Victoria Dowdy – Memphis Flyer

Happy Halloween from Music Video Monday!

We’ve got a suitably spooky selection for Samhain, a tale of witchcraft and devilry from Memphis chanteuse Kathy Zhou. You’ve seen her on keys at Zebra Lounge, and now she’s ready to reveal her own music.

“’Strange Child’ is an upbeat, spooky, theatrical retelling of a nightmare I had as a child,” Zhou says. “The nightmare takes place on a movie-set-like landscape and features a mystical witch, innocent animals, and my younger self.

“As the song progresses, chaos ensues when the witch gets a subtle eerily fiery attitude and decides to wreak havoc upon the poor creatures around her. The song is powered by my piano and vocal narration, and features a talented team of local artists — Alice Hasen on violin and flute, Victoria Dowdy on background vocals and electric guitar, and Dee Torrell on bass. It also features L.A.-based drummer Sarah Mori.”

The video filmed at Ardent Studios by director Nolan Dean. Take a look!

If you’d like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.

Oakwalker’s song “Future Lover” has the easygoing lilt of a Laurel Canyon ballad from the 1970s, but listen to the lyrics and you’ll hear a uniquely twenty-first century sentiment. Singer/songwriter Victoria Dowdy says she “…wrote the song in a stream-of-consciousness style about the financial and existential anxiety that often ruins the societal plans and standards that are expected of Millennials. It hits on the themes of working-class people’s anxiety about making a living being higher on their list of concerns than finding a partner, or at least on par with it.”

The song was recorded at Sun Studios (you’ll see Dowdy sporting the iconic logo shirt in the video) by Crockett Hall and mastered by Matt Qualls. Dowdy and Ethan Baker, the core of the group, were joined by bassist Tyler Marberry and drummer Graham Winchester.

Filmmaker Yubu Kazungu directed the video, which puts Dowdy behind the bar at Midtown’s favorite dive, the Lamplighter.

“Future Lover was a joy to shoot. The main focus was to capture Oakwalker (Victoria and Ethan) in their natural element,” says Kazungu. “Their chemistry together on stage is beyond captivating, and I wanted viewers to experience that while watching the video. The rest of the narrative written by Victoria and Ethan played out especially well in the dive bar atmosphere provided by
the Lamplighter. Working with musicians who understand who they are and what they’re about, makes any director’s work easier!”

“He made the video on a short deadline and did a fantastic job,” says Dowdy. Take a look!

If you’d like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.