minds. Caroline, the name, comes from a Franco-German root meaning “free woman” and Caroline, the song, was about embodying a female ‘alter-ego’ when you don’t feel confident in yourself. It sounds like a psychological concept, but was utterly lovely and evoked in me a memory of Janis Ian and her worldwide hit At Seventeen which had a similar theme and quality.
Ursula’s second set kicked off with a “growing-up” song. Goodbye 57 was about her much-loved childhood home, a thank you song, for keeping her safe and happy throughout those years. Little Dove followed: another song about home, but this time the home one finds in good friendship with people whom, as in Goodbye 57, one can depend on. Lovely stuff, beautifully delivered – check out Ursula Grant if she comes your way, you won’t regret it.
Next was another Canadian singer-songwriter, Maddisun, who has been touring with Mallory. Her first two numbers were mainstream country and very much in the vein of Dolly Parton. She opened with The Pages, title track from her new album, a song about her musical life on the road, the stories arising, and her enjoyment of the moment. Her voice was strong and impressive and there’s a theatricality about her delivery that really communicates. She followed with Pumpkin Pie, a definitely catchy little song about unrequited love that featured a cheeky wee kazoo solo. A sure crowd-pleaser.
In the second half, her songs moved a touch away from the country mainstream, displaying increased originality and with themes that showed a more personal inspiration. An open D tuning supplied Basil, a song about fresh blossoming love, with a warmth that fitted its theme perfectly. Moving and comforting at the same time.
The next song, Natural People, was prefaced by a fantastic story dealing with her unorthodox upbringing and how she and her family got an upcoming spot on the Canadian version of the Family Feud game show. The song itself was about a summer she spent in Saskatchewan with her family living on a prairie hippie homestead. She described it as having a Dolly Parton-ish storytelling theme, but I heard it as really bringing out her own essence as a gifted songwriter. A song like this makes me predict a significant future for Maddisun. Who knows? Maybe Family Feud will be her big break.
Steven Bamidele had flown up from London for the event and, after his set, the packed audience at King Tut’s were, I’m sure, very happy that he’d done so. Steven was musically adventurous, displaying jazz and samba elements that, for me, recalled aspects of Joni Mitchell, Glasgow’s own John Martyn, and a vocal technique and sound that recalled Sam Cooke (of which, more later). His four songs were all from his weird and wonderfully themed concept album, The Crash, which follows a nameless young man, who falls in love with an alien lady, after her family’s spaceship crash lands in his small town. 10 points for originality.
His opener – Exoskeleton (brilliant title!) – dealt with the couple’s growing closer and immediately made me aware that Steven is someone who soulfully pushes the musical and vocal envelopes further than most. The Fool provided the afore-mentioned touch of samba while the fool in question was the suite’s overly negative male protagonist. These two, sound-wise, evoked memories for me of Ms Mitchell’s Mingus release.
Nichiyoubi is Japanese for Sunday/Day of the Sun and, in this case, was a song inspired initially by his own girlfriend, but tailored to the story to show the growth of the couple’s love. The vocal delivery and guitar work here would , in my not-so-humble opinion, have fitted nicely into John Martyn’s Solid Air album. Very impressive. His closer, Truman, revisited the young man’s doubts and also casts a bemused eye over the technologically obsessed world to which we’ve become accustomed.
I mentioned the touches of Sam Cooke in Steven’s delivery. This was really underlined in the group finale when Steven took the lead on Sam’s A Change Is Gonna Come. His voice just soared, and the ladies provided powerful harmony back-up.
A wonderful evening and an encouraging demonstration that young musicians and writers continue to uphold traditions of melody and real lyrics in their work.
BOB LESLIE
https://www.mallorychipmanmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ursula.grant.73/
