Tinsley Ellis brings a loud, acoustic show to town

After decades of blues-rock concerts at the Egyptian Theater, renowned Georgia guitarist and songwriter Tinsley Ellis will perform three live solo acoustic shows at the Egyptian Theater next week.

According to Ellis, the performances will take place from Thursday, October 24th to Saturday, October 26th and will support the release of his new acoustic blues album.

“‘Naked Truth’ is an album I’ve always wanted to make,” he said. “I’ve been doing acoustic music as part of my full band show, so this is a complete extension of that.”

Ellis decided to go full throttle and record “Naked Truth” a few years ago.

“It’s cool to do a special album every now and then,” he said. “I had made an all-instrumental album in 2013 and knew an acoustic album would work pretty well.”

Ellis originally thought the acoustic album would be more of a curiosity or novelty.

“But it became a main course,” he said. “So I think the next album will be an acoustic album.”

“Naked Truth” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Blue Charts earlier this year.

“I was very happy about that,” he said. “It was No. 1 for a few weeks until someone else came out with a new one, and then it was their turn to be No. 1. But my friends at Alligator Records do a great job promoting my records. They are the best.”

The new album contains 12 songs, three of which are covers – “Death Letter Blues” by Son House, “Don’t Go No Further” by Willie Dixon and “The Sailor’s Grave On The Prairie” by Leo Kottke.

“These are songs I’ve been playing for a long time,” Ellis said. “In fact, I’ve been playing the Leo Kottke song for over 50 years.”

In addition, Ellis had recorded and released the Kottke ditty with his former band The Heartfixers on an album called “Cool On It” in 1986.

“I did all of these songs as part of my acoustic mini-set at the band’s shows and they found their way onto the album,” he said.

Ellis selected the other songs on “Naked Truth” from his almost 50 years of songwriting.

“One in particular is ‘Alcovy Breakdown,’ a song I wrote in college,” he said. “It was something I played around with during the acoustic sets and it didn’t have a name for about 45 years. So when I wrote the liner notes for the new album, I had to give it a name.”

Ellis’ musical idols inspired him to incorporate acoustic sets into his electronic shows.

“I’ll see Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Pete Townsend and the Rolling Stones, and I love it when they break things down and play them acoustically,” he said.

Although Ellis’ concerts at the Egyptian Theater are considered acoustic, they still “rock.”

“It’s not quiet at all,” he said, laughing. “There are a lot of loud parts of the show where I break out the National Steel guitar, play slide on it and get a beat going.”

Ellis will also punctuate the show with stories about life on the road and the blues masters he has met or performed with throughout his career.

“I’ll also talk about how I wrote some of the songs,” he said. “There will be a bit of talk, but hopefully not too much, so I think it will be the perfect setting for the Egyptian Theater.”

Ellis was a sixth grader when he performed his first live show during his school’s talent show.

“Me and a guy played the snare drum,” he said. “We played a Beatles song and a Monkees song. People clapped and I was thrilled. So I started as a fan. Then it became a hobby and then a lifestyle. And that’s all I’ve ever done.”

Still, Ellis remembers working a day job in the 1970s.

“But I started traveling a lot, so they fired me at their own discretion, which is another way of saying they fired me,” he chuckled. “It’s too late to get a real job now, but I’m very grateful to have been able to do this for so long.”

Ellis said performing at the theater was like coming home.

“I always bring some of my friends and fans from Salt Lake and Ogden to Park City when I play there,” he said. “I have so many friends there that it will be nice to play in the same place for three nights.”

Tinsley Ellis

• When: 8 p.m., Thursday, October 24th to Saturday, October 26th
• Where: The Egyptian Theater, 328 Main St.
• Tickets: $33-$59
• Phone: 855-745-7469
• Web: parkcityshows.com