By Cédric Vernet 
With Labor Of Love, Tinsley Ellis confirms the acoustic turn he began with Naked Truth, released in February 2024. Recorded solo and made up entirely of original songs, the album follows a stripped-down approach where the blues reconnects with its raw edge, shaped by forty years on the road. Open tunings, acoustic guitars and touches of mandolin support songs rooted in real life, dealing with personal struggles, spirituality and Delta heritage. Marked by a stay in Bentonia alongside Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, Labor Of Love comes across as a form of arrival: a direct, unfiltered record, where Tinsley Ellis commits to every note with total freedom and sincerity.
In our exclusive interview, he looks back on his relationship with the blues and on what still fuels his desire to play and record today.
🎙️ Tinsley Ellis interviewed by Cédric Vernet
Labor Of Love follows the acoustic path you began with Naked Truth. At what point did you feel that acoustic blues was no longer just a side project, but a full artistic direction for you?
I was very pleasantly surprised by the success of Naked Truth, and it encouraged me to make yet another album of folk blues music. I’m very grateful that Alligator Records has allowed me to continue in this direction.
You have been known for decades as a major electric blues guitarist. What does playing acoustic force you to relearn, or perhaps rediscover?
I actually started as an acoustic guitar player rather than an electric guitar player. I had seen the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and initially asked my parents for an electric guitar. They got me an acoustic guitar instead, and I played that for years until I got an electric guitar myself. I’ve always done an acoustic portion of my concerts, so this new direction I’m taking is the full extension of that. I’m not sure what the future will bring, but I sure am enjoying making this music now.
This album is made up entirely of original songs. Why was it important for you not to include any covers this time?
Most of my recent albums have been entirely original music. On Naked Truth, I recorded three cover songs, one by Muddy Waters, one by Leo Kottke and one by Son House. At my live shows I still include cover songs by older blues artists, but I always want to record as much original material as possible. Plus, it’s difficult to surpass the original recordings of the blues greats.
Many of the songs draw on very concrete themes: natural disasters, beliefs, personal struggles. Did the writing come more from current events, observation, or from personal experience?
On this new album, I’ve broadened the themes of my songs to include songs about struggle and also songs about spirituality. That is where my thoughts have gone lately. Normally I would just write about relationships.
You recorded Labor Of Love completely solo and self-produced. How does that level of independence affect your musical choices and the way you commit to every note?
On the Naked Truth album, it was just me singing and playing. But on the new album Labor Of Love, I added mandolin, piano and a little more percussion to give it more of an ensemble sound, and I think this is what sets it apart from Naked Truth.
“Every song is in a different tuning from the one before it”
You use several guitars, multiple open tunings, and even play mandolin for the first time. Is this about a specific sonic vision, or about staying curious after forty years on the road?
The main guitars on this album are my Martin D 35 and my 1937 National Steel guitar. Every song is in a different tuning from the one before it. It’s going to be difficult to tune the guitar so often during my shows; I see that as a challenge, but I’ve been practicing lately all the different tunings. The main tunings I use on Labor Of Love are open G, D minor, open E, DADGAD, open A and drop D.
Your time in Bentonia and your meeting with Jimmy “Duck” Holmes clearly left a mark on this album. What did that experience teach you about the blues that you did not know before?
I’ve always been a big fan of Skip James, the most famous blues artist from Bentonia, Mississippi. I went to Bentonia to learn about playing in that style from Jimmy “Duck” Holmes. I set up a show at his Blue Front Café. I arrived there that afternoon and Jimmy gave me a long guitar lesson which helped me understand that guitar style better than I ever had before. I performed my set that evening and then backed him up for a set. I came back to Atlanta and incorporated what I had learned there into my recording. I look forward to going back to Bentonia and performing with Jimmy again.
The title Labor Of Love suggests both hard work and devotion. Looking back, what still drives you to keep making records and getting on stage today?
I am enjoying playing solo acoustic blues more than anything. I’ve enjoyed it since I was a young man. It’s a challenge every night to go out there and play unaccompanied. The audience response has been very good. I’ve never felt so artistically challenged as well as rewarded. I look forward to performing all the new songs plus older songs off the older albums.
You are now touring solo with what you call the “Two Guitars And A Car Tour”. How does this stripped-down setup change your relationship with the audience?
The concerts in this format feel very conversational to me. There’s a lot of dialogue between a solo performer and the audience during these shows. Often, they sing along and shout out. It feels like a party.
When you look at your journey, from your early influences to this very intimate record, do you feel like you have arrived somewhere, or are you still very much on the road?
Performing and recording solo acoustic blues feels more like an arrival for me rather than a departure. I’m not sure what the future will bring, but I hope it will be this enjoyable for both myself and for the fans. I’m trying to live in the moment rather than live in the future right now. It feels like I’m in the right place at the right time. My overall feeling is one of gratitude.
Thank you, Tinsley!
My pleasure.
The album will be released on January 30, 2026🎧 Listen to an excerpt from Labor Of Love
Biography – Tinsley Ellis, from electric blues to a return to acoustic
Based in Atlanta, Tinsley Ellis is a major figure in contemporary American blues. Born in 1957, Tinsley Ellis discovered the guitar at a very young age after seeing the Beatles on television, before finding his way to the blues through British rock and southern rock. Settling in Atlanta in the late 1970s, Tinsley Ellis quickly built a strong reputation on stage, notably with the band The Heartfixers, before launching his solo career in the late 1980s with Georgia Blue, his first album for Alligator Records.
Recognized for decades as one of the great electric guitarists of his generation, Tinsley Ellis has built a substantial discography, alternating studio albums and live recordings, while touring relentlessly across the United States and internationally. Over time, Tinsley Ellis has developed an immediately recognizable style, drawing equally from Chicago blues and deeper Delta roots, with constant attention paid to songwriting and tone.
Since Naked Truth, and now with Labor Of Love, Tinsley Ellis has chosen to foreground a more stripped-down approach, centered on acoustic blues, open tunings and solo performance. Far from being a mere stylistic detour, this evolution marks a significant stage in the career of Tinsley Ellis, where more than forty years of touring and recording are distilled into music that is direct, personal and deeply rooted in the history of the blues.
Cover photo: Bradley Cook