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Selwyn Birchwood


NewMusicForOldFolks says …

Selwyn Birchwood sounds like a character from a Charles Dickens novel. But he's an up-and-coming blues guitar player with shades of Buddy Guy, Robert Cray and Albert King. Birchwood is on the prestigious Alligator Records label and has won newcomer of the year Blues awards. Pick up his debut album Don't Call No Ambulance and keep an eye out as he's been touring almost constantly since its release in 2014.

Artist's Info

See him live: Tour dates

Record company: Alligator Records

Genre: Blues

Bio (From the artist's website)

Selwyn Birchwood, Florida’s rising young blues fireball, is a guitar and lap-steel-playing bundle of pure energy. He delivers his original songs with a revival tent preacher’s fervor and a natural storyteller’s charisma made all the more impactful by his raw, unvarnished vocals. Birchwood plays high-octane blues — at once deeply rooted, funky and up-to-the-minute — with true passion and honest emotion. With his band feeding off his drive and exuberance, the striking 6’3” 29-year-old with his trademark Afro roams the stage (often barefoot), ripping out memorable guitar licks with ease. His ability to win over an audience — any audience — is proven night after night on the bandstand. With his warm, magnetic personality, Birchwood is as down-to-earth as his music is fun, thought-provoking and vital. His mission is to spread his music far and wide, to share his joy, to play his heart out, and to push the blues into the future. “There’s nothing I’d rather be doing than playing the blues,” he says. “And I try to convey that with every song and with every performance.” (more)

Spotify sampler

Recordings

Most Recent

DON'T CALL NO AMBULANCE (2014): The Selwyn Birchwood Band has been touring non-stop since winning the International Blues Challenge. Birchwood has opened for major blues stars including Robert Cray and Buddy Guy and has shared the stage with another friend and teacher, Joe Louis Walker (who guests on Don't Call No Ambulance ''The River Turned Red''). He recently had the opportunity, when performing in San Francisco, to bring his friend and mentor Sonny Rhodes on stage to sit in with his band. With Don't Call No Ambulance, Selwyn Birchwood steps onto the world stage, bringing a new wave of blues to a new generation of blues fans. ''If I can play my music, travel the world, bring happiness to people, then I'm blessed and happy,'' he says. ''It's like Sonny (Rhodes) always told me, 'If you follow your heart, you'll always get what you want.'''

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