Honesty is the best blues policy
Muirsical Conversation With Connor Selby
Muirsical Conversation With Connor Selby
In review of British blues troubadour Connor Selby’s self-titled and second, studio album, which received a major label Deluxe Edition re-release in 2023, FabricationsHQ noted that it was “an impressive pointer to the blues player he wants to be and, with a fair blues wind, will become.”
Those winds are certainly blowing favourably through third album The Truth Comes Out Eventually, where the sound of a focussed player and more confident singer can be heard across a broader blues palette.
Additionally, it’s not just Selby's best album to date, it’s also his most honest, and personal.
Following a peppering of live dates through August, and in preparation for the album’s release, Connor sat in with FabricationsHQ to talk about the album and why it represents not just the consummate blues musician he is quickly establishing himself as, but an honest expression, and representation, of who the person called Connor Selby is.
Ross Muir: With The Truth Comes Out Eventually I hear a musician who has developed even further from the old-school, blues loving musician you announced on the Connor Selby album. Put another way, there are several songs on this album I don’t think we would have heard from you three or four years ago.
Connor Selby: Yeah, I think so. It’s definitely my most honest album, as far as the songwriting is concerned.
I feel it represents me, as a person, both musically and lyrically. That’s why I tried to be as honest as I could, to show who I am, and my sensibilities.
RM: That honesty was summed up by your pre-release press quote where you stated the songs "are about my feeling of being in the world and not really feeling like I belong."
That’s pretty heavy stuff to take on, but take on, and deliver, you do, rather impressively.
Related, there are a number of songs here you would expect from someone twice your age.
CS: Thank you; I really appreciate you saying that. I’m glad that you picked up on the honesty, and what the album represents. I’m so pleased it resonated with you.
RM: That’s very key – how even the more personal songs can resonate with others.
Amelia, for example, resonated with so many people when you released it as a single. I know you had that song tucked away for a long time, as was the case with Songbird, so it speaks to your growing maturity and confidence that you felt this was the right time to release what are quite personal songs.
CS: Yeah, that’s the thing about Amelia. I have, as you mentioned, had that song for many years – in fact I wrote it when I was seventeen or eighteen.
And it was exactly that, a confidence thing, although I didn’t think it really fitted in with the stuff I had been doing on the first album, or even the last album. I wasn’t really sure what to do with it, actually!
But, with this album, having played Amelia to a few people after having had it for so long, they all said "wow, this is a really good song." I thought OK, now is obviously the time to do something with it, and share it with the world.
The reaction to it has really blown me away, to be honest, because it’s literally the same song from back when I wrote it in my teens; I didn’t change anything at all.
The fact that so many people are responding to it the way they are is just incredible.
Those winds are certainly blowing favourably through third album The Truth Comes Out Eventually, where the sound of a focussed player and more confident singer can be heard across a broader blues palette.
Additionally, it’s not just Selby's best album to date, it’s also his most honest, and personal.
Following a peppering of live dates through August, and in preparation for the album’s release, Connor sat in with FabricationsHQ to talk about the album and why it represents not just the consummate blues musician he is quickly establishing himself as, but an honest expression, and representation, of who the person called Connor Selby is.
Ross Muir: With The Truth Comes Out Eventually I hear a musician who has developed even further from the old-school, blues loving musician you announced on the Connor Selby album. Put another way, there are several songs on this album I don’t think we would have heard from you three or four years ago.
Connor Selby: Yeah, I think so. It’s definitely my most honest album, as far as the songwriting is concerned.
I feel it represents me, as a person, both musically and lyrically. That’s why I tried to be as honest as I could, to show who I am, and my sensibilities.
RM: That honesty was summed up by your pre-release press quote where you stated the songs "are about my feeling of being in the world and not really feeling like I belong."
That’s pretty heavy stuff to take on, but take on, and deliver, you do, rather impressively.
Related, there are a number of songs here you would expect from someone twice your age.
CS: Thank you; I really appreciate you saying that. I’m glad that you picked up on the honesty, and what the album represents. I’m so pleased it resonated with you.
RM: That’s very key – how even the more personal songs can resonate with others.
Amelia, for example, resonated with so many people when you released it as a single. I know you had that song tucked away for a long time, as was the case with Songbird, so it speaks to your growing maturity and confidence that you felt this was the right time to release what are quite personal songs.
CS: Yeah, that’s the thing about Amelia. I have, as you mentioned, had that song for many years – in fact I wrote it when I was seventeen or eighteen.
