Revered Georgia bluesman Tinsley Ellis comes to Vashon

Published 10:30 am Wednesday, November 12, 2025

World-renowned Atlanta-based guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Tinsley Ellis will give a live solo acoustic performance at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, at Vashon Center for the Arts.

The island appearance — booked and highly recommended by Vashon-based singer/songwriter Ian Moore — is part of Ellis’s tour of “Naked Truth,” his first-ever solo acoustic album on Alligator Records — a recording steeped in the folk blues traditions of Muddy Waters, Skip James, Son House, Robert Johnson and even Leo Kottke.

To those who have followed Ellis’s career, spanning decades and 21 albums, “Naked Truth” might seem a departure for a musician best known for his blistering electric guitar work. But according to Ellis, the album is just another expression of his music as he taps into the raw essence of the blues.

“This is a record I’ve always wanted to make, and one that my longtime fans have been asking for,” Ellis said in press materials for the solo tour.

The album’s 12 songs include nine originals ranging from the Skip James-inspired “Windowpane” to the Delta-styled “Tallahassee Blues” to the humorous “Grown-Ass Man.” The inclusion of four introspective instrumentals include a transcendent cover of Leo Kottke’s “A Soldier’s Grave On The Prairie” — a song he’s been playing live for almost 50 years.

Ellis’s decades in music have brought him considerable acclaim. Rolling Stone has lauded his sizzling fretwork, saying “his non-stop gigging has sharpened his six-string to a razor’s edge” and that his guitar “pyrotechnics rival early Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton.” Mega-star guitarist has called him “a national treasure,” and legions of other musicians have also praised his work.

Vashon’s own guitar god and songwriter, Ian Moore, is among those — describing Ellis’s musicianship as being deeply inspirational to his own and filled with both the soul and edge of a great artist.

Moore said he hopes islanders will come out to hear Ellis’s new emotional, stripped-down blues, played on his National steel guitar and Martin Acoustic.

After years on the road, this tour is simple, but also a little frightening, Ellis said.

“Two guitars and a car,” he said. “When folks come to see me, I’ll have the guitars I used on the record with me, so what fans hear on the album is what they’ll get live. It’s not easy. Now I’m the whole band and there’s nowhere to hide. It’s scary every single time I go up on stage alone. But nothing could be more honest.”

Find out more and get tickets to the show at vashoncenterforthearts.org.