Tinsley Ellis is a master blues/rock guitarist with deep Southern roots that are evident in every note he plays. The Atlanta-based musician uses Delbert McClinton’s backing band for Tough Love and they furnish bedrock grooves that give Ellis plenty of room to show off his slashing guitar work and mastery of various blues idioms. Fills that slide up the guitar neck complement bell-like bent notes that suggest Freddie and Albert King on “Seven Years,” a mid-tempo tale of jealousy that Ellis sings with a quiet, frustrated anger. “Midnight Ride” is a rowdy shuffle driven by Ellis’ guitar and Kevin McKendree’s big B3 organ, while “Hard Work” is a swampy groove with a humorous lyric that helps take some of the sting out of the hard life Ellis describes. McKendree’s barrelhouse piano gives “Everything” the feel of a smoky juke joint and lets Ellis show off some tasty harmonica work.