{"id":20806,"date":"2021-04-09T05:30:53","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T09:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=20806"},"modified":"2021-04-02T09:45:16","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T13:45:16","slug":"kirk-fletchers-pathway-to-and-through-the-blues-part-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/09\/kirk-fletchers-pathway-to-and-through-the-blues-part-five\/","title":{"rendered":"Kirk Fletcher’s Pathway to (and Through) the Blues, Part Five"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Continued from Part Four<\/a> …<\/i><\/p>\n

Fletcher celebrated his 45th<\/sup> birthday in December 2020; that\u2019s still relatively young to be taking a look back at one\u2019s life journey. But in some ways \u2013 though he clearly has many years ahead of him \u2013 that\u2019s what My Blues Pathway<\/i> represents. The ten-track release on Cleopatra Blues stands as the culmination of Kirk Fletcher\u2019s achievements.<\/p>\n

He considers his latest album \u201clike I\u2019m Here & I\u2019m Gone <\/i>full circle.\u201d My Blues Pathway<\/i> continues and builds upon the music of Fletcher\u2019s early albums, but it\u2019s also the musical product of the sum of his life experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really a celebration of all the stuff that I\u2019ve loved for my whole life,\u201d Fletcher says. \u201cThat excitement, and paying tribute to some of the people that got me started. With all of the stuff going on in the world, I\u2019m really happy that I could release that record and just play some blues. Because that\u2019s what I really love the most, out of anything.<\/p>\n

A mix of strong originals (the album opener \u201cAin\u2019t No Cure for the Downhearted\u201d chief among them) and well-chosen classics like Sonny Boy Williamson II\u2019s \u201cFattening Frogs for Snakes,\u201d My Blues Pathway<\/i> is a musical travelogue through Fletcher\u2019s own musical journey.<\/p>\n

As he explains in the new album\u2019s liner notes, Fletcher\u2019s goal for My Blues Pathway<\/i> was to craft a record that showcased his \u201cmix of my musical taste: part blues, soul, funk, etc. \u2013 with a strong emphasis on songwriting and stronger vocals.\u201d<\/p>\n

And though only ten years have passed since he started to sing on his recordings, My Blues Pathway<\/i> shows that Fletcher\u2019s voice has developed into an assured instrument. His laid-back vocal texture alternately blends and contrasts with the sinewy lead guitar breaks; he inserts stinging licks in between \u2013 and sometimes on top of \u2013 his vocal lines.<\/p>\n

Kirk\u2019s old friend Charlie Musselwhite guests on harmonica on a reading of Weldon Bonner\u2019s \u201cLife Gave Me a Dirty Deal,\u201d the tune that closes the album. Elsewhere on the record \u2013 as on A.C. Reed\u2019s \u201cRather Fight Than Switch,\u201d Fletcher swings in a style reminiscent of one of his heroes, Stevie Ray Vaughan. The album is a catalog of styles, yet it\u2019s a unified and cohesive effort.<\/p>\n

One of Fletcher\u2019s original compositions \u2013 \u201cLove is More Than a Word,\u201d written with Richard Cousins \u2013 digs deep into a Southern soul vibe; the tune evokes warm memories of classic sides cut in places like Memphis and Muscle Shoals. Woven seamlessly into the mix, a soulful horn section emphasizes that connection with \u201860s and \u201870s classics on Stax, Hi and other revered labels.<\/p>\n

And tunes like \u201cLove is More Than a Word\u201d underscore the fact that Fletcher has developed as an artist: it\u2019s a full three and a half minutes before you\u2019ll hear him play a note on his guitar. My Blues Pathway<\/i> is the sound of an assured musician who (on one hand) has nothing left to prove but (on the other) can effortlessly dazzle with a well-placed, emotionally resonant guitar solo.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove is More Than a Word\u201d gives Fletcher and his whip-smart band the opportunity to stretch out, to dig into the groove and make it their own. It brings forth the spirit of the blues without being slavishly confined by it. Fletcher admits that there was a time when he let himself be swayed by the so-called blues police. \u201cBut now,\u201d he says with a smile, \u201cI don\u2019t care. I figure I have just as much of a right to do what I want to do as they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"And it\u2019s clear that Fletcher\u2019s immersion in gospel has served him well on his lifelong exploration of the blues. \u201cI grew up playing in the church,\u201d he emphasizes. \u201cAnd it was all about the vocals. I have<\/i> to know what the vocal is doing, because I have to support it.\u201d He brings that knowing restraint \u2013 the understanding that while he can be (and often is) a soloist, he\u2019s also part of an ensemble.<\/p>\n

Fletcher admits that he doesn\u2019t practice, at least not in any sort of traditional sense. \u201cI just play the guitar<\/i>,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt\u2019s right here,\u201d he says, motioning to his right. \u201cI pick it up, and it\u2019s my friend. It\u2019s something that\u2019s been with me longer than anything. So I don\u2019t practice; I just play stuff that I feel or I hear in my head. I play to comfort myself, or to come up with a song. The guitar is really just an extension of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some players are all about technique; others focus on \u201cfeel.\u201d Fletcher believes he\u2019s somewhere between the two points on that continuum. \u201cI definitely don\u2019t have as much technique as some of my friends, but I have enough to execute what I want to get across,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s all about trying to play something to make myself feel good and to try to connect with the people that I\u2019m playing for. In every note that I play, I want to be completely honest, and from the heart and soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fletcher explains that for him, playing guitar is about going to his happy place. \u201cI know that sounds weird,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cBut I want to make myself \u2013 and everybody \u2013 feel good.\u201d And in that respect, his blues playing truly is an extension of his roots in the church. \u201cMy playing starts from the core,\u201d he says. \u201cThe way that people in church would just hum, there was always a musical thing going on. And it would be me playing to whatever\u2019s going on, just the constant melody. And that\u2019s still how I view music.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part Four … Fletcher celebrated his 45th birthday in December 2020; that\u2019s still relatively young to be taking a look back at one\u2019s life journey. But in some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20816,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,41,49],"tags":[4493],"class_list":["post-20806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-interview","category-new-release","tag-kirk-fletcher","cat-9-id","cat-41-id","cat-49-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20806"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20828,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20806\/revisions\/20828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}