Tinsley Ellis at Hotburrito's Bluesrockencyclopedia

Tinsley Ellis

guitar, vocals
born: June 4, 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia

member of:
- The Alley Cats; another member was Preston Hubbard
- The Heartfixers; 1981 - 1988 with Bob Nelson

Whatever you do, don't call Tinsley Ellis a bluesman. "I'm a rock and roller who plays the blues," says the guitarist and vocalist. "Calling myself a bluesman seems a disservice to the older guys who have spent a lifetime paying dues." While his guitar style encompasses his love of Freddie King, Otis Rush, and the British blues of John Mayall and early Fleetwood Mac, it also adds the blues rock of the Allman Brothers and Eric Clapton to his up-to-the-minute riffing. When he plugs in and plays, he explodes with a contemporary sound all his own, and appreciative audiences all over the world agree wholeheartedly. With five solo albums and thousands of gigs already under his belt, Ellis is hailed by critics and fans as one of the best blues-rock guitarists working today. According to Rolling Stone, Ellis has it all. "Assertive originals...feral blues guitar...non-stop gigging has sharpened his six-string to a razor's edge....His eloquence dazzles...he achieves pyrotechnics that rival Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton."

When Ellis set out to record his new album, his primary goal was to somehow top his previous release, the critically acclaimed Storm Warning (AL 4823). The first thing he did was write and select a bunch of blistering new songs. Then he sharpened them to a razor's edge in live performances. When the time came to select a producer, Ellis wanted the man who produced some of his favorite albums, including works by Eric Clapton and The Allman Brothers. That man is the legendary producer and engineer, Tom Dowd (who's also worked with Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding among others). "Tom's produced some of my favorite albums of all time," says Tinsley. "Derek And The Dominoes' Layla, The Allman Brothers' Live At The Fillmore , too many to even name."

The two met through a mutual friend and Dowd - after witnessing a typically torrid Ellis performance - was immediately impressed by Tinsley's passion and raw talent. "Tinsley can play," Dowd said. "He has a lovely feeling for the blues and preserves the tradition of the people I've recorded. He plays and sings with deep emotion." With no further convincing necessary, Dowd signed on to the project.

The result is Fire It Up (AL 4852), an album filled with Ellis' blazing guitar playing and expressive, soulful vocals. From the blues-rocking Diggin' My Own Grave and Soulful to the guitar-drenched originals Are You Sorry? and If That's How He Loves You to the intense Los Lobos song, I Walk Alone to the blues-fueled Fleetwood Mac nugget, One Sunny Day, Ellis continually bests himself. With Dowd's deft production touch - along with Tinsley's fiery road band and a host of talented musicians, including famed bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn on seven songs - Ellis reached new heights, coming up with some of the best performances of his career. "I wanted to make an album better than Storm Warning," says Ellis. "Tom pulled performances out of me I never would have gotten without him. With his help, I can honestly say that Fire It Up is my best album yet."

Born in Atlanta in 1957, Ellis grew up in southern Florida and first played guitar at age eight. He found the blues through the backdoor of the British Invasion bands like the Yardbirds, The Animals, Cream, and the Rolling Stones. He especially liked the Kings - Freddie and B.B. - and spent hours perfecting their licks. His love for the blues solidified when he was 14. At a B.B. King performance, Tinsley sat mesmerized in the front row. When the master broke a string on Lucille, he changed it without missing a beat, and handed the broken string to the youngster. After the show, B.B. came out and talked with fans, further impressing Ellis with his warmth and down-to-earth attitude. By now Tinsley's fate was sealed; he had to become a blues guitarist. And yes, he still has that string.

Already an accomplished musician, Ellis left Florida and returned to Atlanta in 1975. He soon joined the Alley Cats, a gritty blues band that included Preston Hubbard (of Fabulous Thunderbirds fame), and in 1981, along with veteran blues singer and harpist "Chicago" Bob Nelson, Tinsley formed The Heartfixers, a group that would become Atlanta's top-drawing blues band. Upon hearing the band's second release, Live At The Moonshadow (Landslide), The Washington Post declared, "Tinsley Ellis is a legitimate guitar hero." After cutting two more albums for Landslide, Cool on It (featuring Tinsley's vocal debut) and Tore Up (with vocals by blues shouter Nappy Brown) Ellis was ready to head out on his own. Ellis sent a copy of the master tape for his solo debut to Bruce Iglauer at Alligator Records. "I had heard Cool On It ," recalls Iglauer, "and I was amazed. I hadn't heard Tinsley before, but he played like the guys with huge international reputations. It wasn't just his raw power, it was his taste and maturity that got to me. It had the power of rock but felt like the blues. I knew I wanted to hear more of this guy."

