Georgia born and Florida raised, Tinsley Ellis was attracted to Blues/Rock by way of the British Invasion bands he heard as a teenager. But it was a B.B. King show that lit the fuse on his Blues ambitions. Ellis played in a band while a student at Atlanta’s Emory University, but stepped up to the next level with The Alley Cats, a rambunctious Blues outfit that included future Fabulous Thunderbirds bassist Preston Hubbard. After college, Ellis formed The Heartfixers and released three well-received albums. The group’s final album, 1986’s Cool On It, was credited to “Tinsley Ellis & the Heartfixers.”
Around the time Ellis decided to dissolve The Heartfixers, Alligator Records approached him about signing with the label. Ellis’ debut solo album, 1988’s Georgia Blue, made a huge impression on the national Blues community, as did his next four Alligator albums, including 1992’s Trouble Time (featuring R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and The Allman Brothers Band’s Chuck Leavell) and 1997’s blistering Fire It Up. Reviews comparing him to Stevie Ray Vaughan sparked major label interest, leading Ellis to sign with Capricorn for 2000’s Kingpin, but the label collapsed not long after the release. Ellis moved to the Cleveland, Ohio-based Telarc label for his next two albums, then returned to Alligator for his triumphant and hugely successful concert recording, 2005’s Live! Highwayman, and its studio follow-ups, Moment of Truth and Speak No Evil.
After nearly four years of consistent touring — a hallmark of Ellis’ career from the start — the guitarist made the decision to form his own label in 2013, nostalgically dubbed Heartfixer Music. Since then, Ellis has self-released a quartet of excellent albums at a rate of one per year — the all-instrumental Get It!, 2014’s Midnight Blue, 2015’s Tough Love and his most recent, Red Clay Soul.
Ellis’ love of scorching electric Blues was forged in the ’60s and he’s been offering up his own visceral take on the genre for the past four decades with a voice that smokes like Delbert
McClinton, a guitar that shrieks and soothes like the Vaughan brothers and a soul that understands pain and redemption. His road consistency and the passion his loyal fans have for the music seems to be referenced on Red Clay Soul’s “Circuit Rider,” as Tinsley sings, “I’m a circuit rider, I go from town to town, healing peoples’ sickness, as I make my rounds.” The doctor is in, but you don’t need an appointment — just a ticket and a heart full of Blues-soaked hallelujah.