On their new record, Be the Love You Want, Southern Avenue blend the classic sound of their Memphis roots with a fresh dose of optimism and resilience that’s tethered to the 21st century. 

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Southern Avenue vocalist Tieirnii Jackson and guitarist Ori Naftaly are trying to recall the first song they actually wrote together. It may have been “Wildflower,” off their self-titled, Stax debut, or it may have been “What Did I Do,” which appears on the same 2017 LP. 

Whichever came first, the important thing is that these two musicians—Israeli native Naftaly and Memphis-born Jackson—somehow found one another at the Home of the Blues, and quickly became the first Memphis band signed to the legendary Stax label in over 40 years.

They’ve won over some high-level boosters since that first chance encounter too. Jeff Kollath, the executive director of the Stax Museum, once went so far as to say, “[Southern Avenue] are an authentic representation of Memphis music and are phenomenal ambassadors of the ‘Stax sound’ and for the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.”

And listening to the band’s down[1]and-dirty sound, it’s clear that they’re more than ready to forge their own path, ushering in a brand-new era of Memphis soul.

Southern Avenue’s current lineup is filled out by keyboardist Jeremy Powell, bassist Evan Sarver and Jackson’s sister Tikyra, who is a maven behind the drum kit. Simultaneously making inroads on the jam and soul circuits, the group has quickly risen through the ranks of the live music world, blending their classic rock[1]and-soul sound with a dynamic, festival-approved live spirit.

Sometimes Jackson brings in the lyrics and Naftaly will supply the melody; other times, the guitarist uses his instrument to translate the music that pours out of the vocalist’s mind. 

“It varies,” Naftaly says. “And it’s good because there’s no one way to do it. There’s no one way to rock-and-roll.”

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Southern Avenue’s third album—Be The Love You Want—dropped in late August via Renew/BMG and, according to Jackson, it’s among their most organic collaborations to date.

“There was a lot less pressure; there were no deadlines,” she explains. 

In fact, quite a few of their songs, like “Push Now” and “Heathen Hearts,” were actually written back in 2019—alongside North Mississippi Allstars drummer Cody Dickinson—mere weeks after Southern Avenue released their Grammy-nominated sophomore effort, Keep On. 

Thinking back on those free-form sessions, Naftaly asserts that “the best time to write” is directly after finishing a project.

“You’re so far out from the next one that you kind of have that freedom to just write,” he says. “You are writing for the sake of writing.”

The members of Southern Avenue excel at a style of music that is usually only found in choice vintage record stores or classic Southern dive bars—a blend of warm keyboard sounds, wailing guitars, syncopated percussion and heavenly vocals.

And, while the band has been able to successfully win over the organic-pop sect while opening for Jason Mraz on the road, new selections like “Push Now,” “Move Into the Light,” “Love You Nice and Slow,” “Let’s Get It Together” and “Pressure” also seem tailor-made to combat the darkness of the pandemic era. 

“It’s this divine timing because a lot of the lyrical content is very uplifting and encouraging,” Jackson says of the new record. “And, surprisingly, it wasn’t inspired by COVID. But, at a time when people need to hear this positivity the most, we have this record that was written to encourage people.”

Jackson is particularly proud of the vocal arrangements on Be the Love You Want’s penultimate track, “Too Good to Be True.” Through some gorgeous harmonies, she explores the jazzier side of Southern Avenue, offering a respite from the high[1]energy, take-no-prisoner vocals that she’s used to serving up song after song. (“I’m normally just singing my heart out and screaming my head off,” she chuckles.)

“Fences,” on the other hand, is what Jackson proudly deems as her “Mariah Carey moment.”

“I’m really excited to start playing ‘Fences’ live because it’s a ballad,” she says with a grin, a few weeks before Southern Avenue’s run with Mraz kicked off. “I’m a girl, and I love the love songs and the ballads. And so that one’s pretty special.”

Be the Love You Want is also rife with collaboration, including the aforementioned co-writes with Dickinson.

Over time, the drummer and his North Mississippi Allstars bandmate/brother Luther have become fixtures in Southern Avenue’s orbit. In 2017, the North Mississippi Allstars invited Southern Avenue to support them on their Prayer for Peace tour, and Luther appeared on the ensemble’s self-titled debut. Jackson and Tikyra also contributed to the North Mississippi Allstars’ 2019 set, Up and Rolling, which received a Grammy nomination.

“They just bring a chemistry that we probably wouldn’t find with anybody else,” Jackson says of the Dickinsons. “We both have that Hill Country sound, the roots. But they also expand their sound in so many different ways. And I think the magic about working with them is that we get so much about each other’s style. When we create together, the chemistry brings everything to another level.”

“The Dickinsons are Memphis royalty,” Naftaly adds. “Jim Dickinson, their dad, is as big as ever in Memphis. He is considered a legend. [Luther and Cody] are Memphis legends, too. Without Luther, we wouldn’t be where we are today, the way that we are today. We were only a band for maybe a couple of weeks when Luther first contacted us. He was already on us, saying things like, ‘You guys are awesome; let me know how I can help.’ He was just very encouraging. So the relationship with them is probably the most personal we have with any other group out there on the circuit.”

Since their earliest days working toward Be the Love You Want, the members of Southern Avenue have taken advantage of their geography, jetting over to Cody’s house, which was only 15 minutes away from their own stomping grounds. 

“It’s so easy to just go to his house and make some music,” Naftaly continues. “And that was the vibe when we wrote ‘Push Now’ and ‘Heathen Hearts.’ We were just writing music. There was no project in our head. And, years later, [‘Push Now’] is now the first single. Cody and Luther just understand us. They’re really sweet; they’re really good people. And we want to spend our precious time with good people—and maybe soak some of that royal energy out of them.”

As a proud multiracial band, Southern Avenue also want to, as Jackson says, “offer love first and foremost.” But, they certainly aren’t afraid to dig into some tough themes, too. On “Let’s Get It Together”—a soul song akin Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”—Jackson asks, rhetorically, “How did this world get turned upside down?” 

And she takes her role as a Black woman, playing for all different types of audiences, seriously. Jackson reflects: “As a Black person—as a Black woman—in this country, I’ve experienced so much from both sides. I said in an interview, probably a day ago, that we have survived this long violent history. We’re trying to heal from that violence, and we need a safe place to heal from that violence. We have to have compassion for human life. And that goes for everybody—on both sides. We need to learn, we need to raise awareness, we need to teach, we need to educate. In order to heal this country, we have to be in this together. That’s what the songs on this record are about.

“There’s always a heaviness that lingers on the heart, but we have to translate that into love,” she continues. “I can’t look at it as a burden. My music is love, and I sing these lyrics with love. If I could hug a person and tell them, ‘Hey, let’s get it together,’ I would. We do it with love because that’s the only way to do it—even if it’s through tough love or conversations that are hard to have.”

Despite a difficult year-and-a-half period where some of the members of Southern Avenue even had to take second jobs, the ensemble still sounds more self-assured than ever. And, when they’re not writing or rehearsing, these days the musicians are busy chasing after a growing brood of children who they hope will carry on their message. There are currently four next-generation Southern Avenue kids— two from keyboardist Jeremy and two from Naftaly and Jackson. (The couple’s third child is due in November.) 

And as their post-pandemic bucket list continues to grow—playing Red Rocks, performing with Tedeschi Trucks Band and collaborating with Al Green are a few immediate goals—Southern Avenue are ready to embrace whatever comes next, especially after a few difficult years. 

“The only thing that we can really do with our power is bring people together,” Naftaly concludes. “And that is really what we’re trying to do on every album.”