Howling Back with Shep Treasure’s New “Samantha” Music Video
“She was my best friend for a long time, especially because I moved a few times through middle school, so kept going through periods of time without human friends,” recalled Sabrina Nichols of Shep Treasure about the beloved dog of her childhood, “but that was fine, because I’d hang out with Samantha.”
Like its namesake, Shep Treasure’s “Samantha” the song is fuzzy and short (relatively speaking, compared to all other dogs and other songs, at least) — a fan-favorite demo originally released in 2018 on the Rochester, NY songwriter’s demo ⁽ᵃᵃᵃ ᵈⁱʳᵉᶜᵗᵒʳʸ ᵐⁱˣᵗᵃᵖᵉ #¹ ᵃᶜᵒᵘˢᵗⁱᶜ⁾ that just today finds its way to major music streaming services in its raw demo format, alongside a new music video featuring footage of Samantha the dog.
“Samantha was my old dog,” Nichols said. “She was an Australian shepherd and corgi mix we got from a shelter when I lived in Indiana when I was 9. Her father was a purebred Australian Shepard and her mother lived on a farm nearby, so she ran around stray for her first two years. I don’t think she liked music or tv, but she liked to be constantly petted and would be annoyed if you stopped. She was really old though and full of energy till the last second.”
She was the kind of character that Wormbrain World is told would be most likely to hang out with Donkey from Shrek, Lassie, Tramp [from Lady and the Tramp], and maybe Hobbes (“from that newspaper comic”).
Photo courtesy of the artist
“I made it using words she recognized like treat, eat, out, and ‘I love you’ so she would know it’s for her and could listen”
“I made it using words she recognized like treat, eat, out, and ‘I love you’ so she would know it’s for her and could listen,” Nichols tells Wormbrain, about the track’s simple and straightforward lyrics. “We used to scream ‘I love you’ at her and she would start howling back the same amount of syllables.”
“This song was recorded on my old iPhone using my favorite green guitar that is full of sand. It was a demo, but I don’t think it could be ever recorded better than this, so this is the final song.” Beyond its original as-is state, Nichols also mentioned, “James Keegan [of fellow Flour City project Kitchen] finessed the streaming master.”
Full name: Samantha Jane Nichols, the titular hound lived a long, great life (as seems to be well-documented in the “Samantha” music video) doing the things that she loved — getting her belly scratched, going outside, and eating cold cuts and dog treats — before sadly passing away in April 2020.
W.W: What is Wormbrain?
SN: Wormbrain is the sound you hear when your ears fall asleep a few seconds before your mind does.
W.W: Thank you for sharing with Wormbrain.
Shep Treasure’s “samantha” is out now self-released through the Rochester, NY artist’s Bandcamp and elsewhere.
