Podcast: Atlanta musician Tinsley Ellis back to touring

accessAtlanta is your weekly podcast about things to do in and around Atlanta and beyond. This week, we’ll hear from one of Atlanta’s most venerable musicians.

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. Ellis made himself legendary as a touring machine, and an icon of the Atlanta blues scene. Then came COVID-19. 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. Bo Emerson talks to Ellis about the difficulties of being a touring musician in the pandemic era, returning to the road and his new album “Devil May Care.”