Living in a Burning House

Since beginning his tenure with Alligator Records on 2014s fine Dont Call No Ambulance, Florida bluesman Selwyn Birchwood has shown a restless spirit. That set established him as a top-shelf guitar and lap steel wrangler. 2017s Pick Your Poison underscored those qualities in reflections of Hill Country, raw roadhouse, and Chicago blues, tempered by gritty R&B. On Living in a Burning House, Birchwood assembles all that and more with enormous growth as a singer, songwriter, and arranger on these 13 original songs. And, yes, he still plays a hell of a lot of guitar and lap steel. He is accompanied by Regi Oliver on reeds and woodwinds, bassist Donald Wright, keyboardist Walter Bunt May, and recent drummer Philip Walker. Living in a Burning House has a big, ferocious sound thanks to Tom Hambridges production and mix; its in your face and exquisitely detailed. The horn and organ intro on Id Climb Mountains recalls a Stax revue, before Birchwood leads the band in a cut-time blues shuffle. Olivers multi-tracked horns help punch up a massive, greasy groove that recalls an early Elvin Bishop date. Fans of Birchwoods lap steel playing will dig I Got Drunk, Laid and Stoned, a scorching barroom anthem with nasty slide and honking baritone sax from Oliver. A knotty horn breakdown -- a la 70s Stevie Wonder -- introduces the poignant title-track single. It gives way to a steamy, roiling reggae vamp propelled by Wrights bass line and Mays keys. Its snatched back under the funky blues umbrella in Birchwoods guitar playing. His voice and phrasing bridge the otherworldly span between Gil Scott-Heron and Lou Rawls. You Cant Steal My Shine is a strolling rave-up soul-blues with a killer vocal from Birchwood. Revelation expansively combines Chicago and Delta blues with carnal gospel, and its anchored by a simple, dirty, throbbing, two-note bass vamp. Birchwood delivers a knotty, ladder-climbing guitar break that sounds like it was played with a rusty nail. The interplay between horns, keys, and drums on Searching for My Tribe is torn wide open by Birchwoods biting, distorted guitar, as he testifies to the core about the relentless search for belonging. Shes a Dime is swaggering, good-time soul-blues that swings hard in a hip little tribute to Holland-Dozier-Hollands How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You. Its followed by One More Time, showcasing the glorious interplay between Olivers baritone and Birchwoods lyrical six-string. His solo bleeds emotion. Freaks Come Out at Night is a rancorous dirty blues that weds R.L. Burnsides electric choogle to Howlin Wolfs evil moan, and a burning boogie John Lee Hooker would bless -- complete with wicked slide work. On Living in a Burning House, Birchwood erases arbitrary boundaries between blues- and R&B-based genres. He openly draws from history but situates his original music expansively in the here and now; his many stylistic referents combine in new ways to offer a stubbornly holistic, emotionally resonant, and visionary approach. ~ Thom Jurek