Blues Dues

ARMED WITH A STONISHING chops, great tone and an encyclopedic knowledge of blues styles (check out his YouTube demos to see him in action), Kirk Fletcher is a veritable force of nature who has played with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, toured with Joe Bonamassa and traveled the world, playing what he calls “the music closest to my heart.” On his sixth solo release, My Blues Pathway (Cleopatra Records), the Blues Music Award–nominated guitarist presents a selection of original songs that run the gamut from classic blues forms, such as “Struggle for Grace,” “Heart So Heavy” and “D is for Denny,” to the Memphis-style soul of “Love Is More Than a Word,” the pop-savvy “Ain’t No Cure for the Downhearted” (co-written with Robert Cray bassist and songwriter Richard Cousins) and the funky “No Place to Go.”

“I wanted to try some different grooves on this record to make people realize there is other stuff