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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.