Southern Avenue Isn't Waiting Its Turn

Memphis doesn't do subtlety, and neither does Southern Avenue. Name a street that runs from the city limits straight into Soulsville — the old home turf of Stax Records — and you've basically declared your mission statement before playing a note.

Memphis doesn't do subtlety, and neither does Southern Avenue. Name a street that runs from the city limits straight into Soulsville — the old home turf of Stax Records — and you've basically declared your mission statement before playing a note.

The band's origin story sounds almost too clean to be true. Guitarist Ori Naftaly left Israel for Memphis in 2013 chasing the International Blues Challenge, fell out of love with his own group, and then met vocalist Tierinii Jackson — a singer who, by his own account, rearranged his entire future the first time he heard her. Her sister Tikyra came in on drums, the chemistry locked immediately, and Southern Avenue was born in 2015. Violinist and vocalist Ava Jackson — the third Jackson sister — later joined, deepening the family thread that now runs through everything the band does.

Stax Records, the label whose old neighborhood gave the band its name, signed them for their self-titled 2017 debut. It hit the Blues charts and stuck around the Americana Airplay Top 30 for half a year — a serious opening statement for a band barely two years old. Grammy nominations followed for 2019's Keep On, then years of relentless touring: Tedeschi Trucks Band, Sheryl Crow, Los Lobos, and a 2024 run on the Outlaw Music Festival Tour alongside Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and John Mellencamp — a bill that reportedly got the notoriously camera-shy Dylan to pose for photos, which tells you plenty about the impression they made.

In 2024, Southern Avenue signed to Alligator Records — as close to a definitive stamp of blues authority as a label can offer. Their Alligator debut, Family, was recorded at Memphis's Royal Studios (Al Green and Ann Peebles' old stomping ground) with Grammy-winning producer John Burk and engineer Boo Mitchell, released in April 2025. Bassist Blake Rhea, who played on Family, died in 2024. His playing is part of the record's foundation. It earned the band their second Grammy nomination, for Best Contemporary Blues Album, announced in November 2025.

Sources:

1. Southern Avenue — Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Avenue_(band)
2. Alligator Records artist page — https://www.alligatorrecords.com/artists/Southern-Avenue/
3. Rock and Blues Muse — https://rockandbluesmuse.com/2025/02/24/southern-avenue-to-release-family-new-album/
4. Relix — https://relix.com/news/detail/southern-avenue-sign-to-alligator-records-detail-label-debut/
5. AllMusic — https://www.allmusic.com/artist/southern-avenue-mn0003582453
6. NPR — 2024 Outlaw Music Festival lineup — https://www.npr.org/2024/02/27/1234145739/willie-nelson-bob-dylan-mellencamp

A note on this article: This piece was researched and drafted with Funknuz AI, then edited, fact-checked, and finalized by our editorial team. All sourcing is linked above.