Southern Avenue – Prairie Center, Schaumburg, October 18, 2025

Review & Photos: Jim Summaria

Tiernii & Tikyra

Southern Avenue

at the Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts in Schaumburg, IL,

Saturday, October 18, 2025

Review & Photos: By Jim Summaria

Every once in a while you come across a group that just "wows" you.

This was the case for me when I recently experienced the group Southern Avenue. They blend blues, soul, rock and gospel into a beautiful package of inspiring lyrics and spirited music.

This traveling family band from Memphis consists of the dynamic lead vocalist Tierinii Jackson, her husband, the gifted guitarist Ori Naftaly, her talented sisters Tikyra Jackson on drums and backing vocals and Ava Jackson who plays percussion, violin and also contributes backing vocals. Together, the three sister’s voices merge into angelic harmonies.

For this tour, they added bassist Matt Wilson to keep the groove flowing. Tierinii, Ori and Tikyra are the main songwriters of this musical family. 

The band's roots began in 2015 in Memphis. Ori came to Memphis from Israel in 2013 to compete in the International Blues Challenge Competition. He desired to stay and form a band. When he spotted Tierinii at a local club, he instantly knew she was the extraordinary vocal talent to build a band around. Tikyra soon joined and the original trio of Southern Avenue was born. Sister Ava was added to the lineup after graduating college in 2021.    

The foursome took their name from the street that cuts through the Soulsville neighborhood and home of the original site of Stax Records. Stax was home to such luminaries as Sam & Dave, Booker T. & the MGs and Issac Hayes. This was their way of honoring the legacy of these trailblazers.

The group has been nominated for several GRAMMYs, won the Blues Music Award for Best Emerging Artist in 2018 and for the third year in a row the BMAs nominated them for Band of the Year. This year they were named Band of the Year by Living Blues magazine.

They have recorded four albums with their latest titled Family on Alligator Records. They’ve toured with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow, among others.

Their stage act is exhilaratingly funky, soulful and entertaining. Their music is energetic, uplifting and spirited. Tierinii’s singing is a cross between the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin and the Queen of Rock 'n’ Roll Tina Turner. But she has her own unique approach unlike anyone out there today. Her dance moves are distinctive, quirky and athletic…and a joy to watch. She commanded the stage and told informative stories in between songs. She never appeared winded. Amazing!

Ori is an excellent guitarist who added feel and punch to many of the songs with his creative leads. His slide and rhythm playing worked well within the context of the songs. Drummer Tikyra kept a rock-steady beat and occasionally spun her sticks to release joyful energy. She kept each song tight and focused.

Bassist Matt Wilson worked well with Tikyra whose drumming kept everyone locked in. Ava added timely tambourine to each song as well as beautiful backing vocals along with sister Tikyra. On a few occasions, Ava stepped out and delivered some sweet solos on violin. The quintet was having a great time on stage and it spread to all in attendance.

Southern Avenue is not a jam band. Each song is purposeful, but they possess the chops to take a song into extended territory.

Their new Alligator album is titled Family and they played eleven of the album’s 14 songs during their performance. Family is a concept album that tells the story of the band and its members. Each song has an inspiring positive message with music that compels the listener to feel joy.    

Their set’s first six songs were pulled from Family. They opened with the title track "Family." The sisters sang sweet gospel-like harmonies and Ori adding moaning slide guitar.

Drummer Tikyra began the song "Rum Boogie" by clicking her drumsticks as Ori added a rural Mississippi groove with his slide guitar figures. When Tierinii’s commanding voice joined in, she busted some hula hoop style moves and the party was on.

Delightful harmonies kicked off the song "Long is the Road" that tells the history of the band and especially Ori's musical journey. Ori stepped out from his position on the side of the stage and delivered a Clapton style guitar solo. 

The Bonnie Raitt influenced "Upside" featured the uplifting lyrics and mellifluous vocals delivered by Tierinii and her sisters. Ori's focused guitar break was right on the money.

