Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on December 1, 2025
On Friday, January 30, 2026, Atlanta-based blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Tinsley Ellis will release Labor Of Love, his second acoustic album (after 2024’s Blues Music Award-nominated Naked Truth), and first acoustic album to contain all original material. The album will be available on CD, Georgia peach-colored vinyl LP and at all digital service providers. It is available for pre-order now. The first single from the album, the powerful “Hoodoo Woman,” premieres today, along with a striking new video directed by filmmaker Troy Bieser.
According to Ellis, the song reflects his love of the Mississippi Hill Country Blues. “It’s inspired by R.L. Burnside,” Ellis says of the track. “I did shows with R.L. here and in Europe, and his music became ingrained in my soul.”
Tinsley Ellis — “Hoodoo Woman”
From the new Alligator Records album, Labor Of Love
To be released January 30, 2026
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.
Each performance carries the weight, experience and hard-earned wisdom Ellis learned over four decades on the road, making Labor Of Love as profoundly deep and moving as any music he has made in his career. It covers the gamut of emotions, finding good times in the hard times, mixing gentle beauty with foot-pounding ferocity.
During a break from the recording of the new album, Ellis spent time in Bentonia, Mississippi, birthplace of Skip James and home to blues legend Jimmy “Duck” Holmes. Ellis soaked up the spirit of this tiny Delta town, hanging out with Holmes and gaining deep insight into genuine Bentonia blues. While there, Ellis performed with Holmes at his famous Blue Front Café, soaking up every moment. “Once I got home,” notes Ellis, “I went right back to the studio and incorporated everything that I just experienced into my music.”
For the album, Ellis used six different open tunings on his beloved 1969 Martin D-35, his 12-string Martin D-12-20, and his 1937 National Steel O Series guitars. He also, for the first time in his career, played mandolin on three of the album’s songs. The instrumentation and the tunings, he notes, create endless possibilities, and he finds himself constantly invigorated by the music.
Since the 2024 release of Naked Truth, Ellis has been traveling on his own, performing solo all over the country in his jokingly named “Two Guitars And A Car” tour. For Ellis, playing solo, acoustic blues has helped him tap into the raw essence of the music. “I love doing these shows,” Ellis says, with plans to continue touring solo for the foreseeable future. “No matter what I play, I like to have an edge. For me, just playing this music is a labor of love. I sat at the feet of Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf. I got into this music because of them. I always told myself if I could just make a living playing the blues, I’d be, at least in my own mind, successful.”
Premier Guitar believes he’s more than reached that goal, declaring, “Ellis is a legend of American blues music… he’s an American music treasure. He delivers a sermon on the power and glory of the blues, and is one of modern blues’ greatest performers.”
