Eddie 9V: Remarkable Fearless New Voice in Soul Blues

In 2019, Eddie 9V sat in his grandparents’ house in Atlanta pecking out letters on an old typewriter. Born Brooks Mason, he had no manager, no agent, and no label deal. However, he had a Fender Esquire and a brother who could run a mixing board. He also had a debut album tracked in a mobile trailer.

Those typed letters went to Bruce Iglauer at Alligator Records and to Ruf Records in Germany. Consequently, within three years, Eddie 9V would land a Blues Music Award nod and reviews in The Guardian and Classic Rock.

Furthermore, this was no overnight story. Mason had spent a full decade grinding through Atlanta’s club scene before anyone outside Georgia paid attention. He led bands before he could legally drink. He played covers gigs on slow Tuesday nights. Consequently, when the wider blues world caught on, they found an artist who played with the grit and polish of someone twice his age. The years of bar-room education had done their work.

Today, Eddie 9V stands at the biggest turning point of his career. His Spotify listeners rocketed from 8,000 to over 800,000 after his 2024 album Saratoga found a global audience. Meanwhile, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys signed him to Easy Eye Sound and is producing his next record.

Moreover, Eddie 9V now opens for The Black Keys on their 2026 world tour. That means blues in front of arena crowds every night. For a kid who once typed longhand pleas to labels, the rise feels cinematic.

Early Life

Brooks Mason was born in Atlanta, Georgia in June 1996. He picked up his first guitar at age six and never put it down. Growing up near Union Grove, north of the city, he soaked up Delta blues through his father’s record collection.

Additionally, he fell hard for Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and the fat Texas guitar tone of Freddie King. These were not gentle lessons. They were full-volume sessions that shaped his ear before he reached high school.

Moreover, the soul music of the 1950s through the 1970s left a deep mark on young Mason. He devoured records from Stax, Muscle Shoals, and Memphis. He absorbed horn charts, tight rhythms, and raw feeling. Otis Rush’s vocal-like guitar bends stood out. So did Albert Collins’ icy Telecaster tone. Both became key reference points that would later shape Eddie’s own playing.

Importantly, Mason never treated these sounds like museum pieces. Instead, he made them part of a living style. He mixed Delta grit with Memphis soul and Texas heat. That blend would become his calling card. Moreover, it gave him a range that most young blues players simply did not have. While others stuck to one lane, Mason drove across three or four at once.

Rory Gallagher also shaped his playing. The Irish guitarist’s fierce energy and stripped-down approach spoke directly to Mason’s instincts. Meanwhile, Atlanta’s own Sean Costello — a brilliant guitarist who died in 2008 at just twenty-eight — showed Mason what a young, modern player could do. Costello played vintage soul and blues with rare skill. That example proved you didn’t need to copy the past to honor it.

The late-night jam sessions at Blind Willie’s gave Mason a hands-on education no school could match. Furthermore, at fifteen he made a bold choice: he dropped the college track to chase music full-time.

Consequently, while his classmates at Union Grove High School studied for SATs, Mason studied Otis Rush and Albert Collins. He took odd jobs to buy strings and gas. Every spare hour went to practice. The bet paid off, but not right away.

Career Development

Mason’s first real band was The Smokin’ Frogs, a covers group on the Georgia bar circuit. Playing four-hour sets of other people’s music taught him to read a room. Furthermore, he learned to pace a show and keep a crowd engaged even on dead nights. Nevertheless, he quickly moved on and co-founded The Georgia Flood, a blues-rock band with far more drive and far more original songs.

In 2013, The Georgia Flood went to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis to represent the Atlanta Blues Society. Mason was just sixteen. Furthermore, the thrill of competing on Beale Street against seasoned acts gave him real confidence. The band built a name across the Southeast. Additionally, Mason played in an indie rock group called PREACHERVAN, which broadened his musical range beyond the blues.

The real break came in 2019. Mason reinvented himself as Eddie 9V — a name that matched the voltage of his live shows. At the time, he still lived with his grandparents and had no label interest. Nevertheless, he kept pushing.

That year, he and his brother Lane Kelly tracked the debut Left My Soul in Memphis in a mobile recording trailer. Eddie played most of the instruments himself. Consequently, the record sounded like a lost tape from a 1960s Memphis session — loose, raw, and full of swagger. Moreover, its lo-fi charm grabbed blues fans right away. Word spread fast across blogs and social media.

