Canadian singer-songwriter Marshall Dane is a natural born storyteller whose journey has been shaped by a life full of victories and setbacks. He doesn’t shy away from sharing his vulnerabilities and emotions, making him and his music both relatable and heartfelt. His unique blend of country, rock and singer-songwriter has, to date, earned him five nominations for Male Artist of the Year at the Country Music Association of Ontario awards.

What sets Marshall apart is his use of American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with the Deaf community. As the son of a minister, he was raised with a strong sense of compassion and inclusivity. Since learning ASL in 2017, he has been incorporating the language into his performances to break down barriers and make his music accessible.

He co-wrote his new single, “No Need To Speak,” with award-winning singer-songwriter Rosanne Baker Thornley (RBT). “The motive was my appreciation, understanding and conviction that we don’t need words to understand each other. We just need to pay attention, use our eyes, our hearts,” says Marshall. “If there’s someone you love and you need them to know how strongly you feel, that they can count on you in that moment, this song will support you.”

Watch + share the official “No Need To Speak” music video: https://youtu.be/9vpJHY5Bne4

1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? This song was inspired by my relationships within the Deaf community. The values added to my life from learning Sign Language include the desire to stay connected to people visually, looking them in the eyes and letting them know I understand. The decsion to include an ASL interpreter directly in the video as opposed to in a seperated box in the top corner, was to show the intent that this wasn’t an after thought, but rather, the whole thought…this was the intent, to show the Deaf and Hearing communities the bond I feel when using Sign Language.

2. What was the inspiration behind this video (visuals, storyline, etc.)?
   
   After shooting my last video and putting Vera’s interpretation in a frame in the top right corner of the frame, I started to feel like I wanted her directly in the video for this one…maybe all videos, going forward. The location and scene set up was conceptualized by my writing partner Rosanne Baker Thornley. The scene set as a living room couch in the middle of a field with side tables and lamps, set the mood for the conversation between Vera and Myself…that we would stay connected, not turn away from each other, and do our best to understand what the other is saying. I had no idea how beautiful Artem Mykhailetskyi would make the final piece of art look, but it’s exactly what I envisioned. We knew we would have the sun sitting behind the couch at approximately 4pm…and we’d have no sun by 5:25…so we stayed focused and were efficient with our time….runnning back and forth the the vehicles to warm up in between takes.

3. What was the process of making this video?
   
   The video took place on a freezing cold, 40km winds, wintery November day in 2023. With a limited indie budget, we had a crew of 3, myself and Vera (ASL interpreter). With a borrowed farm field and everyone bringing items to recreate a living room scene in the back 40, we rehearsed our plan, and with 5 takes only, we captured the entire video as the sun fell. We had 1 hour and 15 minutes to shoot during the desired sun positioning. Although we gave Artem (Video Director) the instruction to keep Vera’s hands present in the composition of the shot, we let him have free reign on “how to shoot’ her hands…which took the ‘typical’ filming of ASL interpretation from the linear, head on framing usually seen in broadcasts, which led to the beautiful and flowing style that Artem used to capture Veras words as he swept in and out of frame.