ION INDIE MAGAZINE February 2015, Volume 9 | Page 50

TINSLEY ELLIS
Interview by Mark Uricheck
As one of the blues’ most articulate, journeyman artists, Georgia-born guitarist TINSLEY ELLIS has explored seemingly every
facet of the genre’s storied lore. Regarded as not only a gifted six-stringer, but master-craft songwriter and performer as well,
Ellis debuted with Atlanta band The Heartfixers back in the early 1980’s, ran with the crème de la crème of contemporary
blues elite as part of the legendary Alligator Records roster throughout that decade and well into the 2000’s, and has come
full circle releasing his latest roots opus, “Tough Love,” on his own Heartfixer Music label distributed nationwide by Landslide
Records.
The new album, which drops on February 3rd, and will be christened by a release show at Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse on
February 21st, is another in a fine string of Ellis albums that display his uncanny attention to nuanced sense of groove, eventempered shuffle, crisp-toned leads, and delightfully analog warmth. Produced by Ellis and mixed by ex-Delbert McClinton
band member Kevin McKendree at McKendree’s The Rock House studio in Tennessee, the scope of the album reaches beyond
any sense of dusty, museum-relegated notion of the blues, and instead, offers a vital take on the best of classic Americana–
something McKendree’s specialized in, having twiddled the knobs and/or contributed instrumentation/writing for standout
records from gravel-roaded masters like George Thorogood, Buddy Guy, John Oates and Hal Ketchum--among many.

Music by
TINSLEY ELLIS
“Midnight Ride”

Photo credit: Paul Natkin