Blues Historian Review: Kirk Fletcher, My Turn

I have seen the future of the blues and it is Kirk Fletcher!  I have always wanted to say that and I hope that it ends up on some future blurb for Kirk Fletcher.  However, being silly aside, I think I might be right.  If you have missed Freddie King, and Albert King, then Kirk is the guy you have been missing. Fletcher has the right idea, much like either Freddie or Albert he has plenty of cool instrumentals to go along with his vocals.  He seems to like to alternate tracks between vocal and instrumentals. Fletcher also has a great voice.  El Medio Stomp opens up the cd and it made me smile right from the start. The song is a good instrumental in the style of Stevie Ray, or Freddie King. From there on it is a great run of Texas blues to the end, when a Hendrix inspired song Continents End finished the CD off. Fletcher mentions the Hendrix influence in the liner notes of the cd, and you certainly can hear it, but it is the Texas influence that really comes across.

The nice thing about My Turn is that both the blues purists, and the causal listener will find this a great disc. The purists will appreciate Fletcher's strong catalog of blues songs, while the regular listener will hear what they think is Stevie Ray and Hendrix.  This is probably one of the better discs I have heard this year, and I must admit that for the first time in a long time I am starting to get excited about the future of blues.   Who knows if Fletcher will become the next big thing, but he does you heard it here first!


If you would like a copy check it out at Amazon!

CD Provided by Electro Groove

Blues Historian Review: Nick Curran, Reform School Girls

Nick Curran's latest release Reform School Girl is a rollicking romp through the best of the late 50s and early 60s. Curran at times sounds like Little Richard, then Screaming Jay Hawkins, or a sly parody of the Shangri-la's Leader of the Pack. I also enjoyed the intentionally distorted vocals on some of the tracks. The original artists who were African American didn't have the soundmen, or the equipment to improve the sound, or the time since many recordings were essentially one take. So now many years later, Curran takes that sound and intentionally records it that way. In many ways it makes sense given Curran's punk sensibility. Curran is interested in the raw power of the music and what better way than to distort the vocal, much like Little Richard or Muddy Waters did 60 years ago. I like this disc for many reasons, but mostly I like how punk and blues can work well together. both are a visceral, in your face type of music. To paraphrase John Lennon, it is not "would you please have the foresight to throw me a life preserver, but HELP! Like Lennon, Curran belts out his songs, and the emotion come through.

As you might know Nick is battling cancer. I am not sure if he has insurance, because most musicians don't have the money to pay for great health care. There was a fund raiser a last month for him. However, I am sure if you buy this disc it would help, and while you are at it buy another for your friends, and help out a bluesman in need.

BTW, to keep you on teh up and up, I did receive this disc from Electro Grove Records.

Blues Historian Review: Mike Zito, Pearl River

Mike Zito is an amazing guitar player who can not only sing, but has an amazing voice suited for blues and soul. Then add a very tight band, great songs, with good arraignments. Add Reese Wynans on keyboards. Have Cyril Neville write you a great song and sing with you, add a few more great musicians, get them all in a studio and mix it perfectly and you have Zito's latest release Pearl River.

This Electro Groove release was sent to me recently in the mail, and I have enjoyed listening to it as I have crisscrossed the state of Iowa. Zito knows what he is doing on guitar, and he is blessed with a great soulful voice. this CD is pretty much what you would expect from a contemporary blues band. Solid tunes, well rehearsed, and expertly mixed presentation of blues and soul. Only once was I shocked, and that happened at the beginning of Shoe Blues. It started out great, and for some reason I thought he was covering Robert Johnson's Walking Blues. Zito sings about waking up and looking for his shoes, and then Susan Cowsill, repeats the next verse, and I am thinking Oh-no! Not a duet of a classic Robert Johnson song! However, had I been listening closely I would have noticed that the lyric is different, and by the third line, I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that it was not the classic Johnson song. Needless to say the song rocked.

If I have one problem with Pearl River, is that it is too perfect. The solo's are perfect, the band is tight, and the vocals don't waver. Perhaps it is the old school in me, but I really like the live feeling of blues. I like to hear a guitar player going out on a limb, or a vocalists straining to hit a note. I know that the old chess recordings were made quickly because the Chess brothers didn't have the equipment, or the time to perfect the sound, but my personal quirk is the live sound.

This is a buy, go out get it and listen to it!