Coco Montoya And Tinsley Ellis Bring Tour To Albuquerque On Today

Alligator Records artists Coco Montoya and Tinsley Ellis will make a stop in Albuquerque on their current "Blues Rock Titans" tour. Montoya and Ellis will each perform a full headline-length set at The Dirty Bourbon on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. Legendary blues-rock guitarist and vocalist Coco Montoya will feature songs from his latest Alligator Records release, HARD TRUTH. He's currently at work on a new album due later this year. Tinsley Ellis is among the blues world's best loved, hardest working and most well-traveled statesmen. Ellis' latest release, 2018's WINNING HAND, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart. The two "Blues Rock Titans" will also join forces each night for an unforgettable jam session. Concert information is as follows:

Date: Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Event: "Blues Rock Titans" Tour
Venue: The Dirty Bourbon
Address: 9800 Montgomery Blvd. NE
City: Albuquerque, NM
Phone: 505-886-1251
Showtime: 7:30pm
Ticket price: $28 advance / $33 day of show
Website: www.ampconcerts.org

On HARD TRUTH, Coco Montoya unleashes one career-topping performance after another, the music immediately ranking among the best he's ever recorded. Produced by Tony Braunagel (Eric Burdon, Curtis Salgado, Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt), the album features eleven songs, each delivering a hard truth of its own. From the radio-friendly, gospel-inspired celebration of love, I Want To Shout About It, to the haunting Devil Don't Sleep to the icy-hot cover of Albert Collins' The Moon Is Full, HARD TRUTH covers substantial emotional ground. Montoya's unpredictable guitar playing and smoking soul vocals blend effortlessly with a backing band featuring renowned musicians including bassist Bob Glaub (Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Lee Lewis), keyboardist Mike Finnigan (Jimi Hendrix, Etta James, Taj Mahal), guitarists Billy Watts (Eric Burdon) and Johnny Lee Schell (Bonnie Raitt), and Braunagel on
drums. Slide guitar master Lee Roy Parnell guests on Lost In The Bottle.

Montoya earned his status as a master guitarist and soul-powered vocalist through years of paying his dues as a sideman with Albert Collins (first as a drummer) and then as a featured guitarist with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, before launching his solo career in 1993. Five years of constant touring with Collins and ten years with Mayall turned him into a monster player and dynamic performer. Montoya has released eight previous solo albums to great critical and popular acclaim, and has played at clubs, concert halls and major festivals all over the world. Guitar Player says Montoya plays "stunning, powerhouse blues with a searing tone, emotional soloing, and energetic, unforced vocals."

Still an indefatigable road warrior, Montoya continues to pack clubs and theaters around the world, and brings festival audiences to their feet from New York to New Orleans to Chicago to San Francisco. Across the globe, he's performed in countries including Australia, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, England, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Italy, Poland, Russia, Czech Republic and Canada. Vintage Guitar says, "Coco just keeps getting better and better...rockin' blues with guitar that cuts straight to the heart of the matter. His guitar playing is funky and blistering; it's perfect. Whatever he plays, he does it with fire and passion rarely seen in this day and age."

Since his first Alligator album 30 years ago, Tinsley Ellis has become a bona fide worldwide guitar hero. The Chicago Sun-Times says, "It's hard to overstate the raw power of his music." Ellis has performed in all 50 United States as well as in Canada, Western and Eastern Europe, Australia and South America, earning legions of fans with his guitar virtuosity, passionate vocals and memorable original songs. He is also revered as a guitarist's guitarist, with famous friends including Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Oliver Wood, Jonny Lang and members of Widespread Panic calling on him to sit in and jam. "A musician never got famous staying home," he says.

Recorded in Nashville and produced by Ellis and keyboardist Kevin McKendree, the ten brilliantly performed, fervently sung tracks on WINNING HAND include nine originals, ranging from blistering blues to heart-pounding rock to soulful ballads. "Guitar, guitar, guitar is what this album is all about," says Ellis, who recorded primarily with his 1959 Fender Stratocaster, his 1967 Gibson ES 345 and his 1973 Les Paul Deluxe. Guitar World says, "Ellis' playing sparkles with depth and subtlety. Whether playing deep, slow blues or uptempo rockers, Ellis rides a gorgeously fat, pure tone."

Over the course of his career, Ellis has shared stages with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Otis Rush, Willie Dixon, The Allman Brothers, Leon Russell, Son Seals, koko Taylor, Albert Collins and many others. Whether he's on stage with his own band or jamming with artists like Buddy Guy, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Gov't Mule or Widespread Panic, he always plays with grit, soul and unbridled passion. Back home on Alligator Records, Tinsley Ellis is ready to prove again that whenever he picks up a guitar, he's playing with a winning hand.

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