Description

FLORIDA BLUESMAN SELWYN BIRCHWOOD BRINGS SEARING GUITAR AND SOULFUL TOUCH TO ‘LIVING IN A BURNING HOUSE’

Singer-songwriter electric and lap steel guitarist Selywn Birchwood delivers his third album, Living in a Burning House, for Alligator Records. He is one of the most appealing of the young vanguard of blues musicians keeping the music alive while melding in some other forms of roots music in the process. Birchwood calls his original music “electric swamp funkin’ blues,” defined by raw and soulful musicianship. His soulful vocals draw his audience deep inside his colorful tales of passion, pain, and pleasure in a contemporary context. Part of this appeal traces to a rather unique configuration for his band. Beyond the two guitars that Birchwood plays, the other featured instrument is Regi Oliver’s baritone sax. (Oliver also plays tenor, alto, and piccolo flute on the album). The group is rounded out by bassist Donald “Huff” Wright, drummer Philip “Squeak” Walker, and newly added keyboardist Walter “Bunt” May, whose sounds help differentiate this from the leader’s two previous releases. Vocalist Diunna Greenleaf guests on “Mama Knows Best.”

For these sessions, Birchwood enlisted Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Susan Tedeschi) to produce. Recorded in Birchwood’s home state of Florida, the album features 13 songs written and arranged by Birchwood. Be assured, as per the bent of both leader and producer, there’s plenty of blues-rock here beginning with the rocking opener “I’d Climb Mountains.”