PHOTOS OF TINSLEY ELLIS BY KURT SWANSON
(c) 2005 kurtswanson@juno.com

ON THIS NIGHT...
Alligator Records Live Recording!! … This was a VERY SPECIAL weekend. We hope you didn't miss it! Legendary Blues Record label Alligator Records, chose Chord On Blues to record a live record for one of the nations most dynamic blues artists, Mr. Tinsley Ellis. This record will be released internationally and is a chance for all of you to come on down and be a part of a very rare happening ~chordonblues.com

Born in Atlanta in 1957, Tinsley Ellis grew up in south Florida, where at age seven, he first picked up the guitar and absorbed the blues of British invasion groups like The Yardbirds, Cream, The Rolling Stones and The Animals. Digging deeper into the heart of the music, he came under the direct influence of the original masters- Freddy King, B.B. King, Otis Rush, Albert King and Magic Sam- and spent hours perfecting their licks.

By 1975 Ellis was back in Atlanta and ready to begin his professional career in music. He was soon gigging with the Alley Cats, a gritty bar outfit that included Preston Hubbard, who later joined the Fabulous Thunderbirds. In 1981 he formed The Heartfixers with veteran blues singer and harpist "Chicago" Bob Nelson, a group that instantly became the region's most popular blues act. After the band's self-titled debut on Southland Records, The Heartfixers signed with Landslide Records, which released the critically acclaimed Live At The Moonshadow. "Tinsley Ellis is a legitimate guitar hero," raved The Washington Post, and Ellis' national stature began to take hold. When Nelson left The Heartfixers in 1983, Ellis assumed vocal chores and led the band through two additional Landslide releases: Cool On It and Tore Up with blues shouter Nappy Brown, which Living Blues called "torrid . . . one of the best discs of the decade."

In 1988 Ellis made his solo debut on Alligator Records with Georgia Blue, and the favorable critical notices helped land him in first rate club and festival venues from coast to coast. Thus began the Ellis penchant for relentless touring with schedules routinely averaging over 200 dates each year worldwide. Fanning The Flames further solidified Ellis' reputation as a guitar icon. Highwayman, a track from Trouble Time, made commercial rock radio playlists across the country. The peak of his Alligator period came with the acclaimed Storm Warning in 1996. Produced by Eddy Offord (Yes, 311), and featuring guests Chuck Leavell and Derek Trucks, the recording meshes Ellis' characteristic originals with burning covers of blues classics like Cut You Loose and Early In The Morning. Rolling Stone commented that Ellis "achieves pyrotechnics which rival early Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton," and called Storm Warning "one of the best blues albums of the 1990's . . . one unbelievably biting solo after another." For his final Alligator release, Fire It Up, Ellis chose legendary producer Tom Dowd (noted for seminal work with Atlantic Records and the man behind a Capricorn classic, Live At The Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band). The collaboration resulted in a crisp set with Southern and British overtones that presented exciting re-workings of Kenny Rogers' Just Dropped In and Fleetwood Mac's One Sunny Day, accented by booming bass work from one of the all time greats, Duck Dunn. ~tinsleyellis.com


Tinsley Website: http://www.tinsleyellis.com
Alligator Records http://www.alligator.com
March 25, 2005 CHORD ON BLUES ST CHARLES, IL