Blues under the bridge 20217/26/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Within one month’s time, Rhodes asked Birchwood to pack his bags and join him on the road. “The flood gates opened,” says Birchwood, “and at that point I started trying to absorb as much as I could.”Īt 19, Birchwood met and connected with veteran blues guitarist Sonny Rhodes, who was instantly impressed by the enthusiastic young guitar slinger. I knew this was my path, and I had to make this music.” He dove deep, listening to icons including Albert King, Freddie King, Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins and of course, Buddy Guy. What he did was mind-blowing.” As luck would have it, just as Birchwood was learning Hendrix’s guitar playing was steeped in blues, legendary bluesman Buddy Guy-a major influence on Hendrix-was scheduled to perform in Orlando. But the popular grunge rock, hip-hop and metal of the 1990s didn’t move him. He first grabbed a guitar at age 13 and soon became proficient at mimicking what he heard on the radio. When he sits down to play his lap steel, he takes the crowd to a whole other level, with the music exorcising any bad times and troubles.īirchwood, his father from Tobago, his mother from the UK, was born in 1985 in Orlando, Florida. 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 his fans. With his warm, magnetic personality, Birchwood is as down-to-earth as his music is thought-provoking and electrifying. His ability to win over an audience-any audience-is proven night after night on the bandstand. Toe-tapping, hip-shaking, joyful and inviting…expansive and focused, exploratory and time-honored, but always original.” According to Blues Music Magazine, “Selwyn Birchwood heralds a fresh, exciting new direction in the blues. Each twists its own tale, ranging from the love-gone-wrong Horns Below Her Halo to the love-gone-terrifying Exorcist to the ripped-from-the-headlines escapades of FLorida Man and Swim At Your Own Risk to the autobiographical Underdog. The soul-baring tracks all hit with lasting rhymes and unexpected rhythms. Exorcist was recorded in Florida and produced by Grammy Award-winner Tom Hambridge, with each of the 13 vividly detailed songs written and arranged by Birchwood. On his new release, Exorcist (his fourth for Alligator and sixth overall), Birchwood delivers the most far-reaching, musically adventurous album of his career. Tastemaker Americana music magazine No Depression says, “Selwyn Birchwood reaches back in the blues tradition to launch something out of this world.” He calls it “Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues,” an intoxicating mix of deep blues, blistering, psychedelic-tinged rock, booty-shaking funk and sweet Southern soul, played and sung with the fire-and-brimstone fervor of a revival tent preacher with a hellhound on his trail. Birchwood, whose band features the pulsating interplay of his blistering guitar with Regi Oliver’s driving baritone sax, deploys a singular sound and style all his own. Hopefully it brings people to Glenwood to experience the music and what the downtown businesses have to offer,” Miller said.Although award-winning Florida musician Selwyn Birchwood is firmly rooted in the tradition, the young guitarist, lap steel player, songwriter and vocalist sets a course for the future of the blues with his visionary, original music. “We want to give people an opportunity to kick off their weekends in downtown Glenwood Springs. ![]() Pat Miller, city of Glenwood Springs events and marketing coordinator, and other city officials want to bring a little excitement and live local music to the downtown corridor as the seasons change and people begin to fill Glenwood Springs. *All bands come from a one-county radius of Garfield Countyīeginning this afternoon downtown Glenwood Springs will come alive with the sounds of live music at 7th Street and Grand Avenue as Fridays on 7th kicks off the summer season in the lower Roaring Fork Valley. Patrons are encouraged to bring lawn chairs 4:00pm-5:30pm every Friday starting May 31st and ending on August 2nd ![]()
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