Always believe a bluesman because he speaks from the heart.
When he was in the Sierra Nevada last summer, Tinsley Ellis said, “Now that I am making an album a year maybe I can make a stop a year here in Tahoe.”
Ellis announced Nov. 27 he will indeed release his second album in as many years and in a personal message to Tahoe Onstage said, “Yes, we will be back there in the summer.”
Ellis’s 13th album, “Midnight Blue,” will be released in stores on Jan. 14. However, autographed copies of the CD are available now at http://www.tinsleyellis.com/
The Atlanta blues rocker established the Heartfixer Music label last year when he released “Get It!,” an all-instrumental guitar tribute. With the freedom of having his own label, the prolific songwriter vowed to release an album every year.
Recorded at Kevin McKendree’s studio, The Rock House, in Franklin, Tenn., “Midnight Blue” returns to Ellis’s traditional style which includes vocals. Ellis produced the record, which was mixed by McKendree, who has also made albums for Delbert McClinton and Brian Setzer.
Ted Pecchio, who Ellis calls the best bass player in Atlanta, appears on the album. He also is a member of the touring band which played twice in Tahoe last summer. Pecchio also plays with the Tedeschi/Trucks Band. The studio drummer was Lynn Williams, who also plays with McClinton.
Tahoe Onstage will post a “Midnight Blue” album review Jan. 14.
According to press materials, “Midnight Blue” includes wide-ranging material that moves effortlessly from the powerful opening track “If The River Keeps Rising,” through the soul laden groove of “Surrender,” the rollicking Louisiana rocker “It’s Not Funny,” and a poignant, Ray Charles influenced slow blues “See No Harm.”
Ellis wrote the song “A Quitter Never Wins,” which rose Jonny Lang to fame with a multi-platinum record. Rolling Stone wrote Ellis “achieves pyrotechnics that rival early Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton.”
Here’s a video of an interview and concert footage from Ellis’s July appearance at the Crystal Bay Casino: CLICK
