Today we’d like to introduce you to Ally Wallace.
Hi Ally, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
As a child, I had always heard stories of my great-grandmother who was a singer much like me. The legend goes that she had the voice of an angel and was so talented that even the Grand Ole Opry wanted her. However, having nine kids and an abusive, controlling husband, being a musician was not an option for her.
Growing up, she always encouraged me to go after my dreams and follow my passion for music. This encouragement, the stories I was told, and even being named after her, inspired me to follow the path I always felt she missed out on. So, I became a striving singer-songwriter.
Singing for as long as I can remember, songwriting since I was 10, and performing my first show on Beale Street at 13, I was on the way to my goal of stardom. This took me to the University of Memphis where I studied music in college. Despite the great success that I had in high school with my music, college was an entirely different ball game.
For the first two years, my self-doubt was debilitating as I felt I was no longer a big fish in a small pond but a small fish ready to be eaten. This took my voice away and the only thing that brought it back was a very rough relationship that revealed to me who I really was and all the things I had gone through to get to this point.
After releasing my first EP, Love and Recovery, based on this tough time in my life, I decided to take on the world once again. I became involved with the Memphis Brand Initiative for a while as an Ambassador and Next Century Memphian. The success I received during this time encouraged me to travel outside of the south for the first time in my life.
Taking a trip to Philadelphia in the summer of 2019, I learned many new lessons about stepping outside of my comfort zone, having faith in the process, and my resilience during it all. On my trip, I got to perform at the West Philly Porchfest which consisted of over 30 different porches hosting musicians for a free, one day music festival.
The West Philly neighborhood and the event reminded me so much of the Cooper Young neighborhood here in Memphis that it blew my mind that Memphis lacked a Porchfest. When I got back, I went to the Cooper-Young Community Association with the idea. They were thrilled by the idea and ready to bring it into being.
Then COVID hit.
It took a year for us to actually begin movement on this project. Within that time I did a lot of self reflection as my whole world came crashing down. Gigs were gone, my work was cancelled, I had to move back in with my parents (a place I never expected to go back to). I had already been into live streaming prior to the pandemic, so I always knew that was an option. However, now living with my parents, our internet speed wouldn’t allow it.
I had to really ask myself for the first time “Who am I without music and performing?” Thankfully, for once, I had all the time in the world to find out. I found that I love psychology and spirituality and science. I made a group of friends online that became my greatest assets as they brought me through those darkest times. I finally found the importance of death and rebirth.
Coming back slowly to music and performing, I was ready when April 2021 finally brought the Cooper-Young Porchfest into being. While on the organizing committee for the entire Porchfest, I also hosted five musicians (not including myself) on my own porch on the corner of Meda. Finally having a sense of physical community once again after a year of being isolated to only internet friends and my immediate family felt like a true saving grace.
The event went so well that we had it again this year and doubled our attendance. Now as I’m back to making and performing music, I’ve had some other amazing successes such as winning the qualifying round for the Tennessee Songwriter’s Week which was held at the Memphis Rock N Soul Museum which I now happily work at.
I’ve released a new EP around the end of last year called Lullabies for Fall, and intend on releasing more music before the summer ends. So please stay tuned on all the streaming platforms.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
From the self doubt to the loss of friends, brief homelessness and financial instability, nothing has been easy. But I got some good songs out of it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m best known as an avant-garde singer-songwriter. I take common instruments like the ukulele and put my own spin on them with strange progressions, philosophical questions, and tech toys like loop pedals. My voice is technically my primary instrument as it is the most developed through training, but my songwriting and instrumentation is just as crucial as my voice.
How do you think about luck?
It’s been strange. Even when I thought I was having really bad luck and everything that could go wrong was going wrong, it always seemed to bring about something that would eventually be really good. For instance, the time I slept in my car in Philly and the devastation it brought is what inspired me to write my song “What Do I Mean Here” which is the song I won the Tennessee Songwriters Competition with over two years later.
Of course, there have also been many times where good luck has been there for me at the onset. For instance, the numerous amount of times I’ve just been in the right place at the right time to find an opportunity or meet someone who would be a great influence in my life is more than I can account for.
Contact Info:
- Email: allywallacemusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: @a.lexandri.a
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC68S41Jim-xu6PHeTPohgAw
Image Credits:
Elizabeth Butler and Cameron Mitchell
