Atlanta-based blues guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Tinsley Ellis is heading back to the front porch — and he’s bringing 13 original songs, six open tunings, and a whole lot of hard-earned wisdom with him. On Friday, January 30, 2026, Alligator Records will release Labor Of Love, Ellis’s second acoustic album and his first fully original acoustic effort. It will be available on CD, Georgia peach-colored vinyl LP, and across all digital service providers.

The follow-up to 2024’s Blues Music Award–nominated Naked Truth, Labor Of Love is a raw, self-produced set that finds Ellis stripped down to the essentials — and absolutely thriving. The lead single, “Hoodoo Woman,” premieres today alongside a brand-new video directed by filmmaker Troy Bieser. Ellis credits the late, great R.L. Burnside as the track’s spiritual godfather: “I did shows with R.L. here and in Europe, and his music became ingrained in my soul.” That Mississippi Hill Country grit is all over the record.

Stream and pre-order Labor Of Love here: https://Tinsley.lnk.to/LaborofLove

From the feral opener “Hoodoo Woman” to the John Lee Hooker–groove of “Long Time,” the Skip James–inspired “To A Hammer,” and the Son House–style stomp of “Sunnyland,” Ellis inhabits these songs the way only a player with four decades on the road can. The lyrics spin modern tales of floods, conflagrations, voodoo spirits, personal travails, and heaven-sent prayers — gentle beauty rubbing shoulders with foot-pounding ferocity.

The deep dive is real. During a break from recording, Ellis traveled to Bentonia, Mississippi — the birthplace of Skip James and home to blues legend Jimmy “Duck” Holmes — and even sat in with Holmes at the famous Blue Front Café. “Once I got home,” Ellis says, “I went right back to the studio and incorporated everything that I just experienced into my music.”

Sonically, Labor Of Love is a guitar nerd’s dream. Ellis pulls six different open tunings out of his beloved 1969 Martin D-35, his 12-string Martin D-12-20, and his 1937 National Steel O Series. For the first time in his career, he also picks up the mandolin on three tracks. The combinations, he says, keep him constantly invigorated.

Critics are already on board. Living Blues calls it “a powerful punch of deep roots blues and wicked guitar… a joyous and triumphant celebration of acoustic music.” AllMusic praises the “glorious, raw and propulsive acoustic blues… killer vocals and biting, dazzling guitar work.” Blues Music Magazine sums it up perfectly: “So genuine it seems like a long lost recording.”

Since Naked Truth, Ellis has been crisscrossing the country on his self-deprecatingly named “Two Guitars And A Car” solo tour, and he has no plans to stop. “No matter what I play, I like to have an edge,” he says. “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 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 would argue he’s done quite a bit more than that, calling Ellis “a legend of American blues music… an American music treasure… one of modern blues’ greatest performers.”

Mark your calendar for January 30, 2026 — and in the meantime, let “Hoodoo Woman” cast its spell.