Blues road warrior Tinsley Ellis back on stage after pandemic hiatus

For about 40 years Tinsley Ellis has lived his life on the road, either driving to a gig, setting up, performing, tearing down, or driving to the next gig.

“I’d ask him, ‘How do you feel about 100 nights a year?’ and he’d say ‘Great!’ said Bruce Iglauer, founder of Chicago-based Alligator Records, which this month releases Ellis’ 20th album, “Devil May Care.”

“Artists who come to labels like ours are lifers,” said Iglauer. “They’re not going to score a big hit and swim around in pool full of dollars like Uncle Scrooge. They know they’re going to be doing it the rest of their lives.”

That’s fine with Ellis, who learned a long time ago where his bread is buttered. “Chicago Bob told me that 40 years ago,” said Ellis, referring to the harmonica master with whom he played in the Heartfixers during the 1980s. “He said ‘you know, B.B. King makes all of his money on the road touring? He doesn’t make a living making albums.’ I took that to heart.”

Ellis made himself legendary as an indefatigable touring machine, and an icon of the Atlanta blues scene.

Then came COVID-19.

Credit: Suzanna Khorotian

Credit: Suzanna Khorotian

In March 2020, halfway through a 60-gig jaunt promoting his album “Ice Cream in Hell,” everything fell apart, all the clubs canceled, and Ellis drove home from Northern California in one, long, painful, three-day burst.

It was the same story for the performing arts all over the country, but for touring musicians, who depend on the road for their careers, it was particularly devastating.

Ellis spent a moment thinking about a livelihood that had just disappeared.

“I stared into the abyss for about a week,” said Ellis, 64, speaking from his DeKalb County home, just down the street from the CDC. “Then I decided that I was just going to try to keep my chops up. To lose your chops, that would be the worst thing. So I designated from the time I had my morning coffee, until noon: That would be my recording and songwriting time. I did that six days a week.”

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Posted by Tinsley Ellis on Saturday, February 27, 2021

He set up all his guitars on stands, and plugged in all his amps. He experimented, and listened to every combination. He dug through his Mike Bloomfield and Ventures, and B.B. King and Yardbirds albums for inspiration.

After 18 months in his basement laboratory, Ellis emerged with 200 new songs. Some of them he streamed weekly on his Facebook page, to get reactions from his audience and his label. With feedback from his listeners, he picked 10 songs for the new album.

ExploreTinsley Ellis detours from stage to studio

It was the first time he’d ever done market research. It was also the first time he’d ever concentrated so intently on songwriting. “I should have done that a long time ago but I didn’t,” said Ellis, reflecting on a somewhat misspent youth. “Frankly, I was too drunk to care.”

Sober since the 1990s, Ellis knows that the other part of a touring musician’s business plan, besides working relentlessly, is maintaining ownership of your music. He does.

On Jan. 21 Ellis kicks off a cross-country tour with two performances at Atlanta’s City Winery. He’ll be teaming up with long-time drummer, Erik Kaszinski, and two newcomers, Yates McKendree on organ, piano and guitar and Andrew White on bass.

After Atlanta, the team departs on a blues cruise, and then, back on land, will cross to California and back again, playing larger clubs, theaters and arts centers. The assigned seating and tony surroundings in the venues on this tour are a departure from the Northside Tavern and other sweaty bars where Ellis made a name for himself in the 1980s, playing four sets a night and strolling into the crowd (and sometimes into the street) during long solos on his wireless guitar.

A prep school kid and Emory graduate, he studied the blues intently. He played with Alby Scholl in the Alley Cats, and then with Chicago Bob in the Heartfixers, and recorded albums on Atlanta’s Landslide Records.

ExploreLandslide Records captured Atlanta’s roots rock history

But he freely admits that he’s a hybrid, not a bluesman. “I spent my whole career trying to be Muddy Waters or B.B. King, and I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said wryly. “I’m a rock ‘n’ roller that loves the blues. My birthright is to play Georgia music. I don’t have to fake anything to do that.”

Credit: Landslide Records

The Georgia music on the new album has even more Southern rock flavor, with the sound of Ellis’ grainy voice and McKendree’s Hammond B-3 organ calling to mind echoes of Greg Allman, while their twin guitar leads summon up the Allman Brothers’ “Live at the Fillmore.” There’s even a nod to Dickey Betts’ solo from “Rambling Man” in “Right Down the Drain.”

“I’ve got to give kudos to Bruce Iglauer and Alligator for letting me do this,” said Ellis. “They are a blues label. I’ve always been something of an anomaly.”

ExploreHear Tinsley Ellis on Spotify

Going back on the road (not to mention climbing aboard the 2,600-guest cruise ship Rotterdam) as the omicron variant continues to bubble through the U.S. is a toss of the dice, Ellis concedes. He and his band are vaccinated, they wear masks when they need to and they take reasonable precautions. “We’ll be following the science, which I always do,” he said.

“No more hugs and kisses at the merch table,” he jokes, but adds, “We’ve been hiding from the damn thing for almost two years.” It’s time, he said, to venture out.