Tinsley Ellis (Photo by Flournoy Holmes)
Tinsley Ellis and Marcia Ball are excited to present an intimate evening of their music and memories called Acoustic Songs and Stories. They perform at the Pearl Street Warehouse in DC on Wednesday, March 29.
Tinsely and Marcia will each play a set of their own songs. Tinsley, an elder statesman of the Blues world, will perform many of his most popular songs from his 20 albums, plus some delta blues and classics on his National Steel and Martin acoustic guitars.
Marcia, a five-time Grammy nominee, will play the piano and sing her often raucous and sometimes touching original songs full of the characters and places that shaped her. They will weave the music together with stories from their years on stage and on the road. Finally, they will come together as a duo to close the night playing songs together and swapping tales of their travels and travails.
Watch Tinsely Ellis perform “The Red Rooster” live for WNCW 88.7 via YouTube:
Watch Marcia Ball perform “Red Beans Cookin'” live on Texas Music Cafe via YouTube:
Tinsley Ellis intertwines his music with interesting, engaging, and humorous stories from his over 40 years spent on stage, in motels and truck stops. His most recent Alligator Records release and 20th album is 2022’s DEVIL MAY CARE (Alligator Records). In March 2020, when the pandemic first struck, Tinsley suddenly found himself off the road and sorely missing being onstage and connecting with a live audience. In January, he had launched a tour to promote his 2020 release, ICE CREAM IN HELL, but by March, he was forced to cancel the tour only six weeks into the 60-date run. Now he was housebound, but determined to create new music and stay in touch with his legion of worldwide fans until he could get back on stage. He almost immediately began composing on amps and guitars that he hadn’t used for decades. He explored obscure studio and live recordings from some of his greatest musical heroes, such as the Allman Brothers, Freddie King, Michael Bloomfield, BB King, and beyond, and he was inspired by his favorite artists all over again. In the course of a year, Ellis had written over 200 new songs. He shared some of them with his fans with weekly online performances. He whittled the songs down to 10 tracks, and the result is DEVIL MAY CARE.
Marcia Ball’s romping Texas boogies, swampy New Orleans ballads and groove-laden Gulf Coast blues have made her a one-of-a-kind favorite with music lovers all over the world. Her latest album, SHINE BRIGHT (Alligator Records), produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, is full of everything music fans love about Marcia — rollicking two-fisted piano, soulful vocals, a top-shelf band of Texas and Louisiana musicians, and Marcia’s magnificent songwriting. In 2018, Ball was named the official 2018 Texas State Musician, and she was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame. She received the 2022 Living Blues Award for Most Outstanding Musician — Keyboards. Ball has also collected 11 Blues Music Awards, not to mention her five Grammy Award nominations. She has been inducted into the Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, and the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame.
Marcia Ball and Tinsley Ellis
Pearl Street Warehouse
Wednesday, March 29
Doors @
$35
All ages