Young British troubadour Connor Selby today releases Connor Selby (Deluxe Edition) via Provogue/Mascot Label Group. To celebrate the release, he has revealed the official video for new song “Love Letter to the Blues,” which you can watch HERE on the same day that he joins Beth Hart on her UK and Ireland tour that will call through Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Newcastle, London and Brighton – The tour includes two shows at the stunning London Palladium.
He has also announced a string of shows including two special headline performances at Gullivers, Manchester on 14 May and Amazing Grace, London on 16 May. Tickets are available from HERE.
Over the past few months Connor has already played triumphant shows with blues-rocker Joanne Shaw Taylor and soul icon P.P. Arnold as well as hitting the stage at Planet Rock’s Winters End Festival. Along the way releasing new songs “I Shouldn’t Care,”“The Deep End “ and the Ray Charles cover of “My Baby Don’t Dig Me” – he has picked up the support of Classic Rock magazine, graced the cover of Blues in Britain, picked up a raft of critical praise for the album and been spun on numerous radio stations including the BBC Radio 2 Blues Show.
Talking about the new song, Connor says, “This song, as the title suggests, was just written as a love letter to the blues music that I love and that I grew up listening to. The blues for me has always been the rock that I’ve built my entire life upon and really, it’s what I’ve always used to define myself. Growing up and to this day, I never felt that I was really the same as my peers but despite the ups and downs in my life, the blues has always been there a constant source of comfort and also a way for me to express myself. As the song describes, “one day I’m going to wake up and I’m going to be old and grey and maybe by then things will start to go my way, but I know what I was put on this earth to do. That’s why I’m going to keep on singing the blues. I feel quite strongly that whatever happens in my life, the blues will always be at the core of who I am and what I do.”
There’s a timeless melancholic quality to his music. Relatable in its honesty and openness, he draws from anxiety and vulnerability but delivers it with a world-worn elegance.
At this years’ UK Blues Award’s, he received nominations for “Acoustic Act of the Year”, “Instrumentalist of the Year”, “Blues Vocalist of the Year” and “Blues Artist of the Year”. One of the brightest talents on the UK blues scene. He has already been voted “Young Artist of the Year” at the UK Blues Awards for the last three consecutive years (2020, 2021, 2022). He has an impressive venue checklist, including Wembley Stadium, where he opened for The Who in July 2019 and has since gone on to play BST Hyde Park, London, on a bill with Pearl Jam, Stereophonics and Johnny Marr in the summer of 2022, dates with Joanne Shaw Taylor and P.P. Arnold.
Raised in an Essex village, he has trodden a path less travelled. His youth split between Connecticut, Essex and Dubai, one thing that kept with him was his burgeoning love of American roots music. “I got interested in not just the music itself but the history and everything around it,” he says. “I wanted to learn and listen as much as I could. I think it’s important for someone who isn’t from that cultural background to treat it with the respect it deserves. You can’t separate the music from its historical context.” “I love the directness, the simplicity and earthiness of it,” he adds. “I’ve also always been attracted to the authoritative quality of the music. As a kid and teenager, I was quite shy and not very self-assured, so I think it was a place for me to find a sense of power.”
It’s easy to see why with his soulful blend of blues and his emotionally introspective songwriting, which sits alongside his impressive armoury of guitar playing. The songs on ‘Connor Selby’ are little vignettes of the different styles of music that inspire him.
Tour dates
03 Mar – Vicar Street, Dublin w/Beth Hart – Tickets HERE
05 Mar – Ulster Hall, Belfast w/Beth Hart – Tickets HERE
07 Mar – SEC Centre, Glasgow w/Beth Hart – Tickets HERE
09 Mar – Symphony Hall, Birmingham w/Beth Hart – Tickets HERE
11 Mar – City Hall, Sheffield w/Beth Hart – Tickets HERE
13 Mar – Bridgewater Hall, Manchester w/Beth Hart – Tickets HERE
15 Mar – City Hall, Newcastle w/Beth Hart – Tickets HERE
17 Mar – Palladium, London w/Beth Hart – Tickets HERE
18 Mar – Palladium, London w/Beth Hart – Tickets HERE
21 Mar – Dome, Brighton w/Beth Hart – Tickets HERE
25 Mar – Coolham Live Music Club, Coolham – Tickets HERE
11 Apr – Temperance, Leamington Spa – Tickets HERE
20 Apr – The Eel Pie Club, Twickenham – Tickets HERE
27 Apr – Jazz Arena, Cheltenham Jazz Festival – Tickets HERE
06 May – Borough Blues Club, Cwmbran – Tickets HERE
12 May – The Musician, Leicester – Tickets HERE
13 May – Stockton Rhythm & Rock Festival, Stockton-on-Tees – Tickets HERE
14 May – Gullivers, Manchester – Tickets HERE.
16 May – Amazing Grace, London – Tickets HERE.
