Selwyn Birchwood is a guitar and lap-steel-playing bundle of pure energy who delivers his original songs with a revival tent preacher’s fervor and a natural storyteller’s charisma. He plays high-octane blues–at once deeply rooted, funky and up-to-the-minute–with true passion and honest emotion. Selwyn recently received both the Blues Music Award and Living Blues Critics’ Award for Best Debut Album Of 2014 for his Alligator Records debut, Don’t Call No Ambulance.
With his band feeding off his drive and exuberance, the striking 6’3″ 30-year-old with his trademark Afro roams the stage (often barefoot), singing his original songs and 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.
The Selwyn Birchwood Band has built a large and loyal following one gig at a time, including appearances at Springing The Blues Festival, The Chicago Blues Festival, The Tampa Bay Blues Festival, The North Atlantic Blues Festival and The King Biscuit Blues Festival, among others. Birchwood and his band have opened for major blues stars including Robert Cray and Buddy Guy and have shared the stage with another friend and teacher, Joe Louis Walker (who guests on Don’t Call No Ambulance).
His debut album, Don’t Call No Ambulance, is a fully realized vision of contemporary blues. Birchwood’s original songs range from raucous romps to hill country stomps, from searing, serious slow blues to modern blues rock. Between his uninhibited sense of fun and adventure and his serious-as-a-heart-attack musicianship, Don’t Call No Ambulance is a window into the future of the blues.
For additional info see http://www.selwynbirchwood.com/
