Selwyn Birchwood, the 2013 Blues Foundation International Blues Challenge winner, is set to make his New Orleans debut at the 2014 Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival this weekend.
Photo by Len Umhoefer
Birchwood, a Tampa, Florida, native, said he’s looking forward to coming to the city for the food and music.
He even has some local favorites he’s eager to check out on their home turf.
“It’s actually my first time even visiting,” Birchwood said. “Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington is one of my favorites. I met him last year. We were playing the same day at King Biscuit Blues Festival, so I was able to catch his set, and he was killer.”
Birchwood, who has been hailed as the next big thing in blues music, has been touring with his current band for the past two years, most recently in support of his latest album Don’t Call No Ambulance.
From the first upbeat notes of the opening track, “Addicted,” it’s clear that Birchwood is on a mission, but what is equally evident is that the young guitar player draws from a deep and varied well of inspiration.
“When I’m writing, I try to pull from as many sources as I can and incorporate as many styles as I can,” he said. “There are so many different kinds of blues music, and a lot of people ignore a lot of them, latch onto one, and decide that if it doesn’t sound like so-and-so, then it’s not blues.”
Birchwood said he’s at the opposite end of that spectrum.
“I think it ends up sounding more interesting when you incorporate more styles and influences,” he said. “It’s a little bit more artistic in that way, rather than kind of recycling a sound that people have heard before over and over again.”
Bringing that varied approach to a city as musically and culturally diverse as New Orleans seems like a perfect fit, and hopefully local audiences won’t have to wait long to see Birchwood live again.
As for him and his hard working band, they’ll be on the road again with right away.
“We’re normally kind of in and out,” he said. “We get to see the festival site and the hotel and that’s about it normally. If we have any spare time, I definitely want to do some sight seeing.”