In 2021, Little Black Flies raised the stakes. Eddie recorded at Echo Deco Studios in Atlanta with a full band. Guitarist Cody Matlock and other Georgia players joined the session. Moreover, Lane Kelly mixed the tracks with a loose, live feel drawn from Albert Collins and Mike Bloomfield records.

Studio chatter stayed in the mix on purpose. Consequently, the album felt like a late-night jam caught on tape. It earned a Blues Blast Music Award nod in the Sean Costello Rising Star slot. That was a fitting honor. Costello had shaped Eddie’s style from the start. The nod felt right.

Then came Capricorn in early 2023. Everything shifted. Eddie tracked the album at Capricorn Studios in Macon, Georgia — the same room that hosted the Allman Brothers and Otis Redding. As he put it: “Coming off a straight blues record, I wanted to show people we’re more than that.”

Consequently, he traded raw blues for horns, Hammond organ, and electric piano. He soaked up the Muscle Shoals sound that Capricorn had helped create decades before. Then he channeled that energy into his own songs with fresh purpose.

The reviews came in hot. The Guardian loved it. Classic Rock loved it. Paste, No Depression, and American Songwriter all praised the album too. Additionally, a Blues Music Award nod for Traditional Blues Album made it official: Eddie 9V had arrived as a national artist.

Furthermore, the Capricorn sessions deepened his bond with Lane Kelly as producer. Together, they had found a formula that balanced polish and grit in just the right measure. That trust would carry them through the next album cycle and beyond.

Musical Style and Technique

Eddie 9V channels 1960s soul-blues but filters it through a modern lens. His voice splits the gap between a Southern preacher’s fire and a Stax singer’s cool. It is a big voice. It fills a room fast. Consequently, he sounds nothing like a guitarist who treats vocals as an afterthought. He sings with real force and real feeling.

On guitar, Eddie draws from the Texas blues school. You can hear the sting of Freddie King and the ice of Albert Collins in his attack. However, he also folds in Otis Rush’s rhythmic sense and Mike Bloomfield’s melodic ideas. His solos favor tension over speed. He lets notes ring and decay before striking the next phrase.

Furthermore, his rhythm work borrows from funk and soul. He plays tight, clipped chord stabs that push the groove hard. The result is a style that serves the song rather than showing off the player.

His gear tells the whole story. Eddie runs a Fender Custom Shop Esquire straight into a 1980s Music Man amp. The Esquire has just one pickup. That means every note comes from touch and skill alone. No pedals sit between guitar and amp. No effects mask mistakes.

Additionally, the Music Man’s fifty watts of mid-range crunch add warmth without killing the dynamics. That stripped rig means every detail of his picking comes through clean. There is nowhere to hide, and Eddie clearly prefers it that way.

This approach shapes his recordings too. Eddie keeps wrong notes, studio chatter, and amp buzz in the final mix. He has cited Albert Collins’ Ice Pickin’ and Mike Bloomfield’s Super Session as models. Moreover, the result sounds alive and urgent rather than safe and slick.

Live, Eddie 9V feeds off the crowd. His shows mix tight sets with long jams where the band locks into a groove and rides it hard. The crowd feels it. The room heats up. Furthermore, his stage banter is warm, funny, and rooted in real life.

The mix of intensity and charm has built him a loyal touring base. That base grows with each record and each tour. Moreover, Eddie’s live shows have earned him spots at major blues festivals across the U.S. and Europe. Festival bookers know he can hold a crowd. He brings energy that makes people stay for the whole set and come back the next time.

Key Recordings

Left My Soul in Memphis (2019)

Left My Soul in Memphis hit like a kicked-in door. Eddie tracked it in a mobile trailer with minimal gear. He played most instruments himself. That turned limits into strengths. Moreover, the one-man-band sound recalled early blues recordings where need drove invention.

Importantly, the lo-fi feel became an asset, not a flaw. It gave the music a closeness that studio polish would have killed. Songs like the title track showed Eddie could write with real detail. He chose sharp, specific images over tired blues clichés. Furthermore, the album made clear that Eddie 9V had a voice — both on guitar and at the mic — that set him apart from the crowd of young blues hopefuls.

Little Black Flies (2021)

Little Black Flies opened up the sound while keeping the raw spark. A full band joined Eddie at Echo Deco Studios in Atlanta. Nine originals sat next to three well-picked covers. Furthermore, Eddie and Lane Kelly left studio noise in the mix on purpose — just like on the debut.

