Eddie 9V releases Down Here this week, his fifth album and his first for Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label. Auerbach produced it. He also wrote songs and played guitar on nearly every track, according to Rock and Blues Muse.
Twelve tracks make up the record. Marcus King appears on three, among them the opener “Whole Lot Coming for You” and the first single, “Blowin’ Up.” Auerbach plays kazoo in the chorus of “Blowin’ Up,” a song he co-wrote.
A rotating group of players backs Eddie 9V. Joe Harrison, Dustin McCook, Tom Bukovac, Chris St. Hilaire, Nick Movshon, and Pat Sansone all take part. Sharisse Norman, Shontelle Norman-Betty, and Candise Rayborn sing background vocals.
There is just one cover, “Rock Your Baby.” Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch wrote it, and George McCrae made it a hit in 1974. Eddie 9V released his take as a single in September. Marcus King plays slide guitar on “Maybe That’s a Good Thing” and “It Don’t Bother Me.”
Eddie 9V, Dan Auerbach, and Daniel Tashian co-wrote “Can I Sleep in Your Backyard.” “Keep Turning Me Away” is the longest track at about five minutes. The album closes with “Come and Get Me Lord,” a gospel song.
Eddie 9V is based in Atlanta but traveled to Nashville to write and record at Easy Eye Sound. He started as an electric bluesman shaped by B.B. King, Albert King, and Freddie King, along with the late Atlanta guitarist Sean Costello. In recent years, he has drifted toward Southern soul. That shift continued on his 2024 album Saratoga.
Tour dates are posted on his website.
