Delta Boogie Press Releases
Delta Boogie Hairy Larry
invites you to
join the
Delta Boogie
email list
Home Network Search Table of Contents
Music Video Radio Delta Boogie Network-Gamer+

Tinsley Ellis
New Release and Tour Schedule

Tinsley Ellis Readies Capricorn Debut Album
"Kingpin"
Due out on March 21, 2000
Produced by David Z

A true kingpin of the Southern blues/rock scene, it stands to reason that Tinsley Ellis and the Capricorn label, renowned for the genre, would find each other. Now singer guitarist Ellis prepares the release of his Capricorn label debut album, titled 'Kingpin,' set for a March 21 street date. The album, produced by David Z (Prince, Johnny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd), features sidemen like drummer Richie Hayward (Little Feat) and keyboardist Reese Wynans (Bonnie Raitt, Delbert McClinton.)

'Kingpin' coalesces Ellis' roots starting with the Albert King tribute, "Heart Fixing Business" (Ellis was in a band called the Heartfixers in the '80s) and contains a triumvirate of great Ellis originals spearheaded by the album's first single to rock, Triple A and blues radio, "Dyin' To Do Wrong," cementing his reputation as one of the country's strongest blues songwriters (his "A Quitter Never Wins" was recently performed by Jonny Lang in a PBS special produced at the White House.) Ellis also gives a fresh take to Gladys Knight's "Just My Imagination" and closes with the plaintive Arthur Alexander/Jon Tiven tune "Let's Think About It."

An Atlanta native who grew up in Florida, Ellis was smitten at an early age with the Yardbirds and Cream, and soon delved deeper into the seminal work of Freddie King, Otis Rush and Magic Sam. In 1981, he formed the Heartfixers with singer/harpist "Chicago" Bob Nelson, which emerged as one of the region's leading acts. Their Landslide album Live At the Moonshadow moved the Washington Post to write, "Tinsley Ellis is a legitimate guitar hero." Living Blues magazine called their subsequent Tore It Up, on which they were joined by blues shouter Nappy Brown "torrid, one of the best blues discs of the decade." His Storm Warning on Alligator earned Rolling Stone's highest praise: "Ellis achieves pyrotechnics which rival early Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton." He closed his Alligator tenure with the Tom Dowd-produced Fire It Up, featuring Duck Dunn on bass, before switching to Capricorn, where he immediately began work on Kingpin.

'Kingpin' provides the most complete picture of Tinsley Ellis to date. That's no surprise from a musician Atlanta Magazine calls "the most significant blues artist to emerge from Atlanta since Blind Willie McTell."

March and April will bring dates in the American South and East which, along with the new album, should cement Tinsley Ellis vaunted legacy as the Kingpin of Southern blues and rock.


TINSLEY ELLIS TOUR DATES 2000

3/9/00 WILLIAMSBURG, VA J.M. RANDALL'S 3/10/00 RALEIGH, NC BERKLEY CAFE 3/11/00 HIGH POINT, NC TRIANGLE BILLIARDS 3/17/00 FT.LAUDERDALE, FL ALLIGATOR ALLEY 3/18/00 MIAMI, FL TOBACCO ROAD (FL.) 3/24/00 GREENVILLE, SC HANDLEBAR 3/25/00 CHATTANOOGA, TN BREWS AND CUES 3/31/00 WINDER, GA CHIP'S 4/1/00 JACKSONVILLE, FL A FESTIVAL 4/2/00 MELBORNE, FL PINEDA INN 4/5/00 FT. MYERS, FL PETER'S 4/6/00 CLEARWATER, FL RUTH ECKERD HALL (w/BB KING) 4/7/00 ORLANDO, FL CITY JAZZ 4/8/00 ORLANDO, FL CITY JAZZ 4/11/00 MEMPHIS, TN B.B.KING'S 4/12/00 BETHESDA, MD LOUIES 4/13/00 GREER, SC GREER FESTIVAL 4/14/00 FOLLY BEACH, SC SANDDOLLAR 4/15/00 ROCHESTER, NY DYNOSAUR BBQ 4/16/00 SYRACUSE, NY DYNOSAUR BBQ(S) 4/18/00 ELMIRA, NY KINGSBURY'S 4/19/00 UTICA, NY TINY'S 4/20/00 NEW YORK, NY CHICAGO BLUES 4/21/00 BOSTON, MA HARPER'S FERRY 4/22/00 PIERMONT, NY TURNING POINT 4/25/00 NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ CAMELEON JCT. 4/26/00 COVINGTON, KY LUCILLE'S 4/27/00 CHICAGO, IL CITY GRILL 4/28/00 CHICAGO, IL BUDDY GUY'S 4/29/00 TAYLOR, MI SISKO'S 5/7/00 ATLANTA, GA MUSIC MIDTOWN FESTIVAL

Information supplied by The Baker/Northrop Media Group

Order KingpinToday!

Delta Boogie Press Archive



Email Delta Boogie
Copyright by Larry Heyl and Vivian Heyl, 1997