And it was exactly that, a confidence thing, although I didn’t think it really fitted in with the stuff I had been doing on the first album, or even the last album. I wasn’t really sure what to do with it, actually!
But, with this album, having played Amelia to a few people after having had it for so long, they all said "wow, this is a really good song." I thought OK, now is obviously the time to do something with it, and share it with the world.
The reaction to it has really blown me away, to be honest, because it’s literally the same song from back when I wrote it in my teens; I didn’t change anything at all.
The fact that so many people are responding to it the way they are is just incredible.
RM: Can you transport yourself back to the teenager that wrote Amelia, and recall if you felt it would never see the light of day, or did you always feel that, at some point in the future, it would?
CS: I honestly don’t know. The thing is though I had never forgotten about it, whereas there are other songs that I have written that I have just put in the bin and never thought about again.
But Amelia and Songbird, which is the last track on the album, they were always there, lingering in the background, or at the back of my mind.
But, what’s really amazing to me, is how Amelia and Songbird fit in so well with the rest of the songs. Stylistically, there’s a lot of stuff going on in this album, but it all connects. There’s no sense of incongruity.
RM: Yes, they become further textures, or blues shades, of your musical palette.
There’s a stark beauty to Songbird, which contrasts nicely with the fuller sounding songs. Lovely harmony backing vocals, too.
CS: Thank you. That’s Georgia van Etten on harmony vocals. Songbird was intentionally put on as the last song to act as a kind of epilogue. I’m glad you like it.
RM: And then there’s opening number Someone.
That song starts with a country-blues vibe before heading into Ray Charles blues territory, complete with horns.
Great arrangement, too.
CS: Thank you so much. Stefan Redtenbacher, who produced the album, and also plays bass, helped me with the fine tweaking of the songs, although Someone was, more or less, fully formed; there was one little bit we wrote out together.
But in terms of all the horn arrangements, as with the last album, Stefan did all those; I can’t take credit for that! [laughs]
RM: A couple of other great songs are the slow, smooth blues of the title track and the purposeful sounding I Am Who I Am, which reinforces the album’s mantra, or theme, of this is who I am.
The latter is The Yin to the title track’s Yang.
CS: That’s it exactly. I Am Who I Am is the other side of the coin; it takes a more defiant viewpoint of the same issue. I guess you could say I’m taking more pride in who I am.
RM: Your solo on the title track reinforces what you are saying, lyrically. As we’ve talked about before your solos are expressive, instrumental extensions of your voice, and lyrics; none more so than this one.
CS: That solo is probably the closest thing to a written out solo I’ve ever done, and that’s only because the chord changes are very complicated; a jazz musician would probably be able to play over that without having to think about it, but I can’t do that.
But, equally, that solo is probably my favourite solo I’ve ever done, to the extent that I tend to play it similarly live. But then it is a bit more jazzy, so I’m limited in what I can do with it.
Generally though, when it’s a blues solo, that’s territory I’m much more comfortable in; I can just go with it and play more fluidly, or even more simply.
B.B. King is a great example of that – if you play very simply, but highlight the chord changes, then it’s gonna sound good. That’s all you really need to do.
CS: I honestly don’t know. The thing is though I had never forgotten about it, whereas there are other songs that I have written that I have just put in the bin and never thought about again.
But Amelia and Songbird, which is the last track on the album, they were always there, lingering in the background, or at the back of my mind.
But, what’s really amazing to me, is how Amelia and Songbird fit in so well with the rest of the songs. Stylistically, there’s a lot of stuff going on in this album, but it all connects. There’s no sense of incongruity.
RM: Yes, they become further textures, or blues shades, of your musical palette.
There’s a stark beauty to Songbird, which contrasts nicely with the fuller sounding songs. Lovely harmony backing vocals, too.
CS: Thank you. That’s Georgia van Etten on harmony vocals. Songbird was intentionally put on as the last song to act as a kind of epilogue. I’m glad you like it.
RM: And then there’s opening number Someone.
That song starts with a country-blues vibe before heading into Ray Charles blues territory, complete with horns.
Great arrangement, too.
CS: Thank you so much. Stefan Redtenbacher, who produced the album, and also plays bass, helped me with the fine tweaking of the songs, although Someone was, more or less, fully formed; there was one little bit we wrote out together.
But in terms of all the horn arrangements, as with the last album, Stefan did all those; I can’t take credit for that! [laughs]
RM: A couple of other great songs are the slow, smooth blues of the title track and the purposeful sounding I Am Who I Am, which reinforces the album’s mantra, or theme, of this is who I am.
The latter is The Yin to the title track’s Yang.
