Hard-rocking blues-soaked guitarist, vocalist, song-writer Tinsley Ellis si… Read Full Bio ↴Hard-rocking blues-soaked guitarist, vocalist, song-writer Tinsley Ellis sings and plays with the energy and soul of all the great Southern musicians who have come before him. Ellis attacks his music with rock power and blues feeling, following in the tradition of Deep South musical heroes Duane Allman, Freddie King, Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes. His live shows feature extended fretwork filled with melodic and rhythmic experimentation, in the spirit of jam bands like his friends Widespread Panic and The Allman Brothers. Atlanta Magazine declared Ellis "the most significant blues artist to emerge from Atlanta since Blind Willie McTell."
Since first hitting the national scene with his Alligator Records debut, GEORGIA BLUE, in 1988, Ellis has toured non-stop and continued to release one critically acclaimed album after another. His stellar guitar work, always a staple of his live shows and CDs, is matched by his strong songwriting and powerful, soulful vocals. Tinsley's hometown paper, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, calls his music, "a potent, amazing trip through electric blues-rock."
Ellis made five critically acclaimed albums for Alligator between 1988 and 1997 before recording for the Capricorn and Telarc labels. His high-energy LIVE-HIGHWAYMAN, the long-awaited live album his fans have been demanding for years, marked his return to Alligator records. "Tinsley is one of the finest younger generation blues rockers. He's made great albums for us in the past, and we're excited to have him back in the Alligator family. He's great in the studio, but even better live, so I'm really excited about this recording," said Iglauer.
Ellis' latest release on Alligator, MOMENT OF TRUTH, captures all the power and energy of his legendary live performances. His vocals reach new heights of soulfulness and expressiveness; his guitar playing is ferocious and relentless, but, when the mood calls for it, gentle and moving. What really sets the album apart, though, is the depth of Ellis’ songwriting. The material deals in matters both personal and universal and runs the gamut of human emotions. MOMENT OF TRUTH is Ellis’ most wide-ranging and inspired recording.
Born in Atlanta in 1957, Ellis grew up in southern Florida and first played guitar at age eight. He found the blues through the backdoor of the British Invasion bands like The Yardbirds, The Animals, Cream, and The Rolling Stones. He especially loved the Kings--Freddie, B.B. and Albert--and spent hours immersing himself in their music. His love for the blues solidified when he was 14. At a B.B. King performance, Tinsley sat mesmerized in the front row. When B.B. broke a string on Lucille, he changed it without missing a beat, and handed the broken string to Ellis. After the show, B.B. came out and talked with fans, further impressing Tinsley with his warmth and down-to-earth attitude. By now Tinsley's fate was sealed; he had to become a blues guitarist. And yes, he still has that string.
Already an accomplished teenaged musician, Ellis left Florida and returned to Atlanta in 1975. He soon joined the Alley Cats, a gritty blues band that included Preston Hubbard (of Fabulous Thunderbirds fame). In 1981, along with veteran blues singer and harpist Chicago Bob Nelson, Tinsley formed The Heartfixers, a group that would become Atlanta's top-drawing blues band. Upon hearing LIVE AT THE MOONSHADOW (Landslide), the band's second release, The Washington Post declared, "Tinsley Ellis is a legitimate guitar hero." After cutting two more Heartfixers albums for Landslide, COOL ON IT (featuring Tinsley's vocal debut) and TORE UP (with vocals by blues shouter Nappy Brown), Ellis was ready to head out on his own. Ellis sent a copy of the master tape for his solo debut to Bruce Iglauer at Alligator Records. "I had heard COOL ON IT," recalls Iglauer, "and I was amazed. I hadn't heard Tinsley before, but he played like the guys with huge international reputations. It wasn't just his raw power; it was his taste and maturity that got to me. It had the power of rock but felt like the blues. I knew I wanted to hear more of this guy."
GEORGIA BLUE, Tinsley's first Alligator release, hit an unprepared public by surprise in 1988. Critics and fans quickly agreed that a new and original guitar hero had emerged. "Dazzling musicianship pitched somewhere between the exhilarating volatility of rock and roll and the passion of urban blues," raved the Los Angeles Times. Before long, Alligator arranged to reissue COOL ON IT and TORE UP, thus exposing Tinsley's blistering earlier music to a growing fan base." The Chicago Tribune celebrated the release by saying, "Ellis takes classic, Southern blues-rock workouts and jolts them to new life with a torrid axe barrage."
