Eddie 9V has powered up. From the day he first slung a guitar on a local stage, the
Georgia-born bandleader announced himself as an artist to watch. But in the last few
meteoric years, Eddie’s music has crossed oceans and airwaves, transcending his
cult-hero status to become a beacon for fans of real music everywhere. “Eddie 9V is
something else,” wrote the UK’s Classic Rock of 2022’s chart-topping Capricorn. “A
man who genuinely inhabits golden-era American roots, playing the most instinctive
blues you’ll hear all year.”
You’ll find the proof on new studio album ‘Saratoga’, releasing November 22, 2024 on
the fabled Ruf label. It’s a record that will thrill both newcomers and fans who have
trailed Eddie since the start, showcasing his fresh, fiery spin on Southern soul, blues,
rock and funk, with his signature wit and sharp observations of modern America
placing him squarely in the here-and-now. “I do think it’s a wonderful road trip album,”
he nods of the eleven originals co-written with his brother, the much-respected
Southern musician, Lane Kelly. “I was shooting for a more Americana-type album this
time, less blues songs and solos and more focusing on the songwriting.”
The new songs of ‘Saratoga’ deserve nothing less than your full attention. Eddie’s
latest album announces his new groove with the crisp, purposeful beats of the
opening title track, an instant favorite that gets under your skin with its almost disco-
style harmonies and joust of horns and slide guitar (“That song is about being in a
lonely tiny town that feels impossible to escape”).
Halo struts from the speakers on Eddie’s falsetto howl, before the lush yearning of Cry
Like A River and Love Moves So Slow (co-written by Spencer Pope) brings vintage
soul into the modern age. The brittle riffs and spacey vocal of Delta mark another
gearshift, flowing into Red River’s reflective-yet-kinetic groove. Wasp Weather speaks
to Eddie’s love of rapid-fire streams of consciousness. “That’s my favorite lyrically
’cos I like spewing words that don’t make sense into songs. ‘I got a big mud house
that I can’t keep clean, it’s useless’ – I love that line.”
The album plays out in style with the trilling alt-folk of Truckee – “We got high and did
shrooms and camped on the Truckee river in California,” he explains of the inspiration
– the wistful Tides and Love You All The Way Down. Eddie even slips in a brass-
blasting take on Mac DeMarco’s Chamber Of Reflection, before bringing the record
home with The Road To Nowhere’s shuddering, tremolo-drenched country lament, his
trademark twang utterly transformed into a vintage croon.
Eddie 9V is right: this latest album takes us all over the musical and emotional map,
while announcing that his recent career peaks are just the start. “Capricorn was a big
jump for us,” he reflects. “But I’m already writing new songs, y’know?”
