Selwyn Birchwood and Jarekus Singleton, two of the hottest young blues artists today, will be sharing the night at Sellersville Theater. They will each perform with their own bands.
Birchwood and Singleton are “good friends,” according to Singleton, in a telephone interview from his home in Mississippi. He said they first met at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, which Birchwood won in 2013. Subsequently they both got signed to blues juggernaut Alligator Records, and they each released their Alligator debuts in 2014.
Despite their similarities, they each come from very different backgrounds. Yet they both offer an answer to the question of who is keeping the blues alive. They each perform with an intensity and ferocity that combines blues tradition with a modern edge.
Birchwood, who grew up in Orlando, Florida, started playing guitar at age 12. He mimicked what he heard on the radio but soon became bored by the popular grunge, hip-hop and metal of the 1990s.
“A friend of mine gave me a Jimi Hendrix record and that opened up my ears to a whole different world of music,” said Birchwood in a telephone interview from his home near Orlando. “I wasn’t wanting to sound like him or perform his music but I wanted to find out what would inspire someone to write the kind of music that he made. And when you look at his bio you find a lot of the older blues guys like Elmore James and Muddy Waters… so I looked back at what they did and once I heard them I found the sound that I was looking for and I started on my path to the blues.”
A high school friend told Birchwood that his neighbor was a blues guitarist and had a band and suggested that they meet.
“I thought it was a bunch of drunk guys in an apartment,” recalled Birchwood, but it ended up being an internationally-touring blues musician. I took my guitar over and got through about half the songs and he asked me ‘do you have a passport?'”
Three weeks later Birchwood was on tour with that neighbor – blues legend Sonny Rhodes. He mentored Birchwood and Birchwood toured with him for “four or five years” until he was ready to do his own thing.
In addition to getting a musical education on the road, formal education was also important to Birchwood. He received his MBA from The University of Tampa. Once he was out of school he formed the Selwyn Birchwood Band and he began touring and gaining a following. Since being signed to Alligator he has performed all over the world. His new album “Pick Your Poison” (Alligator, 2017), the follow-up to “Don’t Call No Ambulance” (Alligator, 2014), is receiving critical acclaim and is topping many blues charts.
Instead of finding music like Birchwood did, Jarekus Singleton was born into it. His uncle taught him to play bass and by age nine he was playing in his grandfather’s church band. He later switched to guitar.
In addition to the Gospel he grew up with, Singleton enjoyed the blues and other musical styles including rap. His influences included the three Kings – B.B., Albert and Freddie – as well as Stevie Ray Vaughan, rappers Twista and Jay-Z, and country artist Brad Paisley.
Singleton initially pursued a career in basketball. He was a top college player and then played professionally overseas until he was sidelined with an injury. He then returned home and returned to music full-time.
Although Singleton discovered blues music at age 15, he actually first attempted a musical career as a rapper. But before long he discovered that blues was his thing.
In 2009, he formed The Jarekus Singleton Blues Band and he quickly built a reputation as a tremendously gifted musician and performer. He has successfully melded rap-like wordplay, elements of soul, rock and R&B to create a modern sound with elements of traditional blues that appeals to listeners of all ages.
Singleton self-released his debut “Heartfelt” in 2011 and that led to critical acclaim and a number of awards. His debut on Alligator, “Refuse to Lose” (2014), led to even more acclaim and widespread touring. He has yet to release a follow-up due to having spent so much time on the road the past few years but said he’s been working on a new release.
“I love the blues tradition and have always been inspired by the masters,” said Singleton. “But I want to create something for today’s audience that is as original and new as those blues masters were when they first started making records. I want to create blues for the 21st century.”