“Shallow Water” makes waves at WhySound

Ally Dean, a singer-songwriter from Surrey, British Columbia, filled WhySound with heartfelt melodies and warm energy on Dec. 6 with a performance celebrating her debut album “Shallow Water.”

Dean is a 28-year-old musician who splits her time between her home province and Salt Lake City.  

Dean said she appreciates the Salt Lake City music scene. 

“Everyone’s really supportive of each other, and everyone is really down to go to shows,” Dean said. “It just feels really warm, and I’ve always felt welcomed.” 

Dean got connected to WhySound through friends in Salt Lake City. She played the venue for the first time at Whyfest in the spring and plays shows when she’s in town.  

“I released my album at the end of September, and the show on Friday was the closest that I could get to that date,” Dean said. “So it’s a chance to share my album with my friends from Salt Lake and in Logan as well.” 

After opening sets from Bella Woods and Antique Loft, two artists Dean admires, she went on with some friends accompanying her.  

“Playing on stage with Jonas and my friend Josh and my friend Taylor and having that friendship on stage for the songs was really awesome,” Dean said.

Dean said the show went well and appreciated the crowd’s energy.  

“There were some people singing the songs, which was crazy. People were really supportive,” Dean said. “It just felt like everything came together that night. I felt like so much love was in the room.”  

Many of the songs on Dean’s debut album were written in 2021, but there are others she wrote five or six years ago. 

“A bunch of times people actually reached out — friends or people in the music scene here — to record it with me,” Dean said. “Everything kind of kept falling through, and I felt like it would maybe never happen.” 

Dean ended up recording the album on Vancouver Island in her friend Colin Stewart’s studio, and her boyfriend Jonas Swanson helped with the instrumentals. 

“Jonas and I were basically the band in the recording,” Dean said.

According to Swanson, getting to be a part of the music process with Dean is something he values greatly. 

“It’s really special,” Swanson said. “We’re together — she’s my girlfriend, and it’s cool to have a creative relationship with her too.” 

Dean is also in a band called Sleepy Gonzales but has shifted her focus to her solo work. 

“I was never the main songwriter in the band, even though I was singing,” Dean said. “So doing things as Ally Dean — it feels like I’m really able to express myself more and share my words and my thoughts and explore my creativity more fully.” 

Dean started singing at a young age but didn’t start writing music until she was an adult. She cites getting her heart broken as the catalyst for getting into music. 

“It felt like a really slow introduction to getting into it, but I always had a connection to music because I danced growing up,” Dean said. “So I felt it in my body that way and expressed myself that way.” 

Dean said her biggest inspiration for her work is spending time with people she likes and consuming other people’s art.  

“It sparks something in me that goes, ‘Oh, maybe I could do something that makes someone else feel like this,’” Dean said. “It’s hard to know exactly what inspires me sometimes, but I think it’s just when I’m most present. Anything can inspire me if I let it.” 

Swanson said he admires Dean’s patient approach to songwriting.  

“​​I really love the way she approaches things lightly and makes an effort to have fun while exploring deep and sometimes painful feelings,” Swanson said. “She’s authentic, honest and has very little ego in the way when it comes to her expression as an artist and as a person in general.” 

Dean hopes to tour often in the next year of her music career.  

“I hate being stagnant,” Dean said. “I’ve been on tour before, and I just love waking up somewhere new almost every day.” 

She also hopes to collaborate more with her friends.  

“Even though Jonas helped me make my album, he wasn’t writing the songs with me, and we’ve talked about writing more together,” Dean said. “And then there are other friends that I want to collaborate with and see what happens. I haven’t done a ton of that, and it just sounds really exciting.” 

Dean said a video recording of her WhySound show will be coming soon. Her music can be found on Spotify, and she is on Instagram @peanutbuttertoastt.