by Danny Coleman
originally published on Rock On! This Week’s Sound Bites (NewJerseyStage.com)
“We’re home now for about a week until we start moving again,” stated Selwyn Birchwood as he soaked up some home cookin’ prior to hitting the road on March 20 in Delray Beach, Florida in support of his March 27 Alligator Records release called “Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues.”
Working his way up the east coast with two shows in North Carolina and one in Maryland before finding himself at the friendly confines of Tuckerton’s Lizzie Rose Music Room on March 28. Recently, Birchwood took the time to chat about the new record, his thoughts on songwriting, authenticity and more.
“Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues,” I don’t even know, this is number seven I think, I should probably know this,” he laughed whilst trying to recall what number this album is in his growing catalog. “This is my eighth album overall because I had two releases before I got signed to Alligator and they’re great. Alligator does a great job of getting everything out there and getting the music heard, they are just as passionate about putting the music out there as we are about making it so it’s a happy marriage. The album has 10 tracks, it’s pretty much the epitome of the sound I’ve been cultivating my entire career. I can definitively say with this album that this is my sound and it’s a unique sound; it’s not your grandpop’s blues, it’s “Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues.” This is the first album where I was actually able to be the only producer on the album. I’ve been heavily involved with all of my records because I’m so particular about what I’m doing and what I’m making but with this one, I was able to be the only one behind the wheel on it to really get the sounds from in my head to on the record and into people’s ears and I think this is the best sounding album I’ve ever done. The song choices and the writing on it are exactly where I’ve been wanting to go with my music, it’s soulful, it’s funky, it’s up to date; it’s everything I’ve wanted out of the songs and an album.”
“Authenticity,” as stated before, looms large in what Birchwood does. Case in point, many acts will go into a recording studio and cut an album or a single using “Professional” studio players citing time constraints, talent and budgets as the reason but not Selwyn, he believes in “What you hear” is what you should get.
“We’ve got about three and-one-half weeks of touring on the front end of this one but we’ll be traveling the entire year to promote this album. This is the same band we had the last time we were there. My touring band is the one that’s on the album, you don’t get a bait and switch with me where you hear one thing on the record and then you go to a live show and it doesn’t sound anything like it. My band that’s out here touring is the one that’s on the record and visa versa. If you’ve got a band like my band that has been playing together for 16 years; my bass player and my sax player have been with me for 16 years, my drummer for two-and-one-half years now, it’s one of those things where you can’t replace that kind of chemistry. That becomes a super cerebral thing when you’ve been playing together that long, it’s one of those things you can’t duplicate with just having some studio musicians playing on the fly. Also, with my music, we’ll be playing the songs live for a year, a year-and-a-half before we even get into the studio. That’s another thing you can’t replicate by someone just learning the songs that week and then trying to lay them down in the studio. Like I said, with my band, the one that’s out here touring is the one you are gonna hear on the record and vice versa and that’s the way I like to keep it, it’s honest, it’s real and what you see is what you get and it’s also what you hear.”
Wasn’t there an old tv commercial that ended with something like, “We’ll sell no wine before its time” or something similar? Well, Birchwood is of the same mindset when it comes to songwriting; he definitely takes his time with both music and lyrics.
“I’m constantly writing, it’s a very rare occasion if I were to sit down, be inspired and get a song out in 15 minutes. Even if I got a song done in 15 minutes I’d still be tweaking it and trying to come up with ways to improve it further down the line. I’m always in a songwriting kind of state, I’m constantly tweaking, constantly trying to come up with ideas; that’s the fun part for me, the creative side of it and after the creative side comes all the work. So, it’s definitely the most fun aspect of it for me. That’s why I don’t understand; it seems like people skip that songwriting side these days and for me that’s the most exciting part, trying to come up with a sound and a story and come up with a way of relaying your emotions and putting things together, it just feels like it’s more real that way. It also feels like cheating; I don’t think it takes much for a band to go play a bunch of cover songs because it doesn’t take much to get a person to like a song that they already love. The harder part is to write something of your own that is just as impactful to those people who haven’t heard that song before and that’s the route I’d rather go.”
“My Lyrics? They are of the utmost importance,” he went on with a laugh. “I pride myself on really trying to write something insightful with every song. You’ll never hear filler on any of my albums. Every song, every word is extremely deliberate and that’s why it’s harder for me to get stuff done quickly. I don’t just put a bunch of random words over a bunch of chords and then use it as an excuse to play a bunch of guitar over it. Every song has got its purpose and every song has a point to it and I feel like that’s the way it should be; it shouldn’t be just wallpaper music and it shouldn’t be just an excuse to play loud guitar over something, you know?”
So, can we assume there is a lot of that on this new release? Are there any tracks he tends to favor a bit? Like kids, you may tend to appreciate one a little more than others on any given day but you love each and every one just the same.
“You do get those on this album, if you’re looking for some thought provoking and insightful lyrics then this is definitely the one, “Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues” (Laughs). I try to mix all of the rootsy sounds that I enjoy coming from a lot of different areas and the product you get is exactly that. “All Hail the Algorithm” I think is a really an up to date blues song talkin’ about current stuff instead of trying to talk about picking cotton or some other stuff that I don’t know anything about and most people don’t but they still want to sing about it which is weird; it starts to feel fraudulent after some point hearing people regurgitating and singing about other people’s stories because this music is so personal. I think it’s a lot more impactful when you’re singing about your own story with your own song. I think “All Hail the Algorithm,” is a really strong one off the album, “Damaged Goods,” the title track, “The Church of Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues,” there are several on this album I really like.”
Many artists will use the road as the proverbial litmus test for new material but Selwyn seems to have a different mindset; get it out there early and often and this Saturday in Tuckerton as well as the rest of the tour, he’ll show those in attendance just how well the new material fits in.
“We’ve been playing this entire album for over a year already and the response from the crowd has been huge on it and we’ve got 90 minutes at The Lizzie Rose and it will be an onslaught of new and original music and I can’t wait to do it.”
To discover more about Selwyn Birchwood, please visit https://www.selwynbirchwood.com/