Selwyn Birchwood
Don’t Call No Ambulance
Alligator Records
Winner of the 2013 International Blues Challenge, Selwyn Birchwood continues to make his mark on the modern blues world. His most recent release, Don’t Call No Ambulance, showcases not only his talent on the guitar, but his ability to blend various styles with his traditional blues. Backing Birchwood’s wailing guitar, a quaking baritone sax sets the mood for the contemplative blues, adding a funky element to the otherwise somber mood. Birchwood’s smoky, painful voice seems to be having a dialogue with his guitar on tracks like “Brown Paper Bag” and “The River Turns Red”: a dialogue that has been going on since the beginning of the blues. While much of the album is in the lamenting tradition of the blues, Birchwood has made room for a couple slow ballads, such as “Love Me Again” and “She Loves Me Not.”