Kirk Fletcher was born in
Bellflower, California, United States. He was the younger son of a
Baptist minister, and gained enough confidence from watching his elder sibling, Walter, perform at their father's church, that Kirk learned to play rudimentary guitar by the age of eight. Fletcher was a member of a jazz band during high school, and later played with his friends on road trips in
Southern California. In Los Angeles he met
Robben Ford's guitar technician, Jeff Rivera, in a small music shop, and was impressed with Ford's expertise on guitar. Later through spending time with Al Blake, who was the lead singer and harmonica player for the
Hollywood Fats Band, helped establish connections with other
West Coast blues musicians such as
Junior Watson and
Lynwood Slim. In 2009, a tenth anniversary reissue of ''I'm Here & I'm Gone'' came out with bonus tracks. The same year, Fletcher and his band performed at
Dark Season Blues in Norway.
My Turn (2010) was Fletcher's third album. It contained tracks penned by
Jimmy Reed,
Jesse Ed Davis,
Jimmy Johnson,
Sly Stone, Will Felder, and Travis Carlton. Fletcher also recorded three of his own compositions. With his guitar playing producer
Michael Landau, plus the horns of saxophonist Paulie Cerra and trumpeter Paul Litterall, Fletcher tackled Reed's "I Found Love," plus Stone's "Let Me Have It All". The album also contained Kirk's first recorded vocal performance. From that point onward, Fletcher was able to front his own band on tours, and undertake some international tours, both as a member of
The Mannish Boys and as lead guitarist for the Italian musician
Eros Ramazzotti. In 2014, Fletcher self-released the live collection,
Burning Blues (Live at the Baked Potato).
Live at the Greek Theater (2016) was filmed and recorded during
Joe Bonamassa's "Three Kings Tour" in 2015, which culminated at the
Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. The backing ensemble comprised Fletcher (rhythm guitar),
Anton Fig (drums),
Michael Rhodes (bass),
Reese Wynans (piano, Hammond organ), Lee Thornburg (trumpet, horn arrangements), Paulie Cerra (saxophone), Nick Lane (trombone), and backing singers
Mahalia Barnes,
Jade MacRae, and Juanita Tippins. In 2018, Fletcher recorded a video with Josh Smith and Joe Bonamassa, performing the
Albert King track "
Crosscut Saw". Fletcher's album,
Hold On, was released in October 2018. It reached number 12 in the
Living Blues radio chart, and entered at number 15 in the
Billboard Blues Albums chart. It was nominated in 2019 for a Blues Music Award in the 'Contemporary Blues Album' category. ==Discography==