Bursting with exhilarating, genre-expanding blues and roots anchored by Selwyn’s gruff, urgent vocals and fiery guitar and lap steel playing. Thirteen striking original songs roam through raw roots rock, infectious Southern R&B, sweaty funk jams, searing blues and after hours ballads, forging a groundbreaking new sound created by one of the most sensational new blues talents in ages. "A remarkable contemporary bluesman...a powerhouse guitarist and soulful vocalist...highly recommended"—Rolling Stone
Perched on my shoulder With bat-like wings Whispering, whispering Devilish things She don’t love you She don’t love you, how could she love you? She don’t love you, she never loved you She don’t love you Lord, she never did Don’t tell me no lies… Trial by fire Trial by fire, but I’m still alive Lord I’m still alive Get thee behind And I tell that ol’ devil “get thee behind!”
2.
Even The Saved Need Saving
4:26
Even the saved could use some saving The saved need saving It’s a hell of a world that we’re living in When the saved need saving
Too many pointed fingers for my taste Throwin’ stones and castin’ blame A little love could go a long way Too many pointed fingers for my taste
Ya got to practice what you preach Break the habit of hypocrisy Get back doing faith, faithfully And practice what you preach
Even the saved (Even the saved) Oh Even the saved (Even the saved) Ya gotta get together (Even the saved) Gotta get together (Even the saved) Even the saved (Even the saved) Ohhh, It’s a hell of a world that we’re livin’ in When the saved need saving
3.
Guilty Pleasures
5:10
I don’t like no whiskey I just like the taste I don’t like no reefer Except every day I don’t like the game I just like to play I don’t care for strangers But I dig the strange And I don’t know what else to tell ya They’re just guilty pleasures
I don’t like to gamble I just like my luck I don’t like romance I just love to love I don’t like the skin bar I just like what I see I don’t care for the pusher But he gives me what I need And I don’t know what else to tell ya They’re just guilty pleasures
4.
Pick Your Poison
4:02
Toxic, is a friend of my mine Running through my veins till the morning light Anger, normally stays inside But comes to wreak havoc every once in a while Conscience, done run away from me Half way through that bottle of Jimmy Beam Blurry, is what I’m seein’ now I’m all tore up just level with the ground It’s the enemy, but I miss it like a best friend Shot in the dark time and time again What will it be? Lord, Pick your poison
Sickness, come to visit now Lickin’ my wounds I put on myself Memory, is failin me Ready for another round of misery Regret, is an early bird Apologizin’ for everything I said and done Habit, has got its claws in me And I’m scrapin’ for a little peace and sanity It’s the enemy, but I miss it like a best friend Shot in the dark time and time again What will it be? Lord, Pick your poison
5.
Heavy Heart
4:59
I can tell you’re hurtin’ I can hear it in your voice And it’s oh so tragic We’d reached our breaking point Cuz I love you babe And I did from the very start With a heavy heart, you and me We must be apart
Ya laugh, shrug it off You say it’s fine and it’s alright But I know damn well You wagin’ war inside And I care, cuz I love you babe And I did from the very start With a heavy heart, you and me That we must be apart
You said nothing lasts forever But I disagree Cuz you’ll forever be in my memories Cuz I love you baby And I did from the very start With a heavy heart, you and me That we must be apart
6.
Haunted
3:28
I got skeletons in my closet Monsters under my bed Angels in my heart And demons in my head It’s been four damn weeks since I had some sleep This bed is too cold alone Just my apologies for company Now this house is not a home
They tell me move on But I can’t move on They say I gotta let it go But I won’t let go My feet are to the fire I’m haunted by my desires
I stay sick but ain’t got no fever Cant make the strength to leave my bed Haunted by the would’ves, could’ves, and should’ves Battling in my head Daymares during the daytime Nightmares come at night My imagination gets the best of me But my reality eats me alive
7.
Are Ya Ready?
3:45
There is a turn in the tide A new sun on the rise Are ya ready? There is a storm taking form Breaking from the norm Are ya ready? Oh, there’s a grit against the grain Breakin from the chains Are ya ready? There is a turn in the tide A new sun on the rise Are ya ready?
There is a trend taking hold Breaking from the mold Are ya ready? A movement taking stage A turning of the page Are ya ready? There is a sign of the times A shifting paradigm Are ya ready? There is a trend taking hold Breaking from the mold Are ya ready?
8.
Reaping Time
4:47
Way down down down down down South of the Georgia line I heard the sound sound sound sound sound Of a poor man cryin’ With a picture of a woman That he once loved He carried anger, an address, a motive, and a gun
Oh, it’s reaping time It’s reaping time Yeah, the seeds have been sewn and grown And it’s reaping time
He weeped weeped weeped weeeped weeped For what he’s bout to do As he reads reads reads reads reads An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth He could see see see see see Through the Georgia rain What would be be be be be The one that he would slay
Drunk with whiskey, betrayal, heartache, and the pain Oh, his face lit up with a flash.. Lord, a flash and a bang The man lived his days and didn’t forget it His victim lived just long enough to taste regret
9.
