Like many budding guitarists, Tinsley Ellis learned to play on an acoustic before he made the switch to the electric. A half century later, he has come full circle.
Ellis, who has a full-throttle career as an acclaimed electric blues/rock artist, has spent this year touring as a solo act, performing in theaters and listening rooms accompanied only by his 1969 Martin D-35 and 1937 National steel guitars.
He brings his Acoustic Songs and Stories tour home to Atlanta Saturday night with his first-ever show at the vaunted Eddie’s Attic.
In the early 1980s, Ellis became known across the Southeast as the Atlanta version of Stevie Ray Vaughan, playing sweaty blues songs in music clubs across the city. He burst onto the national blues/rock scene in 1986 with his band The Heartfixers and the album Cool On It. Ellis has since released 20 albums, most of them through Alligator Records, the preeminent blues label. He has also become known as one of the best guitarists of his generation.
But his Fender Stratocaster and Gibson electrics have remained mostly idle this year. Quipped Ellis, “The other day I was looking at all my electric guitars and amplifiers and thinking, ‘Damn, these things are getting lonely.’’’
Ellis spoke to ArtsATL about his debut at Eddie’s Attic, his upcoming acoustic album and the challenge of playing acoustic music without a band behind him.
ArtsATL: What led you to spend the year performing acoustic shows?
Tinsley Ellis: I played acoustically before I ever played electrically. After I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964, I begged my parents for a guitar, and they rented me an acoustic guitar with the stipulation I take lessons. I took four or five lessons, then I released myself on my own personal recognizance. I’ve been totally self-taught since then. So acoustic music has been part of my life, and during shows, I’d always play the National steel in the middle of the show.
I really got into my acoustics during the…
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