Ellis left the Heartfixers to sign with Alligator as a solo artist in 1988, and they picked up his solo debut, Georgia Blue, for distribution. Ellis debuted his vocals on record on the Heartfixers' 1986 LP Cool on It, which brought him to the attention of Alligator Records. The Heartfixers' first project in their new incarnation was backing up blues shouter Nappy Brown on his well-received 1984 comeback album, Tore Up. However, Nelson left the group shortly after the album's release, and Ellis took over lead vocal chores. They soon signed with the slightly larger Landslide and issued Live at the Moon Shadow in 1983, by which point they were one of the most popular live blues acts in the South. In 1981, Ellis co-founded the Heartfixers with singer/harmonica player Chicago Bob Nelson, and they recorded an eponymous debut album for the tiny Southland imprint. After high school, Ellis moved back to Atlanta in 1975 to attend Emory University, and soon found work on the local music scene, joining a bar band called the Alley Cats (which also featured future Fabulous Thunderbird Preston Hubbard).
He soon moved on to a wide variety of original sources, becoming especially fond of B.B.
He began playing guitar in elementary school, first discovering the blues through the flagship bands of the British blues boom: John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, the Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac, the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, and so on. The guitarist returned to Alligator for 2018's Winning Hand.Įllis was born in Atlanta in 1957, and spent most of his childhood in southern Florida. His early 21st century sides such as The Hard Way in 2004 (Telarc), 2013's Midnight Blue, and 2016's Red Clay Soul (on his own Heartfixer Music label) earned him the general acknowledgement that he has been a consistent and formidable instrumentalist and solid songwriting talent. Ellis has been praised in many quarters for the relentless, storming intensity of his sound. Later offerings such as 1997's Fire It Up, showcased fine hopped up originals alongside striking covers penned by everyone from Mickey Newbury and Danny Kirwan, to Magic Sam and Los Lobos. King, the funky grit of Memphis soul, and numerous other electric bluesmen. Schooled in a variety of Southern musical styles as evidenced by his 1988 Alligator debut Georgia Blue (a label he has been signed to three different times) Ellis draws not only from fiery Vaughan-style blues-rock, but also Texas bluesmen like Freddie King and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the soulful blues of B.B. A hard-rocking, high-voltage blues guitarist most often compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tinsley Ellis is hardly one of the legions of imitators that comparison might imply.
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