R We Krazy¿
4:34
I find myself talking to myselves They’re the only ones that know the shape I’m in Where do I go and what do I do? My woman gone left and my mind done left too And that question is ringin’ in my head again R we krazy? (yeah) At least I think I am
Lonely is an island After while it can get to you I named all my guitars so I’d have someone to talk to They said it’s time for intervention Perhaps we should seek some help We’re on the wrong side of sanity We’ve become a danger to ourselves R we krazy? (yeah)
At least I think I am I think I is
10.
Police State
3:06
Sayin’ you got the right to remain silent Seems they got the right, lord, to remain violent Gotta shake these shackles before it’s too late Or we’ll be trapped in a police state
If we don’t learn from history Lord it’s bound, bound to repeat Take a look around ya, what do you see? A nation buzzing with brutality
Can’t ignore the headlines Citizens getting beat Can’t help but wonder Who’s policing the police? How does this happen in the land of free? Got us heated up and mad enough To protest it in the street
I’m not talkin bout black I’m not talkin bout white I just wanna do my part to bring the dark
The darkness to the light I’m not talkin bout left Don’t wanna hear about right I’m talkin bout wrong and right And the sacrifice of innocent human life
11.
My Whiskey Loves My Ex
3:16
It’s the same dance everyday Like I’m stuck on repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat Try to forget about that woman That used to live with me I’m fine till the night time When I’ve had a few to drink My heart gets to racin’, pacin’, palpitatin’ And I begin to think It’s clear in the morning, going through my texts My whiskey loves my ex
Can finally live how I wanna live And be how I wanna be I tell myself I’m happy I finally have broken free But I’m not sure and that’s for certain The only thing certain is that I’m hurtin Then I get to waitin’, hatin’, medicatin’ And I begin to think It’s clear in the morning, going through my texts My whiskey loves my ex
Woke up this morning Drunk from the night before My room was spinnin’ I had one leg on the floor Calls made from my cell phone And a hole punched in my door I know it’s over But this drink won’t let it go It’s clear in the morning, going through my texts My whiskey loves my ex
12.
Lost In You
3:57
I wake in the morning to an empty bed Fighting all the aching that’s in my head Searching for myself I hope I find me again Cuz I’m lost in you
I look in the mirror and I don’t recognize who’s standing there Eyes red and swollen with an empty stare Searching for myself Hope I find me again Cuz I’m lost in you
I don’t feel no pain In fact these days I don’t feel much of anything Just a ghost of a man that I used to be Searching for myself I hope find me again Cuz I’m lost in you
13.
Corporate Drone
4:06
I used to work 60 hour weeks So my boss could drive a Benz Take one day, sick at home asleep He wanna write me up again I won’t buy into a world where cash is king Killing myself to make a living I won’t just be a cog in the machine If the machine don’t give a damn about me
Ain’t gon’ be no corporate drone Rather strike it out on my own Ain’t gon be no corporated drone
Don’t wanna hear my opinions No matter how right or true They don’t pay me to think y’all Oh, he pays me to do They love to make cuts Like they don’t got a dime to spare They cut my days and they cut my pay They even wanna cut my hair
All songs by Selwyn Birchwood, Selwyn Birchwood Music, BMI
Selwyn Birchwood: Guitar, Vocals, Lap Steel Guitar Regi Oliver: Saxophones, Flute, Background Vocals Huff Wright: Bass Guitar, Background Vocals Courtney "Big Love" Girlie: Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals
Produced by Selwyn Birchwood Recorded at Phat Planet Studios, Orlando, FL Engineered by Aaron Gandia Assistant engineers: Jay Yerkes & Ed Krout Mixed by Blaise Barton, Selwyn Birchwood and Bruce Iglauer at Joyride Studio, Chicago, IL Mastered by Collin Jordan and Bruce Iglauer the The Boiler Room, Chicago, IL Cover Artwork by Grego Anderson, Mojohand.com Photos by Paul Natkin Design by Kevin Niemiec Executive Producer: Bruce Iglauer
Selwyn Birchwood thanks: I'd like to thank God for granting me the opportunity and ability to follow my dreams and share my music with the world. Thank you to my family for always being there, no matter what. Thank you to my band: Regi Oliver, Huff Wright, and Courtney Girlie, for sticking it out through the good times and bad out on the road to keep the music alive! Thank you to Bruce Iglauer and the team at Alligator Records and thank you Rick Booth and to the team at Intrepid Artists for their endless hard work and support! Thank you to Joe Louis Walker for your encouragement and advice. Thank you to Sonny Rhodes, The Blues Foundation, Betty Fox, Suncoast Blues Society, WMNF, OBBS, Ed Krout and Aaron Gandia at Phat Planet and all of our fans at home and abroad for your help and support throughout this musical journey! www.selwynbirchwood.com www.facebook.com/selwynbirchwoodband twitter.com/selwynbirchwood
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