Tinsley Ellis w/ Dre and the Collective

Tinsley Ellis (BLUES) Southern blues-rocker Tinsley Ellis may speak no evil, but he sings and plays with the conviction of, as Billboard wrote, “…a man possessed.” Over the course of 11 albums and literally thousands of live performances, Ellis easily ranks as one of today’s most electrifying blues-rock guitarists and vocalists. He attacks his music with rock power and blues feeling, in the same tradition as his Deep South musical heroes Duane Allman and Freddie King and his old friends Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes. Atlanta Magazine declared Ellis “the most significant blues artist to emerge from Atlanta since Blind Willie McTell.”Since first hitting the national scene with his Alligator Records debut Georgia Blue in 1988, Ellis has toured non-stop and continued to release one critically acclaimed album after another. Tinsley’s hometown paper, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, calls his music “a potent, amazing trip through electric blues-rock.” Rolling Stone says he plays “feral blues guitar…non-stop gigging has sharpened his six-string to a razor’s edge…his eloquence dazzles…he achieves pyrotechnics that rival early Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton.” Tinsley Ellis wears his Southern roots proudly. Born in Atlanta in 1957, he grew up in southern Florida and first played guitar at age eight. He found the blues through the back door of British Invasion bands like The Yardbirds, The Animals, Cream, and The RollingStones. He especially loved the Kings — Freddie, B.B. and Albert — and spent hours immersing himself in their music. His love for the blues solidified when he was 14. At a B.B. King performance, Tinsley sat mesmerized in the front row. When B.B. broke a string on Lucille, he changed it without missing a beat, and handed the broken string to Ellis. After the show, B.B. came out and talked with fans, further impressing Tinsley with his warm and down-to-earth attitude. By now Tinsley’s fate was sealed; he had to become a blues guitarist. And yes, he still has that string.tinsleyellis.com

w/ Dre and the Collective (SOUL) The Tampa Collective is a new all-pro jamband (featuring vocalist Dre Anders), that draws from the celebrated roots of successful and talented bands that cut their musical teeth in the Tampa Bay area, such as Tom Petty and Ray Charles. Borrowing from many of the best bands and studio musicians in the region,The Tampa Collective draws on these roots and blends them with Dre’s Swedish musical heritage, to create something new. The Collective not only brings their fresh sound to The Bay Area, they’re creating a platform to showcase the best local talent, and serve as the jamband “at large” for national acts to sit in with when passing through. Comparisons have already been made to such bands as North Mississippi Allstars, Widespread Panic, and The Dave Matthews Band. Live collaborations by their very nature are an edge of the seat experience…even more so when drawing on the unique talents of so many respected musicians, who are coming together to create a sound that blends the past with the present. facebook.com./dreandthecollective