Southern Avenue

Family

Alligator Records

Raised in a tight-knit and religious family in Memphis, Tierinii, Tikyra, and Ava Jackson sang and listened to nothing but gospel music. The three sisters, along with their other siblings, their father on guitar, and their mother as the band leader on the organ, made up their church band. Constantly singing and playing together gave the girls an unbreakable bond. They weren’t allowed to listen to secular music until they reached their late teens.

Ori Naftaly, grew up in Israel, listening to American soul, roots and blues, and learning to play guitar. In 2013, he headed to Memphis with his Israeli band to represent his country in the International Blues Challenge. According to Naftaly it wasn’t just a move but “it was destiny in the making”. When he first saw Tierinii, the city’s premiere vocalpowerhouse he saw his entire future flash in front of him. When Tikyra joined on drums, locking in the group’s unmistakable chemistry, Southern Avenue was born. Tierinii declares “we’ve been a family ever since”. The bond strengthened even further when Ori and Tierinii fell in love and married.

Southern Avenue is named after the famous street that runs through the center of Memphis, leading right past the original Stax Records. It was still a surprise when they became the first Memphis band signed to the reformed Stax label. The praise they received resulted in winning a 2017 Blues Music Award for Best Emerging Artist. Their follow-up recording 2019’s “Keep On” on Concord Music received a Grammy nomination. In 2021 they released “Be The Love You Want” on Renew Records produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos. They have been nominated for the BMA for Band of The Year in 2021, 2022, and 2023; and have toured with The Tedeshi Trucks Band, Sheryl Crow, Los Lobos, Galactic, and many others. They have performed alongside Willie Nelson, John Mellancamp and Bob Dylan.

“Family” was produced by John Burk; and recorded and mixed by Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell at the Royal Studios in Memphis. The band includes lead vocalist Tierinii, lead vocals; Tikyra, drums and backing vocals; Ava, violin, percussion and backing vocals; and Ori Naftaly, guitars. Other musicians include keyboardist Jeremy Powell; Blake Rhea, bass; and special guest Luther Dickinson, bass, on four tracks. Most of the songs are written by Tierinii, Tikyra, and Ori; but one is written with the addition of Adam Hambrick; two with the addition of Dylan and Marshall Altman; two more with the addition of Dickinson, and one with the addition of Peter Shurkin, Alden Witt, and Candace Carpenter.

“Family” opens with “Long Is The Road” as Tierinii sings “Long is the road, broken but he got soul, heavy is the heart, but the beat ain’t stopping, he hit rock bottom, but he keeps on rocking. Fire raining down on a poor man’s dream, devil in a dress she ain’t what she seem, loving on his best man, she likes to creep, hitched a ride to Bluff City, chasing a ring, a debt to his heart left him without a dime, so he put it in a song and turned water to wine. Long is the road, but he keeps on rockin’.”

“Upside” “Don’t you carry all them troubles around, leave them bags but not your pride on the ground, don’t you hold on to mistakes that you made, give no power to the price of the game, don’t waste your time, on things you can’t change…hey, find me on the upside…every day’s a new day”. On “Found A Friend In You”, “I was saved by the graces, I was saved by love, saved by the laughs, how they lift me up, I found a friend in you…I was saved by the graces…I found a friend in you”.

“So Much Love”, “You may find it on a Sunday, in your favorite robe or coffee in your bed, and there it goes again on Friday, with a bass line you can’t get out of your head. And it sounds like doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, it may hard to believe, open your heart and you’ll see…hey, darling”. The emotive groove-heavy, guitar driven sound will inspire you. “Family” is a forty-one second interlude.

“Late Night Get Down” Tierinii chants “I missed the night train, the streets was roaring heavy, I was followed by a drunk man, and my heart started to tarry, he grabbed me by the arm pulled me into the crowd, per his request, all he wanted was a late night get down, I had to give it to ’em…late night get down”. On “Rum Boogie”, “We had them all shook up, hit ’em hard, lit ’em up, from the stage to the crowd outside, brought the house down, had the party loud, Rum Boogie was rocking wild. Down home kicking, on a Beale Street mission, came a brother on the keys, man, when he hit it, set fire to the B-3, and we were on the rise, riding out the high, we were on the rise, riding out the high, all night long”.

“Gotta Keep The Love”, “I’m well acquainted with your kind, throwing your problems in my light, in your mood you’re picking fights, spread the word, just telling lies, it always seems that you’re the victim, and every story told is fiction, come on brother, rise above, I see the light in your eyes, let it fill you up inside, gotta keep the love”. On “Sisters”, written with Dickinson, “I got a sister to birth the dream, a sister to keep it queen, a sister to hype me up, when my bad ain’t bad enough, If I ain’t got my sisters…sisterhood is all I know…bad just ain’t bad enough, If I ain’t got my sisters. “Kept On Moving On” is a thirty-eight second interlude.

“Back To What Feels Right”, “Free up your mind, your move, do what you need, to get down, get up, new groove new you, new feel…back to what feels right, free up your mind”. “Flying” Tierinii belts “Momma had a fear of flying, she couldn’t let go, generational curses, will follow you down the road, they’ll haunt you in your highs and bury you down below, but I gotta fly, yeah, I gotta fly, if I die, at least I’ll die flying”. “Believe” is another forty-eight second interlude. On the closer “We Are” again with Dickinson on bass, Tierinii croons “This here is mine, and it’s yours too, In all our glory, power to you, and in this moment, we stand in truth, we’re here together, a force to love on forever, this is our story, it’s tried and true, when we affirm ourselves, we write the future, we are love, we are peace, we are whole,
we are healing…we are love”.

The Blues Music Award winning, and Grammy nominated “Southern Avenue” plays original Memphis blues, modern soul, and uplifting gospel-infused roots music. On “Family” , Southern Avenue’s fourth album and first for Alligator Records, the band unleashes a memorable performance. This is a passionate emotion-packed album. With a massive tour planned, people across the country and around the world will have the chance to experience Southern Avenue live, and become part of their expanding, uplifting, and exhilarating musical family.

Richard Ludmerer

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