Ellis, Castro bringing the blues to The Kate

OLD SAYBROOK — Tinsley Ellis and Tommy Castro & The Painkillers are both on Alligator Records now, which makes them a natural to team up for a tour — lucky for us!

So on Tuesday, instead of being able to head out to The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center to see one of the hottest and tastiest electric blues guitar players around, we can head over to The Kate and see of the hottest and tastiest blues guitar players around.

Both with great bands. On one stage.

For one admission price. Life is good.

They call it the T.N.T. Tour, and things could get explosive, indeed, if the two play together for a few songs, as is likely. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $39 and $43, available in advance at thekate.org. The Kate is at 300 Main St.

What? You don’t know these guys?

Ellis, 61, has been turning heads and taking no prisoners since he emerged from the Atlanta scene after graduating from Emory University in 1979. He’s a Southern blues and rock institution — born in Atlanta, raised in southern Florida and a fixture on Atlanta’s blues circuit for many years.

His first band upon moving back to Atlanta was the Alley Cats, which also included future Fabulous Thunderbirds and Roomful of Blues bassist Preston Hubbard. Then in 1981, he formed The Heartfixers with singer and harmonica player Chicago Bob Nelson, which grew to be a revered blues institution in Atlanta in its day.

Castro, 63, is a six-time Blues Music Award winner. Born in San Jose, Calif., in 1955, Castro started playing guitar when he was 10, initially gravitating to the music of blues-rockers such as Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield, among others.

Later, as often is the case, he traced the music back to the source, immersing himself in the music of Muddy Waters and the other blues masters.

He played in a number of Bay Area blues and soul bands in his 20s before joining Warner Brothers’ artists The Dynatones in the late 1980s. Castro performed all over the country with The Dynatones for two years, also backing major artists such as Carla Thomas and Albert King, before forming the first incarnation of The Tommy Castro Band in 1991.

He has been touring constantly for most of the years since, and has played in the area many times, including previous gigs at Fairfield Theatre Company, Infinity Hall, Bridge Street Live, Black-Eyed Sally’s, Mohegan Sun and the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Mass.

The Painkillers — bassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Michael Emerson and drummer Bowen Brown — are a solid and tight backing band.

Ellis is back on Alligator after a number of years away — including on his own Heartfixer Music label — and his sound has returned to the harder-edged, more rocked-up sound of his previous Alligator work, as well.

He is a fine guitarist who plays with both ferocity and feeling — and is an equally fine vocalist.

Ellis has shared stages over the years with everyone from the Allman Brothers Band and Stevie Ray Vaughan to Warren Haynes, Widespread Panic and Jimmy Thackery. In the blues world, he has shared stages with the likes of Willie Dixon, Otis Rush, Son Seals, Koko Taylor, Albert Collins and Buddy Guy.