Following a stunning support tour with Beth Hart in March, young British troubadour Connor Selby will be playing shows across the UK through April to June including headline performances in London, Manchester, Leicester, Twickenham, Cwmbran and Hertford. As well as festival performances at the Cheltenham Jazz & Blues Festival, the Stockton Rhythm & Rock Festival and the Great British Blues festival. Tickets are available from: www.connorselby.com He will be playing songs from Connor Selby (Deluxe Edition), which is out now via Provogue/Mascot Label Group. Over the past few months Connor has already played triumphant shows with blues-rocker Joanne Shaw Taylor, soul icon P.P. Arnold as well as hitting the stage at Planet Rock’s Winters End Festival and a full March tour supporting Beth Hart, including playing London’s legendary Palladium. Along the way releasing new songs “I Shouldn’t Care,” Love Letter To The Blues, “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. 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. 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. |