Tinsley's next release, 1989's FANNING THE FLAMES, further expanded the guitarist's hero status. By now his talents as a songwriter equaled his guitar prowess. Guitar World shouted, "Ellis stands alongside Stevie Ray Vaughan and Johnny Winter, and that ain't just hype." 1992's TROUBLE TIME added guests Peter Buck (R.E.M.) and keyboardist Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones), and brought even more critical acclaim Ellis' way. The song >Highwayman received airplay on commercial rock radio stations across the country. "Alive, kicking and drenched in sweat," declared The Washington Post.
1994's STORM WARNING was Ellis' true breakthrough. Recorded live in the studio with his road-savvy band and produced by Eddy Offord (John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Yes), the album was a tour-de-force of smoking guitar workouts and radio-friendly blues rockers. Features and reviews ran in Rolling Stone, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and in many other national and regional publications. His largest audience by far came when NBC Sports ran a feature on Atlanta's best blues guitarist during their 1996 Summer Olympic Coverage viewed by millions of people all over the world.
FIRE IT UP followed in 1997. Produced by the legendary Tom Dowd (Allman Brothers, Ray Charles), the album featured Ellis' blazing guitar playing and expressive, soulful vocals in better form than ever. With Dowd's deft production touch--along with Tinsley's fiery road band and a host of talented musicians, including famed bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn on seven songs--Ellis reached new heights, coming up with some of the best performances of his career. The Associated Press called the CD, "A solid heaping of blues...a mixture of well-written originals and covers all held together with scorching guitar and a big voice to carry his sharply written lyrics."
A move to Capricorn Records in 2000 saw Ellis revisiting his Southern roots with KINGPIN. Unfortunately, the label folded soon after the CD's release. In 2002, he joined the Telarc label, producing two well-received albums of soul-drenched blues-rock, HELL OR HIGH WATER and THE HARD WAY. All the while, Ellis never stopped touring. "A musician never got famous staying home," he's quick to note.
Ellis has played in all 50 states, as well as Canada, Europe, Australia and South America. Whether he's out with his own band or sharing stages with The Allman Brothers, Robert Cray, Koko Taylor or Widespread Panic, he averages over 150 performances a year, bringing his fast-moving, high-energy, guitar-drenched performances to fans all over the world. Live, there's simply no one better at igniting a crowd, jamming with focus and purpose...
Since first hitting the national scene with his Alligator Records debut, GEORGIA BLUE, in 1988, Ellis has toured non-stop and continued to release one critically acclaimed album after another. His stellar guitar work, always a staple of his live shows and CDs, is matched by his strong songwriting and powerful, soulful vocals. Tinsley's hometown paper, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, calls his music, "a potent, amazing trip through electric blues-rock."
Ellis made five critically acclaimed albums for Alligator between 1988 and 1997 before recording for the Capricorn and Telarc labels. His high-energy LIVE-HIGHWAYMAN, the long-awaited live album his fans have been demanding for years, marked his return to Alligator records. "Tinsley is one of the finest younger generation blues rockers. He's made great albums for us in the past, and we're excited to have him back in the Alligator family. He's great in the studio, but even better live, so I'm really excited about this recording," said Iglauer.
Ellis' latest release on Alligator, MOMENT OF TRUTH, captures all the power and energy of his legendary live performances. His vocals reach new heights of soulfulness and expressiveness; his guitar playing is ferocious and relentless, but, when the mood calls for it, gentle and moving. What really sets the album apart, though, is the depth of Ellis’ songwriting. The material deals in matters both personal and universal and runs the gamut of human emotions. MOMENT OF TRUTH is Ellis’ most wide-ranging and inspired recording.
Born in Atlanta in 1957, Ellis grew up in southern Florida and first played guitar at age eight. He found the blues through the backdoor of the British Invasion bands like The Yardbirds, The Animals, Cream, and The Rolling Stones. He especially loved the Kings--Freddie, B.B. and Albert--and spent hours immersing himself in their music. His love for the blues solidified when he was 14. At a B.B. King performance, Tinsley sat mesmerized in the front row. When B.B. broke a string on Lucille, he changed it without missing a beat, and handed the broken string to Ellis. After the show, B.B. came out and talked with fans, further impressing Tinsley with his warmth and down-to-earth attitude. By now Tinsley's fate was sealed; he had to become a blues guitarist. And yes, he still has that string.
