Tinsley Ellis | Artist
Tinsley Ellis is an American blues and rock musician born 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia. According to Billboard, "nobody has released more consistently excellent blues albums than Atlanta's Tinsley Ellis. He sings like a man possessed and wields a mean lead guitar." Rolling Stone said, "On assertive originals and standards by the likes of Jimmy Reed and Junior Wells, Atlanta's Tinsley Ellis unleashes feral blues guitar. Nonstop gigging has sharpened his six-string to a razor's edge…his eloquence dazzles…he also achieves pyrotechnics that rival early Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton". Growing up in South Florida, Ellis' love for electric blues grew by listening to British Invasion bands such as the Yardbirds, the Animals, Cream, and the Rolling Stones, then eventually American blues masters such as Freddie King. Determined to become a blues guitarist, he was inspired by a live appearance by B.B. King, where King broke a guitar string and gave it to a 15-year-old Ellis—which he claims to still have in his possession to this day. While attending Emory University near Atlanta, already an accomplished musician, Ellis joined his first professional blues band, the Alley Cats, a group that included Preston Hubbard, who later played with the Fabulous Thunderbirds. In 1988 Ellis signed with Chicago's Alligator Records and his debut solo album Georgia Blue, was released that year. It received mixed-to-poor reviews so Alligator then reissued two earlier recordings, Cool On It and Tore Up, on which Ellis' band the Heartfixers backed Nappy Brown. Ellis' further releases on Alligator featured Peter Buck (of R.E.M.), Derek Trucks, and Chuck Leavell, joining him in the studio. Ellis has gone on to release 20 studio albums and one excellent live album. Standouts include Storm Warning (1994), The Hard Way (2004), Moment of Truth (2007), Winning Hand (2018), and the live album Highwayman (2012). In early 2013, Ellis was a part of the 'Blues at the Crossroads 2' tour which celebrated the music of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. The tour also included Kim Wilson and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, James Cotton, Bob Margolin and Jody Williams. Also in 2013, Ellis launched his own label, Heartfixer Music, and has since released several albums. In 2017, Ellis launched a new side project called Tinsley Ellis Blues Is Dead, in which he performs the blues and R&B songs recorded by Grateful Dead and other Fillmore era acts. To this date, Ellis continues to tour over 150 nights a year around the world.
Artist Website: tinsleyellis.com
Featured Albums: Tinsley Ellis
Related Artists: The Heartfixers