Georgia Blue (AL 4765) hit an unprepared public by storm in 1988. Critics and fans outside of the Southeast quickly agreed with their knowing counterparts that a new and original guitar hero had emerged. Guitar World called the album "a solid smoking affair from start to finish." Before long, Alligator arranged to reissue Cool On It and Tore Up , thus exposing Tinsley's early music to a growing fan base.

Tinsley's next release, 1989's Fanning the Flames (AL 4778), further expanded the guitarist's hero status. By now his talents as a songwriter were equalling his guitar prowess. "Voluptuous ballads and feverish pumpers," said the Los Angeles Times. 1992's Trouble Time added guests Peter Buck and keyboardist Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones), and brought even more critical acclaim Ellis' way. The song Highwayman received airplay on commercial rock radio stations across the country. "Dazzling musicianship pitched somewhere between the exhilarating volatility of rock and roll and the passion of urban blues," raved the Los Angeles Times.

1994's Storm Warning was Ellis' true breakthrough. Recorded live in the studio with his road-savvy band and produced by Eddy Offord (Yardbirds, Yes), the album was a tour-de-force of smoking guitar workouts and radio-friendly blues rockers. Features and reviews ran in Rolling Stone, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and in many other national and regional publications. His largest audience by far came when NBC Sports ran a piece on Atlanta's best blues guitarist during their 1996 Summer Olympic Coverage viewed by millions of people all over the world. Atlanta magazine called Tinsley, "the most significant blues artist to emerge from Atlanta since Blind Willie McTell." "It's hard to overstate the raw power of his music," announced the Chicago Sun-Times.

Since the release of Storm Warning , Ellis has played - at least once - in all 50 states, as well as Canada, Europe, Australia and South America. Whether he's out with his own band or sharing stages with Robert Cray, Koko Taylor, or The Allman Brothers, he averages over 200 performances a year, bringing his fast-moving, high-energy, guitar-drenched concerts to fans all over the world. "It's not normal behavior, I know," Tinsley says about his time on the road. "But no bluesman ever had success sitting around his hometown."

With the release of Fire It Up, one thing Tinsley Ellis won't do is sit around. Ellis' tour schedule is filled to capacity as he criss-crosses the United States spreading his music to hungry fans everywhere. "I've been living on the road ever since I signed with Alligator in 1987," says Ellis. "And that's exactly what I want to do." And Fire It Up - with Ellis' boundless energy and blues-rock muscle, not to mention Tom Dowd's visionary production - is exactly the album this guitar-slinging, soul-singing powerhouse wanted to make. Copyright © Alligator Records (used with permission)

Albums:
- Georgia Blue [Alligator 4765, 1988] with Jerome Olds and Roomful of Blues members: Bob Enos, Doug James, Greg Piccolo
- Fanning the Flames [Alligator 4778, October 1989]
- Trouble Time [Alligator 4805, February 1992] with Peter Buck (R.E.M.), Chuck Leavell
- Storm Warning [Alligator 4823, August 1994] with Chuck Leavell, Derek Trucks
- Fire It Up [Alligator 4852, May 1997] with Donald "Duck" Dunn, Kevin McKendree - Audio Cassette
- Kingpin [Capricorn 2021, March 2000] with Richard Hayward (Little Feat), Jack Holder (Black Oak Arkansas), Kevin McKendree, Reese Wynans
- Hell or High Water [Telarc 83531, February 2002] with Kevin McKendree
- Hard Way [Telarc 83608, April 2004] with Sean Costello, Richard Hayward, Kevin McKendree

Tinsley Ellis & The Heartfixers:
- Live at the Moon Shadow [Landslide 1007, 1983]
- Cool on It [Landslide 1010, 1986]

Nappy Brown & The Heartfixers:
- Tore Up [Alligator 4792, August 1984]

He appears on the following albums:
Various Artists - Genuine Houserockin' Music III [Alligator 103, 1988]
Various Artists - Genuine Houserockin' Music IV [Alligator 104, August 1990]
Various Artists - The Alligator Records 20th Anniversary Collection [Alligator 105, July 1991] 2 CD set
Various Artists - The Alligator Records Christmas Collection [Alligator XMAS 9201, October 1992]
Various Artists - Genuine Houserockin' Music V [Alligator 109, October 1993]
Various Artists - Hot Rockin' Blues [K-Tel 6128, July 1994]
Various Artists - The Alligator Records 25th Anniversary Collection [Alligator 110, March 1996] 2 CD set
Various Artists - The Alligator Records 25th Anniversary Collection [Alligator 110, March 1996]
Various Artists - Blues Next: The New Generation [Simitar 5542, February 1998]
Jody Williams - Return of a Legend [Evidence 26120, February 2002]
Various Artists - Crucial Guitar Blues [Alligator 114, January 2003]
Various Artists - Bar Room Blues: A 12-Track Program [Telarc 83594, January 2004]
Various Artists - Alligator Records 35X35 [Alligator 2021, April 2006] 2 CD set

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