2014 - A Musical Year In Review

These years are flying by, and I can't say that I like that! But it was a great year, and I am very grateful for all the wonderful musical opportunities.


2014 started off with a bang with the release of "Midnight Blue" on January 14th. The album is the second release on my own Heartfixer Music label. It's very time consuming to run a record label, but I thankfully have mentors like Michael Rothschild and Bruce Iglauer who have both helped me very much. They have over 80 years combined in the record biz, so they've pretty much seen it all. Thanks guys for being there for me.


A high point of early 2014 touring was playing at the annual 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach FL with guitarists Glenn Phillips and Robert Randolph. Outdoor festivals in January are risky at best, but we got a break and the weather was supurb. Such a great event. Check it out.


After southeast shows in January, in Feb and March we jumped right up into some really cold weather with shows up north in PA, OH, MI, MA, ME, and NY. Relief from cold weather came in May when we flew to Hawaii to do 3 shows there with Duke Robillard, Little Charlie Baty and Elvin Bishop. It was fun to watch their amazing performances and also take part in the all-star jam at the end of the long concert. These guys are all heroes of mine and good friends as well.


We continued the jamming thing throughout the busy summer festival season. Outstanding festival sit-ins included the new Blues sensation Jarekus Singleton, keyboardist Jimmy Voegeli of The Jimmys, live-wire guitarist Albert Castiglia, the legendary Coco Montoya,  the wonderful AJ Ghent, legend Les Dudek, my distant cousin Debbie Davies, and my old band mate and friend Kenny Kilgore. So much fun was had by all. I apologize if I've left anyone out. Many licks were stolen by all!


In the fall, we did a series of state-wide concerts that we called "Back To Georgia Tour". We played beautiful theatres and festivals across Georgia, and we invited friends like Glenn Phillips, AJ Ghent, Diane Durrett and Tommy Talton to share the stage with us. More jamming with friends and more fun! Georgia has been very, very good to me.


The last tour of 2014 was with my good friend Mike Zito. This tour had long been in the making. We co-fronted the band and got a chance to learn and perform each other's songs. We also dusted off some old Blues standards that I hadn't played in a very long time. At the final show of the year in NYC at the Iridium, I was inducted into the New York Blues Hall Of Fame. The year truly ended on a high note with this fun tour. Mike's a great artist. Check out his music online if you haven't already.


Special thanks go out to my drummer Erik Kaszynski and my bassist Jonathan Holland with whom I played every single show of 2014. I truly appreciate your stellar musicianship, your loyalty and your friendship. Friendly reminder: bring a coat when we play in Saskatoon and Calgary next Feb. It could get a wee bit nippy.


So that's 2014 in a nutshell. As for 2015, the new album "Tough Love" will be available for online sales at midnight on 1/1/15 by going to www.tinsleyellis.com and then available at retail and online outlets on 2/3/15. I think you will like this album very much. I make them especially for you. We will do shows everywhere in 2015 to promote the album. If you see us standing around at shows, please come say "hi". We are very approachable despite our dark attire and strange facial hair.


Happy New Year!


Tinsley
www.tinsleyellis.com