Kirk Fletcher announces new album, Heartache By The Pound, premieres biting new single, Afraid To Die, Too Scared To Live

Blues guitar great (and Guitar World columnist) Kirk Fletcher has announced a new studio album, called Heartache By The Pound.

In advance of the album – which is set for a July 29 release via Ogierea Records – Fletcher has premiered its powerful lead single, Afraid To Die, Too Scared To Live. You can check out the song's music video below.

With expressive horns leading the way, Afraid To Die, Too Scared To Live has a soulful feel, but – by way of Fletcher's expressive fills and a pair of gritty guitar solos that perfectly echo the anxiety of the song's lyrics – is still steeped in the blues.

Heartache By The Pound was recorded at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama (where Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd and countless others have all laid down hits), and was produced by Fletcher himself.

“FAME is the mother church for soul music,” Fletcher said in a press release. “It’s the same building where all these fantastic people like Otis Rush and Aretha Franklin have recorded. I wanted the vibe. I needed to bring these songs there.”

Billed as a return to Fletcher's musical roots, Heartache By The Pound features Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble keyboardist Reese Wynans, Terence F. Clark (whose resume includes work with Robert Cray and Joss Stone) on drums, and both former Fabulous Thunderbirds low-end man Randy Bermudes and session vet Travis Carlton on bass guitar.

“I got back to my gospel and blues roots,” Fletcher said of writing the album. “I really wanted to do a blues record, so I sat down and allowed the songs to take over. I’m a bluesman, and I write about life. That’s the concept.”

You can take a look at the cover art and track list for Heartache By The Pound below.

To preorder the album, visit Fletcher's website.

Kirk Fletcher – Heartache by the Pound:

1. Shine A Light On Love
2. Afraid To Die, Too Scared To Live
3. Heartache By The Pound
4. I’ve Made Nights By Myself
5. The Night’s Calling For You 
6. Wrapped Up, Tangled Up in the Blues
7. Wrong Kinda Love
8. I Can’t Find No Love
9. Wild Cat Tamer
10. Hope For Us