Multi-instrumentalist Charlie Fletcher has released his first solo CD, another excellent soul-searching effort,"We Are Who We Are," that is full of soaring anthems, hook-filled melodies, Beatlesque refrains and often exploring issues of spirituality. Music fans with long memories know Fletcher from '70s rockers Blaze and later as a founding member in the Bluebirds in the early '90s. Fletcher left the group a couple years ago finally tired of the constant clubs gigs."I just wanted to enjoy a Saturday night occasionally after 35 years of weekends. There should be something else for the next 20 years." A conversion to Catholicism over the last couple years inspired him to write this album full of engaging, soaring anthems that explore spiritual themes."It was an experience I wanted to write about, not that every subject is particularly about it," Fletcher said."But the overall feel is very calming. It was a record I had to do. I had no choice. I had to get it out of me." The album has plenty of faith-based songs like"The Calling" and"The Offering," and his own conflicted post-Sept. 11 spiritual take on vengeance versus forgiveness on"We Saw." But this is no preachy album -- full of more questions than answers. It is a buoyant, joyous recording with Fletcher's tunes couched in 10 hooked-filled pop melodies."When I say it is faith-based, it can be anybody's faith," Fletcher said about the project."You can have a faith in grasshoppers and this could be a record for you." -----Rick Byrd, Cincinnati Post