Tinsley Ellis performs at the Back Room in Boca Raton. (Veda Jo Jenkins / sflimages.com)

Photos: Tinsley Ellis at the Back Room | Visit this photographer’s website | More: For bluesman Ellis, nothing beats the road

Dixie Highway is dark along this stretch in Boca Raton. There doesn’t seem to be much of anything except freight cars on the train tracks. There is a bright light up ahead: it reads The Back Room. Looking more like a last pit stop on a lonely highway, the Back Room is deceiving. Inside playing his soul out on the guitar is legendary blues artist Tinsley Ellis.

When you enter you feel like you’ve stepped back in time, perhaps transported to an old brothel in New Orleans. The walls are painted red; the couches are red too and on the walls are plastered with multitudes of framed art of women. What is this place?

Once Ellis cranked up the guitar the sound enveloped me. His magnetism just draws you in and I became mesmerized, lost in time. Ellis plays with a three-piece band and I turned my attention to the drummer, Jeff Burch, who alone is a show to watch. Lost in his own world Burch compliments Ellis note for note. I ping-pong back in forth between the two, feeling the passion they poured into their instruments.

For the bass player known as The Evil 1, the quiet one on stage, it’s all about the audience: “If you’re getting off on it that’s what matters.” Evil 1 played with Ellis from 1990-1995 and came back to join him again in 2003. Asked how he feels about playing night after night, “There is no drug in the world that compares to it”, a feeling other artists can truly understand. “There is nothing like it when you are in the zone.”

Ellis definitely has a loyal fan base. Lindy Cerar from Boynton Beach has seen him 20 times. A woman calling herself “Blues 4 Tania” has seen him close to 60 times! One summer she followed him around on tour in her car. “The best part of being a fan overtime is seeing the songs evolve,” she said.

From southern blues to Memphis rock, or is it Memphis blues to southern rock, Ellis has evolved putting both together on his new album Speak No Evil.

As for the Back Room, this is a diamond in the rough. Small and intimate, patrons get to mingle with the performers between sets. There is an outside patio to hang out in and the only alcohol served is beer and wine. Keep an eye out for their continued schedule of major blues players.