Four members of a musical group smile together for a high-angle photo. They are gathered around an organ and a violin; one person wears a patterned shirt, another has blonde hair with a headband, another has reddish hair, and the fourth wears a brown hat with a feather and has blue-braided hair.
Southern Avenue Credit: Rory Doyle

Blues imprint Alligator Records was well represented on last week’s live music offering (Brother John Kattke played St. Pete last Sunday), and this show from Memphis roots-blues outfit Southern Avenue benefits community radio station WMNF.

The Grammy-nominated family band is led by Tierinii Jackson and includes her husband (guitarist Ori Naftaly) and sisters—Tikyra (T.K.) Jackson and Ava Jackson—who handle percussion, fiddle and vocals. Named last year’s Band of the Year by Living Blues Magazine, Southern Avenue arrives supporting a 2025 outing, Family.

Tickets to see Southern Avenue play Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa on Wednesday, Jan. 21 are still available for $20-$25.

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This article appears in Jan. 15 – 21, 2026.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...