CS: That’s it exactly. I Am Who I Am is the other side of the coin; it takes a more defiant viewpoint of the same issue. I guess you could say I’m taking more pride in who I am.
RM: Your solo on the title track reinforces what you are saying, lyrically. As we’ve talked about before your solos are expressive, instrumental extensions of your voice, and lyrics; none more so than this one.
CS: That solo is probably the closest thing to a written out solo I’ve ever done, and that’s only because the chord changes are very complicated; a jazz musician would probably be able to play over that without having to think about it, but I can’t do that.
But, equally, that solo is probably my favourite solo I’ve ever done, to the extent that I tend to play it similarly live. But then it is a bit more jazzy, so I’m limited in what I can do with it.
Generally though, when it’s a blues solo, that’s territory I’m much more comfortable in; I can just go with it and play more fluidly, or even more simply.
B.B. King is a great example of that – if you play very simply, but highlight the chord changes, then it’s gonna sound good. That’s all you really need to do.
RM: Other than The Truth solo, you play, or develop, your solos, organically?
CS: I would say they are organic, yes, but frankly that’s because I'm too lazy to write out a solo! [loud laughter]
In terms of how they come about, I do tend to make them up on the spot; I tend not to think about it, because I’m not a good enough musician to be able to just play anything I like, if that makes sense.
RM: You’re in very good company in that respect; many a great player preaches the organic or unrehearsed solo route. Waler Trout, for example, has never rehearsed or written out a solo; when he’s recording, he puts himself in that moment, and just plays.
When you stop and think "what did I just play there?" you know you were in the zone.
CS: That’s exactly the same for me. When I look back, or listen to, my music, retrospectively, it’s only then that I understand what I was doing, or trying to express. It’s very much a subconscious process.
RM: Aside from your lyrical guitar play, I also hear a singer on this album who is more confident vocally, particularly on the ad-libs; there’s a joyous freedom of expression at play here.
Do you hear or sense, this new found confidence and progression in your singing, playing and songwriting?
CS: Yeah, I think I have progressed, in a lot of ways. I’ve developed as a musician, and that’s mainly through working with different people and other great musicians.
My ears have been opened completely, certainly compared to four or five years ago when the last album first came out. I’m definitely more aware of what’s going on, listening to the nuances within music that other people play, and reacting to that.
But, as you say, it’s also confidence. I’ve done God knows how many gigs over the last four years, since we came out of the pandemic. Every one of those gigs has been important in developing that confidence.
Now, as you know, I’m not the most expressive or confident looking performer on stage [laughs], but I am confident in the sense of now being able to go on pretty much any stage in the world and play in front of any amount of people and deliver.
Support slots have offered me some amazing opportunities to develop in front of big crowds, as has playing up and down the entire UK, and performing in Europe.
And that’s the most important thing for me, being able to go on stage and sing my songs and deliver my music in an effective way. I think I’ve learned how to do that over the last few years.
RM: As you said yourself, you are not the most expressive live performer in the world, but what comes across is your enthused love of the blues, bolstered by being a more confident singer now and a guitarist with great feel and tone.
CS: Thank you so much. Live music, and live performance, is, for me, the closest thing to magic, or whatever you want to compare it with; there’s something otherworldly about it.
That’s how I truly feel about it as a player. I don’t do sports, or lots of exercise, so I can’t compare it to those sorts of activities. But just getting into that flow state, where you completely lose touch with the world and enter this other space, that's just amazing to me.
I’m always chasing that feeling and when you get it, it’s the best feeling in the world for me.
It's a spiritual thing, as is the connection you make with the audience.
RM: Another song I want to mention is the one cover, It Hurts To Be In Love, which sports a bluesy groove and a great, underlying swing. There’s also a great Hammond solo on that one.
CS: That’s Dave Limina, chair of the Piano Department at Berklee College of Music.
That’s some pretty heavy credentials [laughs], but all the musicians on this album are incredible.
Carter Arrington plays some rhythm guitar, Mike Sturgis is on drums, Stefan on bass as I mentioned, some brilliant horns players and great backing singers. The list goes on and on!
RM: Surrounding yourself with such talent must make you a better player, though; one who has to bring his A game, I would surmise…
CS: Yeah, absolutely, one hundred percent!
RM: You are not just a blues musician, you are a blues aficionado, one steeped in the history of American roots blues. That comes across loud and clear in your songwriting and performances, presenting a musician who has a deep respect for the blues and the blues greats, as opposed to any sort of sound-a-like pastiche.
