Video premiere: “Vigil” by Aunt Vicki

Based in Asheville after stints in Northern Michigan, New Orleans and Maine, the married songwriter duo of Erin Campbell and Lee Dyer craft high-quality indie rock under the moniker Aunt Vicki.

Arriving a month after the catchy “Lights Out,” “Vigil” marks the band’s second single from its forthcoming album, Love in the Dark, which is currently slated for release on Jan. 7, 2022. The bluesy rock track features rip-roaring guitar solos and confident lead vocals from Dyer and Campbell, the latter of whom knew she wanted a labyrinth in the video immediately after she finished writing the song in their tiny New Orleans apartment.

“The song is about setting intentions and praying for the ones you love — and being caught in a maze, wandering towards the center,” Dyer says. “Everyone being on their own path in the same struggle was a perfect visual metaphor for the lyrical motifs.”

Campbell’s vision — which also included candles, smoke and costuming appropriate for a funeral — was realized at the labyrinth owned by Riverlink, located next to the Cotton Mill Studios on Riverside Drive. Her dream of capturing the concept from above likewise came to fruition when director Laura Boswell, whom she and Dyer had known primarily as a singer/songwriter, brought in her expertise with drone photography.

“Laura is incredibly easy to work with — very accommodating and has a good eye for both filming and editing. She has a knack for keeping things going without stressing anyone out,” Dyer says. “It was her idea to follow Erin with the handheld [camera] while we all walked, which adds to the sense of continual movement and the passage of time that ties the whole video together.”

In the build-up to releasing Love in the Dark, Aunt Vicki plans to share one more single, “Mother, I,” on Friday, Nov. 5, and has numerous acoustic duo gigs booked. But to bring out the record’s full rock band sound, Campbell and Dyer have recruited Michael O’Shea (who’s also mixing and mastering the album) on drums, are filling out the rest of the lineup and busy rehearsing and booking shows.

And, yes, there is a real-life Aunt Vicki — two, in fact.

“Vicki is one of Erin’s actual aunts who used to have a band,” Dyer explains. “When Erin was little, she would watch Vicki perform in a tight black dress and giant hoop earrings with crazy hair, singing songs like [Alannah Myles’s] ‘Black Velvet.’ We figured she’s an appropriate symbol for a band that wants to invoke the dark feminine side of rock and roll. In a funny twist of fate, Michael also has an Aunt Vicki.”

To keep up with the band’s doings, visit avl.mx/akx.