Already an accomplished teenaged musician, Ellis left Florida and returned to Atlanta in 1975. He soon joined the Alley Cats, a gritty blues band that included Preston Hubbard (of Fabulous Thunderbirds fame). In 1981, along with veteran blues singer and harpist Chicago Bob Nelson, Tinsley formed The Heartfixers, a group that would become Atlanta's top-drawing blues band. Upon hearing LIVE AT THE MOONSHADOW (Landslide), the band's second release, The Washington Post declared, "Tinsley Ellis is a legitimate guitar hero." After cutting two more Heartfixers albums for Landslide, COOL ON IT (featuring Tinsley's vocal debut) and TORE UP (with vocals by blues shouter Nappy Brown), Ellis was ready to head out on his own. Ellis sent a copy of the master tape for his solo debut to Bruce Iglauer at Alligator Records. "I had heard COOL ON IT," recalls Iglauer, "and I was amazed. I hadn't heard Tinsley before, but he played like the guys with huge international reputations. It wasn't just his raw power; it was his taste and maturity that got to me. It had the power of rock but felt like the blues. I knew I wanted to hear more of this guy."
GEORGIA BLUE, Tinsley's first Alligator release, hit an unprepared public by surprise in 1988. Critics and fans quickly agreed that a new and original guitar hero had emerged. "Dazzling musicianship pitched somewhere between the exhilarating volatility of rock and roll and the passion of urban blues," raved the Los Angeles Times. Before long, Alligator arranged to reissue COOL ON IT and TORE UP, thus exposing Tinsley's blistering earlier music to a growing fan base." The Chicago Tribune celebrated the release by saying, "Ellis takes classic, Southern blues-rock workouts and jolts them to new life with a torrid axe barrage."
Tinsley's next release, 1989's FANNING THE FLAMES, further expanded the guitarist's hero status. By now his talents as a songwriter equaled his guitar prowess. Guitar World shouted, "Ellis stands alongside Stevie Ray Vaughan and Johnny Winter, and that ain't just hype." 1992's TROUBLE TIME added guests Peter Buck (R.E.M.) and keyboardist Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones), and brought even more critical acclaim Ellis' way. The song >Highwayman received airplay on commercial rock radio stations across the country. "Alive, kicking and drenched in sweat," declared The Washington Post.
1994's STORM WARNING was Ellis' true breakthrough. Recorded live in the studio with his road-savvy band and produced by Eddy Offord (John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Yes), the album was a tour-de-force of smoking guitar workouts and radio-friendly blues rockers. Features and reviews ran in Rolling Stone, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and in many other national and regional publications. His largest audience by far came when NBC Sports ran a feature on Atlanta's best blues guitarist during their 1996 Summer Olympic Coverage viewed by millions of people all over the world.
FIRE IT UP followed in 1997. Produced by the legendary Tom Dowd (Allman Brothers, Ray Charles), the album featured Ellis' blazing guitar playing and expressive, soulful vocals in better form than ever. With Dowd's deft production touch--along with Tinsley's fiery road band and a host of talented musicians, including famed bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn on seven songs--Ellis reached new heights, coming up with some of the best performances of his career. The Associated Press called the CD, "A solid heaping of blues...a mixture of well-written originals and covers all held together with scorching guitar and a big voice to carry his sharply written lyrics."
A move to Capricorn Records in 2000 saw Ellis revisiting his Southern roots with KINGPIN. Unfortunately, the label folded soon after the CD's release. In 2002, he joined the Telarc label, producing two well-received albums of soul-drenched blues-rock, HELL OR HIGH WATER and THE HARD WAY. All the while, Ellis never stopped touring. "A musician never got famous staying home," he's quick to note.
Ellis has played in all 50 states, as well as Canada, Europe, Australia and South America. Whether he's out with his own band or sharing stages with The Allman Brothers, Robert Cray, Koko Taylor or Widespread Panic, he averages over 150 performances a year, bringing his fast-moving, high-energy, guitar-drenched performances to fans all over the world. Live, there's simply no one better at igniting a crowd, jamming with focus and purpose...
