If you haven’t heard of Corey Lou and Da Village yet, consider this your official introduction and your sign to get in on the ground floor of something special. This Memphis-born, funk-soaked, soul-drenched musical movement is doing exactly what Memphis music has always done best: bringing people together and making them feel something.
We sat down with Corey Lou, the singer, songwriter, and force of nature behind the band, to talk Memphis roots, his new single, and why it takes DaVillage.
A Country Boy From Woodstock With Memphis in His Soul
Corey Lou grew up in Woodstock, Tennessee, just outside Memphis, but the 901 shaped everything about him. He’s a self-described Memphis lover through and through.
“Corey Lou is a singer songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee, born and raised, more specifically in Woodstock, Tennessee. I'm a country boy. I love eating wings. I love Memphis. I love the Memphis Grizzlies. I love music. I love Stax. And I have a band called Corey Lou in the Village that performs all around Memphis.”
Corey Lou attended the Stax Music Academy from 2006 to 2013, soaking up the legacy of one of the most iconic record labels in American music history. You can hear Stax in every horn blast and every groove his band lays down. The Bar-Kays, Otis Redding, Earth, Wind & Fire (whose Maurice White, by the way, is from Memphis) all lives in Corey Lou’s music.
And then there’s his performance style, which owes a debt to James Brown’s crowd control and Elvis Presley’s magnetic stage presence. Oh, and don’t forget the Skip to the Lou! This is his signature shout dance that started with a spontaneous moment at Stax as a kid and never really stopped. If you see it live, you’ll understand.
Nearly 3,000 People at Overton Park Shell? Yeah, That Happened.
If you need proof that Memphis is ready for what Corey Lou and DaVillage are cooking, look no further than their 2025 show at the Overton Park Shell, one of the most iconic outdoor stages in the city.
"From the video playing, to my band playing on the downbeat right after the video got done, to me walking out there and seeing at least 60 people on the concrete that I actually knew. Family, people from Evergreen Presbyterian Church, Memphis Grizzlies Fam, Stax Music Academy, my Woodstock Fam. The energy was crazy."
Close to 3,000 people showed up. Young, old, Black, white, Asian, Latino. Everybody dancing, nobody worrying. At one point, Corey Lou asked the crowd to hold up their phone lights, looked out at the sea of glow, and felt it all click into place.
Oh, and his dad snuck onstage with a tambourine and his hat turned to the side. Security tried to stop him, but Corey Lou waved him right through. That’s DaVillage, baby.
Performing on a stage that has seen Elvis and countless legends, Corey Lou said the experience gave him a new level of confidence.
The Village Is You, Too
DaVillage is not exclusive. Not only is it the band. It’s also the fans and you.
"It's a vehicle to bring people together to fellowship, to be your authentic self and have no worries. To be able to dance and let go of all the troubles, all the worries of the world and just have a good time in this space right now where we in."
Follow Corey Lou and Corey Lou and DaVillage on Instagram and keep an eye out for upcoming shows, EP announcements, and everything DaVillage has in store. Memphis, let’s keep showing up for our own.
