My Blues Pathway<\/i> feels like exactly the right title for the latest release from Los Angeles born-and-raised blues guitarist Kirk Fletcher, who brings more than two decades of honing his chops to bear on a set that feels like it strikes just the right balance between original tunes (six) and covers of past and present peers (four). The guitar prodigy\u2014already a veteran of touring and gigs with the likes of Lynwood Slim, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Charlie Musselwhite and Joe Bonamassa\u2014both honors his elders and seeks out his own path forward on his fifth studio album.<\/p>\n
Fletcher, whose clean guitar tone and expressive playing immediately reminds of artists like Robert Cray and Jimmie Vaughan, benefits here from the solid backing of Travis Carlton (bass), Lemar Carter and David Kida (drums), Jeff Babko (keys), Joe Sublett (sax), and Mark Pender (trumpet). Mixing and matching the players to maximum effect, Fletcher frames a set that embraces traditional blues forms while offering nods to gospel, soul, funk and rock along the way\u2014a distinct pathway that is all Fletcher\u2019s own.<\/p>\n
\u201cAin\u2019t No Cure For The Downhearted\u201d gets things going with a funk-inflected, clavinet-enhanced groove and Fletcher\u2019s tasteful soloing. The album\u2019s single \u201cNo Place To Go\u201d follows, a smoldering soulful mid-tempo number whose sweet horn accents underscore a message about keeping your priorities straight (\u201cNo one wants to be alone \/ You built your house but not a home\u201d). Third cut \u201cLove Is More Than A Word\u201d is where it feels like Fletcher takes things to the next level, a passionate, thoughtful gospel-blues that he sings with total conviction, before erupting in the fourth minute into an extended, gorgeous solo. Yeah\u2014that\u2019s the stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cStruggle for Grace\u201d Is another winner, a deliberate, purposeful mid-tempo tune with dynamic horns. The first cover shows up in the five slot, as Fletcher offers a strutting, sassy take on AC Reed\u2019s \u201cI\u2019d Rather Fight Than Switch\u201d (naturally following the boast about his \u201csweet guitar tone\u201d with a demonstration of same). The Fletcher original \u201cHeart\u2019s So Heavy\u201d is a slow, traditionalist blues lit up by Fletcher\u2019s nimble runs as he testifies: \u201cWell I done lost my lover \/ and I lost my very best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next up, he gives a nod to Sonny Boy Williamson with a terrific over of \u201cFattening Frogs For Snakes,\u201d a genuine Delta blues that sums up the entire genre in a single line: \u201cTook me a long time \/ to find out my mistakes.\u201d In the home stretch, Fletcher covers contemporary Chris Cain\u2019s \u201cPlace In This World,\u201d soloing nicely over Babko\u2019s Hammond organ, before taking an break from vocals for the chugging, winking instrumental roadhouse blues \u201cD Is For Denny.\u201d <\/p>\n
To close things out, Fletcher enlists his old boss Charlie Musselwhite for a dueting acoustic guitar-and-harmonica cover of the Delta classic \u201cLife Gave Me A Dirty Deal\u201d by Weldon \u201cJuke Boy\u201d Bonner. The back porch swamp-blues atmosphere only underscores the heartache the lyric lays down: \u201cMy baby don\u2019t love me no more \/ she got herself another man \/ I\u2019m smiling like I\u2019m happy \/ but you don\u2019t know how I feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a former sideman, Fletcher\u2019s strength has always been his sharp playing; his vocals are less consistently engaging. On tunes like \u201cLove Is More Than A Word\u201d and the closing \u201cDirty Deal,\u201d he sings with real passion; elsewhere his vocals can sometimes feel like a work in progress. The mix only enhances this impression; the guitars are consistently out front where they should be, but his vocals often feel somewhat low in the mix. Whatever the reason, it leaves the impression on this self-produced album that playing guitar remains Fletcher\u2019s primary focus.<\/p>\n
And why wouldn\u2019t it be? Fletcher is a tremendous guitar player with an instinctive feel for the blues and My Blues Pathway<\/i> ensures that his journey will continue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":34500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8561],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-46342","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-kirk-fletcher","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46342"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}