4-3-2026

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. 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. 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. Tastemaker Americana music magazine No Depression says, "Selwyn Birchwood reaches back in the blues tradition to launch something out of this world."

His newest release, "Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues" features 10 wildly imaginative, laser-focused, vibrant original songs, produced by Birchwood and recorded in Florida. This is Birchwood’s own fully realized artistic statement, and the first of his Alligator albums that he has produced by himself. “Producing allowed me to really take the wheel and steer the music to the exact destinations that I wanted to go. It allowed me to present these songs with the full, three-dimensional sound that I have wanted all along. It tiptoes the tightrope between gritty gutbucket blues and contemporary grooves to create a soundscape that honors the roots but allows listeners to experience the music from a modern vantage point." With Electric Swamp Funkin’ Blues, Selwyn Birchwood and his band perform with an irresistible urgency. Live, as they travel the world, they bring the joyful intensity of their music directly to their fans. As Birchwood sings in the title track, “the music is the mission.” It’s a “creation of joyful jubilation.” 

Live, Birchwood is a force of nature. His ability to win over an audience - any audience - is proven night after night on the bandstand. With his warm, magnetic personality, Birchwood is as down-to-earth as his music is thought-provoking and electrifying. 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. 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.

“Selwyn Birchwood is one of the preeminent voices in contemporary blues. He plays like a man possessed…cleverly blending elements of traditional blues, funk, Stax-flavored R&B and psychedelic rock into a cohesive and compelling, expansive and cathartic artistic statement.” –Guitar Player

“Birchwood is one of contemporary blues’ foremost innovators. Funky, Southern-flavored electric blues…infectious rhythms and inventive soloing.” –Blues Music Magazine

“Selwyn Birchwood is one of the best blues players today. Ferocious blues guitar…powerful voice…blistering licks galore.” –Vintage Guitar

"No one in blues compares to young Florida-based guitarist Selwyn Birchwood. With the quality of his material, combined with a vibrant stage persona, there's no need to borrow tunes from the greats who went before him." - American Songwriter

"Watch out for Selwyn Birchwood… a genius revelation and a pleasure. Roaring Fender Strat and down-south lap steel guitar." - Blues Matters

      VIDEO (at Bull Run)   -    The Church of Electric Swamp Funkin' Blues