CS: Thank you. B.B. King, Freddie King and Albert King are all great examples, because ostensibly they are all playing the same sort of stuff, or the same licks – yet they all sound completely different, even when they are playing the same songs, which happened on many occasions, across their own repertoires.
Both Freddie and Albert changed their surnames to King because of B.B., to ride on his coattails, which is just hilarious, but each is still unique.
And that is the essence of what makes a great blues artist – being unique, or an individual, and having your own personality; that's the most important factor.
Now, in terms of personality, I’m nothing like those guys, and never will be, but it’s important to bring yourself into the music that you make. And as we’ve talked about, that’s definitely something I’ve tried to do, bringing who I am, as a person, to the music and the lyrics.
RM: To sign off, it’s worth mentioning you are back out on the road in September to promote the album.
CS: Yes. I played a few dates in August and I’m playing the Blues in Hell festival in Norway on the 29th, but the bulk of the tour in support of the album is September.
We have about a dozen dates that month, including one in Scotland when we play Edinburgh.
RM: Great stuff. It just remains for me to say I hope the tour dates go well, see you on the road, and here's to the album getting the attention and recognition it deserves.
CS: Great chatting again, Ross; thanks so much for all your support. All the best!
Ross Muir
Muirsical Conversation With Connor Selby
August 2025
Photo credits: Rob Blackham/ Blackham Images
CS: I would say they are organic, yes, but frankly that’s because I'm too lazy to write out a solo! [loud laughter]
In terms of how they come about, I do tend to make them up on the spot; I tend not to think about it, because I’m not a good enough musician to be able to just play anything I like, if that makes sense.
RM: You’re in very good company in that respect; many a great player preaches the organic or unrehearsed solo route. Waler Trout, for example, has never rehearsed or written out a solo; when he’s recording, he puts himself in that moment, and just plays.
When you stop and think "what did I just play there?" you know you were in the zone.
CS: That’s exactly the same for me. When I look back, or listen to, my music, retrospectively, it’s only then that I understand what I was doing, or trying to express. It’s very much a subconscious process.
RM: Aside from your lyrical guitar play, I also hear a singer on this album who is more confident vocally, particularly on the ad-libs; there’s a joyous freedom of expression at play here.
Do you hear or sense, this new found confidence and progression in your singing, playing and songwriting?
CS: Yeah, I think I have progressed, in a lot of ways. I’ve developed as a musician, and that’s mainly through working with different people and other great musicians.
My ears have been opened completely, certainly compared to four or five years ago when the last album first came out. I’m definitely more aware of what’s going on, listening to the nuances within music that other people play, and reacting to that.
But, as you say, it’s also confidence. I’ve done God knows how many gigs over the last four years, since we came out of the pandemic. Every one of those gigs has been important in developing that confidence.
Now, as you know, I’m not the most expressive or confident looking performer on stage [laughs], but I am confident in the sense of now being able to go on pretty much any stage in the world and play in front of any amount of people and deliver.
Support slots have offered me some amazing opportunities to develop in front of big crowds, as has playing up and down the entire UK, and performing in Europe.
And that’s the most important thing for me, being able to go on stage and sing my songs and deliver my music in an effective way. I think I’ve learned how to do that over the last few years.
RM: As you said yourself, you are not the most expressive live performer in the world, but what comes across is your enthused love of the blues, bolstered by being a more confident singer now and a guitarist with great feel and tone.
CS: Thank you so much. Live music, and live performance, is, for me, the closest thing to magic, or whatever you want to compare it with; there’s something otherworldly about it.
That’s how I truly feel about it as a player. I don’t do sports, or lots of exercise, so I can’t compare it to those sorts of activities. But just getting into that flow state, where you completely lose touch with the world and enter this other space, that's just amazing to me.
I’m always chasing that feeling and when you get it, it’s the best feeling in the world for me.
It's a spiritual thing, as is the connection you make with the audience.
RM: Another song I want to mention is the one cover, It Hurts To Be In Love, which sports a bluesy groove and a great, underlying swing. There’s also a great Hammond solo on that one.
CS: That’s Dave Limina, chair of the Piano Department at Berklee College of Music.
That’s some pretty heavy credentials [laughs], but all the musicians on this album are incredible.
Carter Arrington plays some rhythm guitar, Mike Sturgis is on drums, Stefan on bass as I mentioned, some brilliant horns players and great backing singers. The list goes on and on!
RM: Surrounding yourself with such talent must make you a better player, though; one who has to bring his A game, I would surmise…
CS: Yeah, absolutely, one hundred percent!
