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 pandemic. The luthier at Intown Guitars reworked my Martin and pretty much had to completely take it apart. He put a pickup system in it, and the thing just sings. I’m kind of re-discovering another side of the guitar that I’d ignored for a long time. It all started when I put headphones on and put a mic in front of it and thought, “Man, these guitars are just beautiful sounding instruments.”
ArtsATL: Have you ever performed at Eddie’s Attic?
Ellis: The only time I’ve ever played there was when Joe Bonamassa was just starting out, and he called me up and asked me to come sit in. He had more guitars on stage than he had people in the audience. He blew the walls off the place, and I helped him do that. That’s the only time I’ve ever played there, so I’m really excited about it. It’s a beautiful setting for acoustic music.
ArtsATL: What can people expect when they come to the show?
Ellis: It’s not going to be the typical listening room type show. There’ll be some quieter numbers, but I try to maintain the same edge acoustically that I have electrically. It’ll be more of a party, really. I throw in all kinds of weird, quirky songs mixed in with songs off my albums. And I talk about how I wrote them. But I kind of do whatever I feel like doing. If I want to throw in a Buddy Holly song or a Bob Dylan song or a Rolling Stones song, I can do that. It puts a smile on peoples’ faces when you do a familiar cover.
ArtsATL: Your acoustic shows are billed as “Acoustic Songs and Stories.” What inspired that format?
Ellis: I performed at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida, and I saw people like Steve Earle and Rickie Lee Jones play. When you play an electric show, you just barrel through. I saw where they talked about their songs before they played them. People seem to enjoy the storytelling aspect of it, where I set the songs up with the stories behind them. I do a lot of name-dropping, and most of the stuff I say up there is true. If people will put up with the talking, I do it. But if they want to boogie on through, then I’ll just blast on through. Every night, I try to figure out which it’s gonna be.
ArtsATL: How different is it playing acoustic shows versus electric?
Ellis: It’s terrifying to be up there by yourself; you kind of have to walk through the fear. I’ve done some larger shows, and going out in front of a large crowd with no backup band, just me and the acoustic guitars . . . sitting in the back when the person from the festival comes to get you, it’s almost like they’re the executioner — they’re leading me out there. But once I get one or two songs under my belt, it’s like I’m on cruise control with it.
All the shows I’ve done this year have been acoustic. I’ve done the entire country, from south Florida to Seattle to San Diego to Maine. Over 60 shows. Me in a car with two guitars and a suitcase full of CDs and vinyl to sell. I’ve got a hybrid vehicle that gets over 50 miles to the gallon.
ArtsATL: Are you going to do an acoustic album?
Ellis: I’m in the midst of recording one. Eddie 9-Volt has produced a session. He’s a younger guy and gave it some young ears. He gave a real nice twist to it. I’m still developing songs for it. I’ve got so many songs, and it’s a matter of which ones to do. It’s something different without deviating from the style people are used to with electric guitar. It’s performing with a couple of beautiful sounding instruments as opposed to allowing the amp to do the work.
I’m hoping it will be well-received. It’s mainly a blues and folk direction. Mostly originals but right now I have a Muddy Waters song, a Son House song and a Leo Kottke song in the mix. The Kottke song is “Sailor’s Grave on the Prairie,” which I recorded with the Heartfixers. That song is from when I was first getting into open tunings and slide guitar. When I did it with the Heartfixers, I did it on electric guitar. But when I do it now, I do it on my National steel.
ArtsATL: I happened to see you do an acoustic show 25 years ago, and you encored with “Pinball Wizard.” Any surprises like that on tap for the Eddie’s Attic show?
Ellis: Some of the songs I do raise an eyebrow. Basically, I do whatever the hell I want, like the marionette who clipped its strings.
I’ve done some Gregg Allman songs from the Laid Back era. “These Days.” I think I’ll break that one out at Eddie’s Attic. That was one of my big college seduction songs. I should do an entire set of college seduction dormitory songs (laughs). That song was a big one. And if you needed to bring out the big guns, you’d bust out something like James Taylor’s “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight.” I hope you’ll print that. That’s some good tabloid stuff right there (laughs). I need to be more outrageous. That’s how you get famous these days in America, not by playing good music but by being outrageous. About the only rebellious thing I do is tuning with a capo on (laughs). That’s about as outrageous as I get.
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Scott Freeman is the executive editor of ArtsATL. He is the author of four books, including the best-selling Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band and Otis! The Otis Redding Story. He has worked as an editor at Atlanta magazine and Creative Loafing. He was a reporter for the Macon Telegraph and News, as well as for The Providence Journal.