They played two more songs from the Family album: the soulful "So Much Love" and "Back to What Feels Right." The former had an intoxicating groove that felt like it came from Motown's golden era. The lead and backing vocals seemed to radiate from heaven. "Back to What Feels Right" had a Stevie Wonder meets gospel vibe. Ori's playing was perfectly subdued.    

The group went back to their 2019 Keep On album for the sultry "We're Going to Make It." Tierinii’s phrasing would have made Etta James remark, “You go girl.”

The band returned to the Family album for the swampy "Late Night Get Down" and the down-home countrified tune "Found a Friend in You." Sister Ava fiddled away on the latter. These two knee slapping songs elicited a well-deserved standing ovation.

 The energy level kicked into high gear with their cover of Ike and Tina Turner's "Make Me Over" complete with Ikettes style dancing by Ava and Tierinii. Drummer Tikyra pounded the skins to demonstrate her drumming veracity. Tierinii delivered an enthusiastic back-bending vocal.         

They went back to the Family album for the short "Kept On Moving On," which segued into "We Are." The song’s lyrics celebrate the power of music and how it brings people together.          

A fun-filled cover of Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" kept the party going as the participating crowd sang along gleefully. Tierinii then dug down deep and pulled out a riveting rendition of Aretha Franklin's "Dr. Feelgood (Love is a Serious Business).” That lady can sing the blues!

The gospel inspired "Sisters" had the siblings singing splendidly in unison with Ori contributing some gritty guitar work.

"Don't Give Up" from the band’s 2017 self-titled debut album was the last song of the evening. Tierinii had concertgoers clapping along as she belted out the lyrics while her sisters responded emphatically in call and response fashion with "don’t give up." Ori squeezed out a compelling six string solo while the ladies shimmied and grooved. The family on stage was greeted warmly with a standing ovation from the new family they had cultivated.

I encourage everyone to see this marvelous group. They will be playing locally at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan November 22, 2025, opening for Trombone Shorty.

The opening act was Chicago's own, the incomparable Sheryl Youngblood who added a handful of songs in the short, 30-minutes she was allotted to kick things off. But Sheryl was not shortchanged as she made the most of her time and delivered a highly satisfying and riveting set. Her rich and powerful voice is a blues lover’s dream. Sheryl knows her way around a stage and her cohesive band created the perfect backing for this stellar performer.

Highlights included her surprising entrance. The band – guitarist Giles Corey, drummer DuJuan Austin, bassist John Caldwell and keyboardist Dave Holloway – took the stage and began to play without Sheryl. Then you could hear her voice singing, but she still wasn’t on stage. Where was she hiding? Suddenly she made her entrance from the back of the theater singing, smiling and shaking hands with audience members as she made her way to the stage.

Sheryl had a message for everyone in the house as she belted out a song by the late great Chicago bluesman Jimmy Johnson titled “Live Every Day of Your Life.” As the charismatic singer danced and moved around the stage, she beckoned us to “Live every day of your life/ Like it was your last.”

Sheryl covered Ben E. King’s soulful standard “Stand By Me” with an audience singalong; the performance included Sheryl playing a lively percussion solo on her mic stand that had the crowd cheering her on!

“Red Hot Women in Blues,” is a new original song that Sheryl wrote and dedicated to all the great blues women past and present. The singer delivered the song while dancing and singing with gusto, proving, beyond a doubt, that she is one red hot blues woman herself!

###

 Jim Summaria began professionally photographing rock concerts in 1973 at the age of 19 when he became the staff photographer for the Chicago rock concert promoter Flip Side Productions. Jim's photos have been published in numerous books, magazines and CDs. His rock ‘n’ roll photos have been viewed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum and Hall of Fame on Rt.66 and the Grammy Awards. Jim and writer Mark Plotnick co-authored the books Classic Rock: Photographs From Yesterday & Today and the October 2024 release ‘70s Chicagoland Rock Concerts.  Jim and Mark also co-host the radio podcast That Rock Show on the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum platform.

###