Gig review: CONNOR SELBY BAND- Cabbage Patch, Twickenham, 26 August 2021

CONNOR SELBY BAND- Cabbage Patch, Twickenham, 26 August 2021

Essex-based Connor Selby is a name to watch in the blues world: he was awarded young artist of the year two years running in the UK blues awards, and even came to the attention of the Who’s management and opened up their Wembley Stadium show in 2019.

Twickenham’s long-running Eel Pie Club pays homage to blues musicians of an earlier vintage but from time to time shakes up its fairly stable calendar of acts to showcase new talent and this was his debut here. As a local resident, I had no excuse not to check out what the fuss was about.

CONNOR SELBY BAND- Cabbage Patch, Twickenham, 26 August 2021

Compared to his publicity pictures, he now has shorter floppier hair which, allied to the thick glasses he was sporting on this occasion, reminded me of a young Robert Peston! More significantly though, from an early stage his lyrical guitar tone was  attracting admiring comments from some of the veteran musicians who can be seen in the crowd at the club when not playing themselves.

He surrounded himself with a band of seasoned players –indeed keyboard player Steve Watts is someone I have seen countless times with other blues acts, most recently Sari Schorr and the same is true of drummer Martin ‘magic’ Johnson.  The presence of a full time second guitar player in Joe Anderton  also gives him greater creative freedom to express himself on top of a solid base.

CONNOR SELBY BAND- Cabbage Patch, Twickenham, 26 August 2021

He is something of a diffident performer, crouched rather studiously over his guitar and appearing quite shy in his between song intros, but then again this has never held back Joe Bonamassa. He handles lead vocals himself and while not the most naturally gifted of vocalists- a trait shared by many of the guitar greats- his delivery still manages to give the songs a world weariness beyond his years.

What was most impressive was that rather than tread a well-worn but repetitive blues rock line, he is comfortable across a number of different styles across the broad church of the blues. These ranged from the funky grooves  of ‘Falling In Love Again’, the most impressive of his early numbers, to the slow blues of ‘Tired Of Wasting my Time’ and ‘You Hurt Me’, but the band rocked out to ‘Emily’.

CONNOR SELBY BAND- Cabbage Patch, Twickenham, 26 August 2021

What was also impressive was the high percentage of originals in the set. Nevertheless he did slip in a  Bobby Bland cover,  ‘Going Down Slow’ featuring the band jamming to a very tidy ending, and a  sweet solo that some observers likened to BB King. A lively cover of the latter’s ‘Paying the Cost To Be the Boss’ proved the comparisons.

On  ‘That’s Alright’ a long winding solo compensated for some rather unconvincing vocals, yet on ‘Hear My Prayer’, his singing, in tandem with Steve’s Hammond organ playing successfully radiated a sense of desperation in the song.

CONNOR SELBY BAND- Cabbage Patch, Twickenham, 26 August 2021

‘Show Me a Sign’ with lengthy band jam and ‘Starting Again’ ended the set with ‘Made Up My Mind’ a suitably upbeat choice of the encore, completing a single set of a marathon hour and three quarters at a venue where people traditionally play two shorter sets.

While not the finished article, there is no denying Connor Selby’s talents, so when he is headlining bigger venues, this  may be a night to look back on and say ‘I was there’.

CONNOR SELBY BAND- Cabbage Patch, Twickenham, 26 August 2021

Review and photos by Andy Nathan


Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio


David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 20 October 2024.


UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 22 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com


Power Plays w/c 28 October 2024

THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)

Featured Albums w/c 28 October 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)



Popular (last 10 days)


This entry was posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply