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, released 22 November 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 favourite 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 favourite 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?”