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"Ellis delivers a powerful punch of deep roots blues and wicked guitar…a foot-stomping, raucous good time…a joyous and triumphant celebration of acoustic music. You'll feel it down to the bone."
--Living Blues
"Glorious, raw and propulsive acoustic blues…killer vocals and biting, dazzling guitar work."
--AllMusic
"Stripped down and raw…gruff, unembellished vocals…glistening melodies fingerpicked with delicacy…so genuine it seems like a long lost recording."
--Blues Music
Magazine
Atlanta-based blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Tinsley Ellis will celebrate the Jan. 30 release of his new Alligator Records album, Labor Of Love, with a live solo acoustic performance at 7 p.m. on March 3 at xBk Live, 1159 24th St., in Des Moines. Labor Of Love is his second acoustic album (after 2024's Blues Music Award-nominated Naked Truth), and first acoustic album to contain all original material. For complete performance details visit: www.xbklive.com
With Labor Of Love, Ellis delivers a raw, edgy, self-produced set of 13 original compositions, all performed with pure, emotional honesty. The songs spin modern tales of floods, conflagrations, voodoo spirits, personal travails and heaven-sent prayers. From the feral opener "Hoodoo Woman" to the John Lee Hooker-groove of "Long Time" to the evocative, Skip James-inspired "To A Hammer" to the Son House-style stomp of "Sunnyland," Ellis inhabits his songs in a way that is simply astonishing.