The album earned a Blues Blast Award nod in the Sean Costello Rising Star slot. Moreover, it showed Eddie could write in different modes — electric blues, slow soul, up-tempo shuffle — without losing his voice. Each track felt like the same artist, even when the styles shifted. That kind of range is rare in a second album.

Capricorn (2023)

Capricorn was the creative leap that set Eddie 9V apart. He recorded at Capricorn Studios in Macon and dove into Southern soul. Horns, Hammond organ, and electric piano gave the album a feel closer to Muscle Shoals than Chicago’s Maxwell Street.

Additionally, the reviews came in strong from The Guardian, Classic Rock, and Paste. The Blues Music Award nod sealed it. Capricorn proved Eddie 9V was as much soul man as bluesman. Moreover, the album showed that his artistic range was far wider than his debut had suggested.

Saratoga (2024)

Saratoga dropped in November 2024 on Ruf Records and broke Eddie 9V wide open. The album nailed the Southern soul, blues, rock, and funk mix he had been building for four records. Singles like “Halo,” “Saratoga,” and “Love Moves Slow” earned SiriusXM Spectrum spins.

Moreover, the streaming numbers told the real story. Spotify listeners jumped from 8,000 to over 800,000 in just a few months. Those numbers rival names far more known in modern blues.

Furthermore, Saratoga showed Eddie could write hooks strong enough to reach beyond the core blues crowd. The songs connected with rock, soul, and indie fans who might never search for “blues” on a streaming platform. It also proved that Ruf Records’ long bet on Eddie had paid off. The label had backed him since Little Black Flies, and Saratoga set the stage for his jump to Easy Eye Sound.

Legacy and Impact

Eddie 9V holds a rare spot in today’s blues world. He is young enough to draw new fans. Yet he is also deep enough in the roots to earn respect from purists. Born in 1996, he belongs to a rising wave of artists — alongside Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, D.K. Harrell, and Amani Burnham — who prove that blues must evolve or risk stalling out.

However, where some of his peers lean toward rock or hip-hop fusion, Eddie 9V digs into soul, funk, and R&B instead. That choice makes him stand out in a crowded field of young players.

His signing to Easy Eye Sound matters beyond his own career. Dan Auerbach’s label connects roots artists with wide audiences. Robert Finley, Yola, and now Eddie 9V all call it home. Furthermore, his role as opener on The Black Keys’ 2026 Peaches ‘n Kream World Tour puts blues in front of arena crowds every single night.

That kind of exposure has sparked genre growth before. After all, the British Blues Invasion brought American blues back to the masses in the 1960s. Eddie 9V could play a similar role for a new era. Consequently, the stakes of his current run extend well past his own career.

Meanwhile, Eddie’s DIY origin — typewritten letters, trailer recordings, years of small club gigs — speaks to every young player without industry access. His path shows that blues still rewards grit and the real thing over polish. Additionally, his streaming numbers prove that blues can compete in the age of playlists when the songs hit hard enough.

His impact on Atlanta’s blues scene also stands out. The city has never been a classic blues hub like Chicago or Memphis. Nevertheless, Eddie 9V has put Georgia on the map. He built on Sean Costello’s legacy and carried it much further. Consequently, young Atlanta players now have a local model for how to make it in blues from scratch. That matters more than most people realize.

The brother dynamic with Lane Kelly also deserves a nod. Lane has mixed and produced all four Eddie 9V albums. His work shows that great records don’t need big budgets. Furthermore, their process — tracking live, keeping mistakes, chasing feel — has earned praise from critics and fans.

Additionally, the trust between them means Eddie can take risks that other artists might avoid. That safety net has shaped every record. Few blues artists today have that kind of built-in creative bond.

At twenty-nine, Eddie 9V has built a catalog that tracks real growth. His debut came from a trailer. His next album comes from Dan Auerbach’s Nashville studio. Each record in between pushed further. Yet every one held onto the core fire that hooked him at age six in Atlanta. Consequently, the best chapter of his story looks like the one he is writing right now.

For anyone worried about the future of the blues, Eddie 9V makes a strong case. The genre does not need amber preservation. It needs artists who honor the core while pushing the edges.

Eddie 9V has done exactly that since he first plugged a Fender Esquire into a Music Man amp. Furthermore, his rise from a Georgia trailer to arena stages with The Black Keys shows what grit can do. The voltage speaks for itself.