Hell or High Water
Tinsley Ellis Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Hell or High Water' by these artists:
AC ? DC (Watch out, out of my way, you want to stay) Everybody Y…
AC/DC (Watch out, out of my way, you wanna stay) Everybody You do…
AC/DC переменный/постоянный ток Get out my way D'you hear what I say? Get out…
AC/DC/ACDC (Watch out, out of my way, you want to stay) Everybody Y…
Alessandra Amoroso Oh so they say That we're star-crossed And stay away I won't…
Before Their Eyes Burning alive 'cause I'm dying without you Show me your lie…
Ben Danaher Don’t wanna talk like we’re old friends. I can barely…
Billy Raffoul You never know what tomorrow may bring The woman lyin' next…
Brunhilde Surrender ? or give everything? is Suicide Or an exit route?…
bullet.for.my.valentine There's no escape, heaven can wait There's no escape and ti…
Eastern Conference Champions Come hell or high water The former asked the latter Oh…
Elles Bailey Come hell come high water Come hell come high water I′ve bu…
Exlibris If I asked you, would you run into the fire Something's…
Flee Lord eto Look how We made it nigga Amazing liquor mixed with Asian…
FM I was going down I was sinking fast Putting myself out I kne…
George Canyon Every Sunday mornin' that old preacher lets his sermon ring …
Horizon I'm not the type to waste my time Listening to back…
Johnny Strong/OPERATOR He's an innovator Don't care what you give up He's one of…
Junkyard I swear I seen the light, and it aint comin'…
King Cobra Hell, Fire and Stone Crawl the broken glass Do I get this…
Kiss Here I am, all alone, Been two days since you've been…
Kiss (1987) Here I am, all alone, Been two days since you've been…
KISS - 1987 - Crazy Nights Here I am, all alone, Been two days since you've been…
Know The Score We're calling your bluff You're full of shit Hell or…
Me & The Rest You've taken all my will to Exploit my face behind these…
MyChildren MyBride Despite impurities, we have to realize there's no need for…
Noah Guthrie He hung around for a while Made a claim on a…
On Broken Wings Run for dear life The approaching storm is bringing the thin…
Passenger Was it the trick of the light? Or a shot in…
Polaris At Noon Somewhere underwater there's a boat that hails my name Sunk…
Quiet Riot C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon They're out to get you anyway…
Ransom & Nicholas Craven Look how We made it nigga Amazing liquor mixed with Asian…
Rave New World You're the waves And I'm the sand When you need to crash Let…
Scarcrow Pirates in a cold war Yeah, this is what we are Nuclear…
Sean Whiting Been so long since I saw your face Can't stop now…
Seb Adams Came back to the land of the living I remember there's…
Skid Row Trip the wires down around my feet Setting fires up and…
Spooky Tooth Patto-Wright I got to feel the need and it started me…
Steelwings You can tell right by the feelings You can feel it…
T Graham Brown Now Baby don't worry If it troubles your mind Cause it will…
The Alarm A union made in the heavens Untouched by an outside…
The King Is Dead I won't let you take advantage and refuse to take…
The Neighbourhood I went through hell To get to high water And now I'm…
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus I thought I knew it all It doesn't matter, if…
The Rescues We are running out of time Meet me at the water…
TORCH IT Fight the pressure My demons keep on growing stronger in my…
Virgin Steele I don't take no for answer I'm not that kind of…
Wildermiss Come hell or high water Or just a little uncomfortable I'm…
William Elliott Whitmore Smoke em if you got em, Drink your glasses to…
Woe Is Me You've taken all my will to Exploit my face behind these…
Xersize I’ve been to places darker than the black holes I’ve been…
Y & T Between a rock and a hard place You put the pressure…
►woe is me You've taken all my will to Exploit my face behind these…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Tinsley Ellis:
A Quitter Never Wins Seems like nowadays Nothin's meant to last One day you've g…
As the Years Go Passing By Ah the blues The ball and chain that is 'round every…
Cut You Loose Well I work work work, pretty baby What have I got…
Don't Turn Off The Light Oh it′s a hard road Takes a long long time When you…
Double Eyed Whammy Double Eyed Whammy That chick is a walking doll, she really…
Early in the Morning When a girl reach the age of 18 She begins to…
Feelin' No Pain Give me a drink So I don′t have to think Of a…
I I take what I want, I'm a bad go-getter, yeah,…
I Got Mine I've really got to use my imagination To think of good…
I Take What I Want I take what I want, I'm a bad go-getter, yeah,…
I'll Be Loving You Well the first thing I wanna tell you Is how much…
I've Got to Use My Imagination I've really got to use my imagination To think of good…
Ice Cream In Hell Ice Cream In Hell (Tinsley Ellis, Heartfixer Music, BMI) We…
In From The Cold When it's dyin' time Color gone from the trees Like a fire…
Kiss Of Death If I can't have you baby Might as well dink gasoline I…
Leavin Hey, fellas, have you heard the news, Yeah, the women in…
Shadow of Doubt Just another homesick child, tired of running wild Ready to …
Speak No Evil Don't go around spreading rumours Even if what you say is…
Surrender Was a time back when I was a child Things move…
To the Devil for a Dime I got a traveling bones, On the day I was…
When I Howl When your eyelids get too heavy, I′ll be watching you…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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Mike Fournier
this guy is a hidden gem....cool songs,great innovative licks....I love to hear him.