British blues musician, Connor Selby began playing guitar at the age of eight which led to a voyage of musical discovery that had shaped his music today.
Connor released his debut album, Made Up My Mind, in 2018 while studying English Literature at University and went on to release his self-titled album for Provogue/Mascot Label Group - the deluxe version was released in 2023.
He has also been voted "Young Artist of the Year" at the UK Blues Awards for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, 2022). He was asked to open for The Who in July 2019 and has since gone on to play Hyde Park, London, on a bill with Pearl Jam, Stereophonics and Johnny Marr in the summer of 2022. He's also about to go on tour with Joanne Shaw Taylor.
We caught up with Connor to find out more about this blues wunderkind whose gone from playing Essex clubs and pubs, to finding himself on some of the world's biggest stages.
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You've had a whirlwind year releasing your debut album for Mascot, supporting Beth Hart and Robert Cray, among other things. Does it still seem a little bit unreal?
Connor Selby
Yeah, I guess it does. I think I'm still processing it now, to be honest. I think with these kinds of things, you've got to try and stay grounded about it and take them for what they are; which is amazing gifts to have been given. I'm so grateful that I was given these opportunities. I try not to let it go to my head.
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What were your highlights of last year?
Connor Selby
The album being released through Mascot was a highlight. That was an amazing thing.
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Were you quite a perfectionist about your album?
Connor Selby
It's kind of a weird, complicated history with that album. Technically, it's not my debut album, I made an album before about 5 or 6 years ago (Made Up My Mind). The album I released with Mascot was self-released in 2021 and then I got the record deal and we re-released the album. So it's been around for a few years now. It was great to give it a proper launch because as an independent artist, I just didn't have the resources to do it properly. The recording was very quick: we did it over three days. There wasn't much time to overthink things and worry about the finer details, which I think is great for me because I tend to overthink and I'm very perfectionist. So it was kind of out of my hands.
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We're big fans of Beth Hart and you supported her on her last tour. How was that?
Connor Selby
She's Incredible. I'd listened to her music before, but I'd never seen her live. To watch her night after night it was beyond belief how good she was. She is one of those artists who just completely lays it all on the line. And bares her soul. It's almost disturbing, in some parts of her show because it's so raw.
Some of the songs she performed A Capella and she sat at the end of the stage with the spotlight on her and nothing else. It was like seeing an apparition on stage. It must have been what it was like to see Billie Holiday perform - she was so uninhibited.
Off the stage, she's (Beth) the same. She's completely authentic. She's exactly as you'd imagine how to be. She's very kind, very gentle as well as a really lovely person.
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Have you ever learned any words of wisdom from being on the road?
Connor Selby
I don't know if there are any particular words of wisdom as such, but I learnt things. Being a support artist you get a glimpse into that world. Playing these huge, beautiful theatres and halls and especially on the Beth Hart tour: some of the venues were just stunning and then you finish and you go back to doing the kind of venues that I play on my own: small clubs and places and get dragged back down to earth. That's why I think it's important to stay grounded and not let these things sway you too much. Because, you know, it's such a tumultuous life, you know, up and down, emotionally, as well. All the struggles that you have to go through being an artist and kind of selling tickets and having gigs cancelled: all that stuff that every artist has to go through at some point. If you get too invested in it can be emotionally damaging.
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Are you working on anything at the moment?
Connor Selby
Yeah, I'm always dabbling with things in writing and stuff. I'm working on a new album, I've not started recording or anything, it's just still in the conceptual stages. I think is something I've got a weird relationship with, it's very sporadic. I don't feel like I have much control over the process. So it's one of those things where you just have to be ready when inspiration strikes.
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Does anything help to make you feel more inspired?
Connor Selby
Experiences, emotions, and just things in life have had a strong effect on me one way or another. My songs are quite sentimental and that's a big part of it for me. A lot of them are about relationships one way or another. And that's not necessarily directly about relationships that I've had or are autobiographical for me. Especially in the blues and popular music in general, lots of kinds of songs and stories are framed around relationships, because it's very relatable for people.
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What first sparked your interest in blues music?
Connor Selby
Eric Clapton was kind of the catalyst, I suppose. He was the one when I was first coming up as a young teenager and was sort of the model that I wanted to base myself off. He just loved it and lived and breathed it. That's how I saw myself at that time as well. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have discovered people like Freddie King and BB King, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy. I think with playing the blues it's impossible not to be inspired by these people really because it's just so fundamental to the genre.
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What other musicians or genres do you like to listen to?
Connor Selby
I was really into folk music when I was younger people like Nick Drake, Bert Jansch and Dave Van Ronk and jazz as well. Ray Charles is a big influence in general. Billy Holiday, she's a huge inspiration. I could never attempt to sing like her, but I'd like to capture a fragment of the atmosphere she creates. Nat King Cole, Chet Baker. Just sad sentimental music I guess.
I love country music as well, Patsy Cline, and Willie Nelson. Ray Charles was like a meeting point between all these styles I love. He did a lot of country music, blues, jazz, soul all of it, which is why I hold him in such high regard, but he did it in a way that was completely authentic to him.
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Do you have a favourite guitar?
Connor Selby
Probably the Les Paul. All the old blues guys played Gibson's: BB King and Freddie King, Albert King, Pete Green Paul Kossoff from Free, he inspired me when I was growing up too.
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All those players had very distinctive sounds. How did you go about finding a sound making it personal to you?
Connor Selby
I think these days it's kind of tricky to do that in a way. Back in the 60s, all you had was the records and it wasn't possible to listen to the same thing over and over again unless you were dedicated. So in a way, your brain kind of had to put in the gaps. That's where all the magic happened in terms of the people developing our styles. Now it's a lot easier to copy something and listen to it but I think in a way, it's harder to be original and develop your style.
But it's something that I've thought about a lot and spent a lot of time trying to do as far as also kind of where my influences are on my sleeve because that's a big deal for me in terms of my music. I think it's important to let people know where it came from.
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What sort of shape will the new album take when you do start to record it?
Connor Selby
I think it's gonna be similar musically. I'm still going to be drawing from the same places but probably a bit more self-assured. Maybe a bit more jazz-influenced. Some of the material I've been writing is a bit more in that kind of vein and I've been listening to a lot of really early jazz singers. Like I said, it's that sentimental thing and very hopelessly romantic, and I enjoy that. That's kind of the way I am as a person as well, so I'm going to incorporate more of that. I think I'm going to be a bit more uncompromising and frame it in a way that's true to me.
TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM JOANNESHAWTAYLOR.COM
Sat 17 Feb - Manchester, Royal Northern College of Music w/Joanne Shaw Taylor
Sun 18 Feb - Glasgow, Queen Margaret Union w/Joanne Shaw Taylor
Mon 19 Feb - Leeds, City Varieties Music Hall w/Joanne Shaw Taylor
Wed 21 Feb - Sunderland, Fire Station w/Joanne Shaw Taylor
Thu 22 Feb - London, Indigo at The O2 w/Joanne Shaw Taylor
Fri 23 Feb - Wolverhampton, Wulfrun Hall w/Joanne Shaw Taylor
Sun 25 Feb - Norwich, The Waterfront w/Joanne Shaw Taylor
Mon 26 Feb - Bexhill, De La Warr Pavilion w/Joanne Shaw Taylor
Wed 28 Feb - Bury St Edmunds, Apex w/Joanne Shaw Taylor
Thu 29 Feb - Southend, Palace Theatre w/Joanne Shaw Taylor