Southern Avenue, the Grammy-nominated soul-blues quintet out of Memphis, Tenn., has officially signed to the iconic Alligator Records. Joining the label’s legendary roster of artists–including Koko Taylor, Lonnie Brooks, Buddy Guy, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and more recently Mavis Staples, Anders Osborne and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, among others–the band is set to release its label debut later this year.

Since its 2015 foundation, Southern Avenue has shot up the charts as a captivating new voice in the blues world. The band is led by fireball vocalist Tierinii Jackson and guitarist and songwriter Ori Naftaly, alongside keyboardist Jeremy Powell and vocals and instruments from Jackson’s sisters, drummer Tikyra “TK” Jackson and percussionist and violinist Ava Jackson. Through nearly a decade of performance, the group has proven time and again to be a powerhouse for soul-stirring blues-rock stompers, from beaming, funk-inflected cuts like “That’s All” to driving, gritty anthems like “Keep On.”

Alligator Records will deliver Southern Avenue’s fourth studio album later this year. With production from Grammy-winner John Burk and engineering from the incomparable Memphis legend Boo Mitchell, the forthcoming promises to maintain the group’s upward momentum as its strongest offering yet. From behind the scenes, Burk, who originally signed the band to Stax in 2016, shares, “I’m thrilled to be working with Southern Avenue again and couldn’t be more excited about this new album. They’ve written some of the best songs of their career in a real storytelling fashion from beginning to end. They’ve also grown as a band and further defined their unique blend of the great Memphis soul tradition coupled with deep gospel and blues roots.”

“Joining the Alligator family is like stepping into roots history,” Tienirii Jackson has expressed. “The songs we birthed are steeped in that old-school, raw energy, and it’s a thrill to think they’ll be hangin’ with the legends. It’s a dream come true.”

Following a series of festival appearances this summer, including stagings at Chicago Blues Festival and Memphis, Tenn.’s RiverBeat Music Festival, Southern Avenue will hit the road with Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival tour, making eight stops in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic from Sept. 6-17. For more tickets and more information on the band and its upcoming engagements, visit southernavenuemusic.com.