Selwyn Birchwood

Although award-winning Florida musician SelwynBirchwood is firmly rooted in the tradition, theyoung guitarist, lap steel player, songwriter andvocalist sets a course for the future of the blueswith his visionary, original music. Birchwood,whose band features the pulsating interplay ofhis blistering guitar with Regi Oliver’s drivingbaritone sax, deploys a singular sound and styleall his own. He calls it “Electric Swamp Funkin’Blues,” an intoxicating mix of deep blues, blistering,psychedelic-tinged rock, booty-shaking funk andsweet Southern soul, played and sung with thefire-and-brimstone fervor of a revival tent preacherwith a hellhound on his trail. Tastemaker Americanamusic magazine No Depression says, “SelwynBirchwood reaches back in the blues tradition tolaunch something out of this world.”On his new release, Exorcist (his fourth for Alligatorand sixth overall), Birchwood delivers the most farreaching, musically adventurous album of his career.Exorcist was recorded in Florida and producedby Grammy Award-winner Tom Hambridge, witheach of the 13 vividly detailed songs written andarranged by Birchwood. The soul-baring tracks allhit with lasting rhymes and unexpected rhythms.Each twists its own tale, ranging from the lovegone-wrong Horns Below Her Halo to the lovegone-terrifying Exorcist to the ripped-from-theheadlines escapades of FLorida Man and Swim AtYour Own Risk to the autobiographical Underdog.According to Blues Music Magazine, “SelwynBirchwood heralds a fresh, exciting new directionin the blues. Toe-tapping, hip-shaking, joyful andinviting…expansive and focused, exploratory andtime-honored, but always original.”Live, Birchwood is a force of nature. His ability towin over an audience—any audience—is provennight after night on the bandstand. With his warm,magnetic personality, Birchwood is as downto-earth as his music is thought-provoking andelectrifying. With his band feeding off his energy,the 6’3” musician roams the stage barefoot,ripping out memorable guitar licks with ease,his soulful, rocks-and-gravel vocals firing up hisfans. When he sits down to play his lap steel, hetakes the crowd to a whole other level, with themusic exorcising any bad times and troubles.Birchwood, his father from Tobago, his mother fromthe UK, was born in 1985 in Orlando, Florida. Hefirst grabbed a guitar at age 13 and soon becameproficient at mimicking what he heard on the radio.But the popular grunge rock, hip-hop and metal ofthe 1990s didn’t move him. And then he discoveredJimi Hendrix. “He was larger than life. What hedid was mind-blowing.” As luck would have it,just as Birchwood was learning Hendrix’s guitarplaying was steeped in blues, legendary bluesmanBuddy Guy—a major influence on Hendrix—wasscheduled to perform in Orlando. Birchwood wasthere, front and center. “I was floored,” he recalls.“I completely connected with the blues. I knewthis was my path, and I had to make this music.”SELWYN BIRCHWOODEXORCISTHe dove deep, listening to icons including AlbertKing, Freddie King, Albert Collins, Muddy Waters,Lightnin’ Hopkins and of course, Buddy Guy. “Theflood gates opened,” says Birchwood, “and at thatpoint I started trying to absorb as much as I could.”At 19, Birchwood met and connected withveteran blues guitarist Sonny Rhodes, who wasinstantly impressed by the enthusiastic youngguitar slinger. Within one month’s time, Rhodesasked Birchwood to pack his bags and join himon the road. Rhodes took the young man underhis wing, teaching him not only guitar and lapsteel, but also how to conduct business, howto run a band, and how to reach an audience.“Sonny always said, ‘Play what’s in your heart.’I’ve never lost sight of that,” says Birchwood.Birchwood treasured his time withRhodes but was adamant aboutcompleting his college studies.Rhodes, as a tribute to Birchwood’sdrive and talent, made it clear to theyoung musician that he would hold therhythm guitar spot in his band open forSelwyn whenever he wasavailable. Birchwood—through hard work andscholarships—receivedhis MBA from TheUniversity of Tampa.Combining the musicallessons learned fromRhodes and his businessacumen, Birchwood createdThe Selwyn Birchwood Band in2010, featuring seasoned, veteranmusicians who had chosen to playwith the new kid—a testament toBirchwood’s talent and leadership skills.In 2011 the self-released, self-produced FL Boyhelped the band land gigs outside of their Floridabase, where they were already becoming localheroes. After winning the 2013 International BluesChallenge in Memphis (beating 150 other bands),Birchwood found doors swinging open. He tooka giant step forward in 2014 with his AlligatorRecords debut album, Don’t Call No Ambulance.Rave reviews ran in publications from Rolling Stoneto The Wall Street Journal, from The ChicagoTribune to The San Francisco Chronicle. Thealbum won both the Living Blues Award andthe Blues Music Award (BMA) for BestNew Artist Debut. He followed in 2016with fan-favorite Pick Your Poison and,in 2021, with the groundbreaking LivingIn A Burning House. He won the covetedBMA Song Of The Year Award for that album’s I’dClimb Mountains.Radio has supported Birchwood from thebeginning, with Living In A Burning House beinghis most successful record at radio to date. Thealbum appeared at or near the top of everysignificant domestic and international blues chart,including #1 at the Living Blues Radio Chart. Inaddition, Birchwood had multiple songs reachheavy rotation on SiriusXM's Bluesville, whilecrossing over to AAA (Adult Album Alternative)stations, jam band specialty shows and tastemakerNPR Music stations, including acclaimedAmericana influencer WMOT in Nashville.The Selwyn Birchwood Band tours virtually nonstop. They have performed at The Chicago BluesFestival, Portland’s Waterfront Blues Festival, TheMississippi Valley Blues Festival, The Tampa BayBlues Festival, The North Atlantic Blues Festival,The King Biscuit Blues Festival, as well as onThe Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise and JoeBonamassa’s Keeping The Blues Alive At SeaCruise. Internationally, they have appeared atThe Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival,Jazz a Vienne in France, the RawaBlues Festival in Poland, the MoulinBlues Festival in the Netherlands,the Ottawa Blues Festival andthe Montreal Jazz Festival inCanada, the Montreux JazzFestival in Switzerland, aswell as playing concerts inSpain, Norway, the CzechRepublic, Ireland, Belgiumand Mexico.Now, with Exorcist, SelwynBirchwood and his band areready to get back on the roadand deliver the new songslive to expanding, enrapturedaudiences around the world,lifting spirits while banishingdemons. Asked what fanscan expect when they seehim, Birchwood replies, “Mygoal is to be sure you cannotlisten passively. We’re going tomake you dance, and we’re goingto make you think.” One listen toExorcist will no doubt convert manynew true believers: this is visionarycontemporary blues written andperformed by an endlessly creative,modern-day blues master.