RM: You are not just a blues musician, you are a blues aficionado, one steeped in the history of American roots blues. That comes across loud and clear in your songwriting and performances, presenting a musician who has a deep respect for the blues and the blues greats, as opposed to any sort of sound-a-like pastiche.
CS: Thank you. B.B. King, Freddie King and Albert King are all great examples, because ostensibly they are all playing the same sort of stuff, or the same licks – yet they all sound completely different, even when they are playing the same songs, which happened on many occasions, across their own repertoires.
Both Freddie and Albert changed their surnames to King because of B.B., to ride on his coattails, which is just hilarious, but each is still unique.
And that is the essence of what makes a great blues artist – being unique, or an individual, and having your own personality; that's the most important factor.
Now, in terms of personality, I’m nothing like those guys, and never will be, but it’s important to bring yourself into the music that you make. And as we’ve talked about, that’s definitely something I’ve tried to do, bringing who I am, as a person, to the music and the lyrics.
RM: To sign off, it’s worth mentioning you are back out on the road in September to promote the album.
CS: Yes. I played a few dates in August and I’m playing the Blues in Hell festival in Norway on the 29th, but the bulk of the tour in support of the album is September.
We have about a dozen dates that month, including one in Scotland when we play Edinburgh.
RM: Great stuff. It just remains for me to say I hope the tour dates go well, see you on the road, and here's to the album getting the attention and recognition it deserves.
CS: Great chatting again, Ross; thanks so much for all your support. All the best!
Ross Muir
Muirsical Conversation With Connor Selby
August 2025
Photo credits: Rob Blackham/ Blackham Images
The Truth Comes Out Eventually is released on Provogue Records on August 29th.
Link: https://lnk.to/ConnorSelby
Click here for FabricationsHQ's album review.
Connor Selby UK & European Tour Dates
(Tickets: https://www.connorselby.com/tour )
SEP 7 - Boisdale of Canary Wharf, London
SEP 12 - The Old Riverport Blues, St Ives
SEP 17 - The Witham, Barnard Castl
SEP 18 - Kings Place, London
SEP 19 - John Peel Centre for Creative Arts, Stowmarket
SEP 20 - Kola, Portsmouth
SEP 21 - Tunbridge Wells Forum, Tunbridge Wells
SEP 24 - The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
SEP 25 - Hallé St Peter's, Manchester
SEP 26 - Metronome, Nottingham
SEP 27 - Bristol Beacon, Bristol
SEP 28 - Axminster Guildhall, Axminster
OCT 1 - Co-Headline with Ben Poole, Wavendon
OCT 11 - Beer Blues Festival, Beer
OCT 12 - Bromley Little Theatre, Bromley
NOV 2 - Boisdale of Canary Wharf, London
NOV 6 - Qbus Club, Leiden, Netherlands
NOV 8 - Blue Notez e.V., Dortmund, Germany
NOV 28 - Chelmsford Social Club, Chelmsford
DEC 3 - New Morning, Paris, France
DEC 4 - Le Jam, Montpellier, France
DEC 5 - L'Sonograf, Le Thor, France
DEC 14 - La Traverse, Cleon, France
Link: https://lnk.to/ConnorSelby
Click here for FabricationsHQ's album review.
Connor Selby UK & European Tour Dates
(Tickets: https://www.connorselby.com/tour )
SEP 7 - Boisdale of Canary Wharf, London
SEP 12 - The Old Riverport Blues, St Ives
SEP 17 - The Witham, Barnard Castl
SEP 18 - Kings Place, London
SEP 19 - John Peel Centre for Creative Arts, Stowmarket
SEP 20 - Kola, Portsmouth
SEP 21 - Tunbridge Wells Forum, Tunbridge Wells
SEP 24 - The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
SEP 25 - Hallé St Peter's, Manchester
SEP 26 - Metronome, Nottingham
SEP 27 - Bristol Beacon, Bristol
SEP 28 - Axminster Guildhall, Axminster
OCT 1 - Co-Headline with Ben Poole, Wavendon
OCT 11 - Beer Blues Festival, Beer
OCT 12 - Bromley Little Theatre, Bromley
NOV 2 - Boisdale of Canary Wharf, London
NOV 6 - Qbus Club, Leiden, Netherlands
NOV 8 - Blue Notez e.V., Dortmund, Germany
NOV 28 - Chelmsford Social Club, Chelmsford
DEC 3 - New Morning, Paris, France
DEC 4 - Le Jam, Montpellier, France
DEC 5 - L'Sonograf, Le Thor, France
DEC 14 - La Traverse, Cleon, France