At this point, Tinsley Ellis is pretty much recognized as a blues master. Usually a hard blues-rocker of the Stevie Ray Vaughn school, now with The Naked Truth he has released his first all-acoustic blues album – and it’s fantastic.
A native Georgian who spent much of his childhood in Florida, Ellis played in Atlanta clubs while still a student at Emory University and, in 1981, formed a band called the Heartfixers, which became the backup band for bluesman Nappy Brown. In 1986, Ellis got the attention of Alligator Records because of his vocals and playing with the Heartfixers, which resulted in a long-term off and on relationship with the label. He has released about 20 albums, including Fire It Up in 1997, the awesome instrumental album Get It! in 2013, and the outstanding Tough Love in 2015 (which I picked as my blues-based album of the year – by the way, did anybody miss that I didn’t pick the blues based best for 2023?).
But Ellis never did an all-acoustic album before, and man, it is worth the wait! It starts with “Devil in the Room” (listen below}. Other great songs include “Windowpane,” “Death Letter Blues,” and the Sittin’ on Top of the World-ish “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades,” and “Grown Ass Man.” There are also several excellent John Fahey-style instrumentals, like “Silver Mountain” and “The Sailor’s Grave on the Prairie.” But all the songs are good. It’s a great album, so check it out.
About the author: Bill Wilcox is a roots music enthusiast recently relocated from the Washington, DC area to Philadelphia, PA and back again.