AS A GREASY SOUTHERN SOUL BURNER
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LATEST TRACK FROM DOWN HERE,
DUE NOVEMBER 6 VIA EASY EYE SOUND
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Atlanta-bred guitarist, singer and songwriter Eddie 9V has released his new single, “Rock Your Baby,” a radically reimagined take on George McCrae’s 1974 #1 hit. The latest track from Eddie’s forthcoming album, Down Here, due November 6 via Easy Eye Sound, was produced by GRAMMY® Producer of the Year winner Dan Auerbach and recorded live at Auerbach’s legendary Easy Eye Sound Studio in Nashville.
Written by Harry Wayne Casey (KC) and Richard Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band, “Rock Your Baby” became a massive international hit for George McCrae, topping the charts in both the U.S. and U.K. Eddie 9V takes the familiar classic somewhere entirely unexpected, stripping away its lush disco associations and rebuilding it as a greasy Southern soul/blues burner, driven by a deep groove and Duane Allman-inspired slide guitar. Eddie approached the track by imagining what it might have sounded like if McCrae had taken the song down to Muscle Shoals to record it with a Southern soul band.
Rather than attempt to recreate one of the most recognizable recordings of the 1970s, Eddie completely reframes it. The result is part soul, part blues, and unmistakably Eddie 9V—a fresh take that reveals the killer soul song underneath the disco classic. Recorded live, the track captures the loose, organic energy of Eddie and the band performing together in the room.
“‘Rock Your Baby’ is a perfect example of me being out of my comfort zone,” says Eddie 9V. “Dan was literally a foot away, singing each line to me and coaching me, and then we’d hit record. My band and I had never played it before. We listened to it and learned it in about 20 minutes. I think it’s a good rendition, and it has a good Southern vibe.”
“Rock Your Baby” follows “Blowin’ Up” and “Whole Lot Coming For You,” the first singles from Down Here. “Whole Lot Coming For You” was named a Guitar World Editors’ Pick and earned Classic Rock’s Track of the Week, with Classic Rock calling it “a deliciously greasy, easy-on-the-ear Southern groove machine with a laidback funky blues kick.”
Produced by Auerbach, Down Here finds Eddie 9V expanding his Southern soul, blues, rock & roll, funk, and R&B roots through an intensely collaborative recording process at Easy Eye Sound. The album brought Eddie together with an exceptional group of musicians and songwriters, including fellow soul-blues guitarist Marcus King and veteran writers Pat McLaughlin (Bonnie Raitt, John Prine, Tanya Tucker) and Daniel Tashian (Kacey Musgraves, Lee Ann Womack, Josh Turner).
Raised in Atlanta, Eddie 9V picked up the guitar at six and spent his early years playing everything from metal to indie rock before discovering Howlin’ Wolf’s legendary 1966 Newport Folk Festival performance and turning to the blues. As a teenager, he was already playing long nights in Atlanta clubs and touring outside Georgia. In 2019, he wrote, produced and released his debut album, Left My Soul In Memphis.
With “Rock Your Baby,” Eddie 9V takes a song everyone thinks they know and makes it his own—bringing George McCrae’s classic into the Southern soul territory where Eddie’s music lives and breathes.
TOUR DATES
SEP 12 Morganton, NC 44th Morganton Festival
SEP 17 Fredericton, NB Harvest Music Festival
SEP 18-20 Telluride, CO Telluride Blues & Brews Festival
OCT 8 Fort Myers, FL Buckingham Blues Bar
OCT 9 Live Oak, FL Suwannee Roots Revival
OCT 10 Ponte Vedra Beach, FL Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
OCT 11 St Petersburg, FL Jannus Live
OCT 15 Wilmington, NC Bowstring Brewyard
OCT 16 Charleston, SC Music Farm
OCT 20 Chicago, IL The Salt Shed (Night 1) *Rescheduled Date w/The Black Keys
OCT 21 Chicago, IL The Salt Shed (Night 2) *Rescheduled Date w/The Black Keys
OCT 23 Bloomsburg, PA Arts in Bloom @ Petit Center for the Arts
OCT 24 Cape May, NJ Exit Zero Jazz Festival @ Nauti Spirits Distillery
OCT 25 Annapolis, MD Rams Head On Stage
NOV 3-7 Miami, FL The Revivalists Present Otherside of Paradise • Miami to Nassau, Bahamas
NOV 11 Knoxville, TN Bijou Theatre
NOV 12 Winston-Salem, NC The Ramkat
NOV 13 Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle
NOV 14 Richmond, VA The Broadberry
DEC 3 St Louis, MO Delmar Hall
DEC 4 Newport, KY The Southgate House Revival
DEC 5 Warrendale, PA Jergels Rhythm Grille
DEC 6 Washington, DC Union Stage
DEC 10 Nashville, TN The Basement East
DEC 11 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
DEC 12 Birmingham, AL Saturn
DEC 18 Louisville, KY Mercury Ballroom
DEC 19 Columbus, OH Skully’s Music Diner
DEC 20 Indianapolis, IND The Vogue
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