by Bob Payne WWW.MYSPACE.COM/DAVRIK
posted April 21, 2008
At age 14, attending a B.B. King performance, Tinsley Ellis 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. (From Tinsleyellis.com)
Tinsley Ellis is one of the world’s finest blues guitarists. Playing a hard driving style of southern influenced blues/rock, Tinsley has released 8 albums with Alligator records, the premier blues label in the world. He is appearing with Robert Cray and Jason Ricci & New Blood at the First Tennessee Pavilion on April 26 for the first annual Southside Blues Festival. I had an opportunity to interview Tinsley last Thursday by phone at his home in Atlanta.
BP - Good afternoon, Tinsley. Can you give us a brief “State of the Blues?”
TE – Hi Bob. Well, the Blues are not dying. They are alive and well in many cities, but we could certainly use another Stevie Ray Vaughn to invigorate the scene. Someone young enough to turn on the teenagers in particular, to BB King and Muddy Waters and all the blues masters. It’s just a matter of time until someone comes along and kicks the door wide open again. In 1986, when Robert Cray came along, it was a real groundbreaking moment. He is the triple threat - guitar playing, song writing, and singing. 1986 was a great year, with Los Lobos and Stevie Ray Vaughn going strong. Robert Cray’s “Smoking Gun” was a great moment for the blues.
BP- I saw Johnny Lang at Chastain Park with BB King and I thought he might be the next Stevie Ray. What happened?
TE – Well, now he puts more emphasis on the songs and the singing. I think more of a shredding guitar along the lines of an Allman Brothers, Cream, or Jimi Hendrix would appeal to teenagers in America, and would bust the door wide open. And lets face it, the wa-wa pedal doesn’t hurt.
BP – I believe BB King doesn’t use a wa-wa pedal – he just plugs straight in to the amp.
TE – Yeah, I use the wa-wa and a little trickery. Someone like Robert Cray can plug right in to the amp, but it takes a lot of balls to do that. I kind of hide behind the pedals. I guess I am somewhere in the middle.
BP – What advice would you give the young up and coming blues musician, having spent three decades in the business?
TE – The best I can give is to find your own voice in the blues world – not to dwell too long on the copycats, or blues by numbers. And, to write your own material if you can. I wish I done that, but it wasn’t until I was in my thirties to do that.
BP – It’s amazing to me that mainstream radio doesn’t play more blues. BB King, Delbert McClinton, Robert Cray, you and many others will play to packed houses 150-200 nights year, yet radio doesn’t play much blues.
TE – There is an artistic need for a bluesman’s art to remain confidential so that the struggle is captured there. [laughs] I have made an entire career of bubbling under, but I have stuck my head out a couple of times.
BP - Laughing
TE – I have been fortunate in songwriting – I had the Johnny Lang hit that sold a couple million copies. So, every once in a while I would stick my head out, but I am pretty much in the bubbling under stage perpetually.
BP – You are back with Alligator – the Cadillac of blues record labels. How is that going?
TE – Really good. I tried the rest, now I am back with the best.
BP – Your new CD is “Moment Of Truth” on Alligator. Your thoughts?
TE – We’ll be doing a lot of songs off the new CD at the Southside Blues Festival, and quite a few off the “Live” CD, which preceded “Moment of Truth.” People are really enjoying these past two CD’s. I think I get a little better each time I make one. As long as I keep a healthy dose of blues style guitar in there, people will stick with me. If I try to reinvent myself, I could shoot myself in the foot.
BP – I heard some acoustic guitar on a couple songs on the new CD. That’s not your inner James Taylor coming out is it?
TE – Yes, it is actually! It is my inner James Taylor. The blues is such a wide, all encompassing term. The blues could mean someone acoustic, such as Robert Johnson or even James Taylor or the blues to someone else could mean a Cream or even ZZ Top. To me, if it feels like blues, it’s blues. It just needs to be soulful.
BP – Speaking of labeling music – the difference between Chicago style blues and Memphis or Southern blues, seems to be that the Chicago style is more laid back, whereas southern blues tends to be a bit edgier. Your assessment?
TE – Well, you are right. Some of it is more laid back. I prefer the edgy blues. If you aren’t living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
BP- It sounds like a great mix for the concert. Robert Cray’s smooth Chicago blues and your southern blues/rock.
TE – And, we have Jason Ricci opening the show. I really look forward to seeing him live for the first time.
BP – You use an old Stratocaster guitar on most of your work, but I have seen you use and old Gibson ES.
TE – Yes, I do use an ES 345, also. I will probably be featuring more of the ES in this concert. Lord knows, Robert Cray is the master of the Stratocaster, so I might feature the Gibson more. [laughs]
BP – What are feeling on satellite radio, Myspace and Youtube? These are all newer mediums for music.
TE – Myspace is great – sort of the new Internet. Satellite radio is where we get the most airplay. I wish I could have more control over what kind of crap of mine they put on Youtube. I wrote them about it and they pretty much blew me off.
BP – You get a lot of hand held video cams and phone cams on Youtube.
TE – It’s a bunch of crap on there. I am real careful about the stuff I have, and I cringe when I look at the stuff on there. I wish they would just go away. And, the Internet will not get you women, but a blues concert might. So, we have that going for us. [laughs]
BP – Tell me about touring.
TE – Well, Son Seals once told me you could make a good living doing blues if you didn’t mind carrying your own amplifiers. I am even the driver of the van that carries us to the concert. It keeps my hat size down. It keeps the overhead down, too. It doesn’t matter to me – I am just tickled to make a living playing music. Doing what I like to do.
BP – Who do you like performing with the most?
TE – Anyone with that great blues sound. It’s so cool, because we get to play on stage and watch a great concert. It’s a dream job – I would probably be at the show anyway. I was at the Allman Brothers show last week, and they got me up to play song with them, and that was a real honor for me.
BP – Well, I think you will like the First Tennessee Pavilion. The best of both worlds – Its outside, but it has a roof. It also has a new structure, built within the existing building, that allows for a true state of the art sound system.
TE – I’m really looking forward to it, and I’ll see you there.
BP – Thanks, Tinsley.
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