{"id":29926,"date":"2025-09-17T05:30:54","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T09:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=29926"},"modified":"2025-08-21T12:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T16:51:19","slug":"kingfish-widens-his-view-beyond-the-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/17\/kingfish-widens-his-view-beyond-the-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Kingfish Widens His View Beyond the Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

At age 26, Christone \u201cKingfish\u201d Ingram is a major figure in the blues world. Yet he\u2019s a relative newcomer to the music industry, having signed his first recording contract in 2019. But in the short span of six years, Ingram has racked up five Blues Music Awards, four Living Blues<\/i> Awards, three Grammy nominations (and one win) and other honors. With a new label, a new album, an ambitious new direction and a tour that takes him across the U.S. and throughout Europe, he\u2019s just getting started.<\/p>\n

Ingram\u2019s musical journey began in 2005, when the then-six-year-old Clarksdale, Mississippi native started guitar lessons from teachers at the Delta Blues Museum. By age 15, he was a member of the museum\u2019s band, performing at the White House for First Lady Michelle Obama. Signing with prestigious blues label Alligator Records, Ingram released his debut album, Kingfish<\/i>, in 2019. The album soared to the number one spot on two of Billboard<\/i>\u2019s charts, earned positive critical notices, and earned Ingram a Grammy nomination in the Best Traditional Blues Album category.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Jen Rosenstein<\/p><\/div>\n

His 2021 release, 662<\/i> won a Grammy in a different category, Best Contemporary Blues Album. In part, that win recognized Ingram\u2019s subtle shift away from a blues purist perspective and toward development of his own signature style. In short, while Ingram remains heavily influenced by B.B. King, he doesn\u2019t always sound like him, nor does he feel the need to do so. In keeping with that adjusted perspective, 2023\u2019s Live in London<\/i> earned him an additional nomination in that Contemporary category.<\/p>\n

After Live in London<\/i>\u2019s release, Ingram left Alligator, launching a new label co-run with his manager Ric Whitney. He explains that Red Zero Records is about more than autonomy. \u201cAt this point in my career, I\u2019ve had a lot of success,\u201d he acknowledges. \u201cBut in the blues, there are a lot of artists \u2013 young and old \u2013 who haven\u2019t gotten a good shot.\u201d He says that part of Red Zero\u2019s mission will be to sign some of those musicians to the label and \u201cgive deserving artists that shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Ingram\u2019s Hard Road<\/i> will be the new label\u2019s inaugural release. And with his third studio album, Ingram looks to be aiming to have it both ways. Set for release September 26, the album is being previewed through the release of two singles, each with distinctive character. \u201cVoodoo Charm\u201d is very much steeped in the blues tradition, with a subtle flourish or two nodding in the direction of Jimi Hendrix\u2019s similarly-titled \u201cVoodoo Child (Slight Return).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always thinking about my fans,\u201d Ingram says with a smile. \u201cAnd I didn\u2019t want to shock them with the first [new] song.\u201d Emphasizing that he\u2019ll always remain blues- and rock-based, he says that with \u201cVoodoo Charm\u201d he wanted to give listeners \u201ca little familiarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

But once listeners are hooked with the searing and soulful blues track, Ingram has something else in store for them. \u201cBad Like Me\u201d has a modern funk feel with a deep, heavy groove. It\u2019s the sort of track that would appeal to fans of Lenny Kravitz. Hearing only that song, listeners new to his work might not even identify Ingram as a blues artist. Yet the songwriting values and guitar fireworks that have characterized his work to date are still very much in evidence.<\/p>\n

Hard Road<\/i> also showcases the work of a more confident, assured, versatile and skilled vocalist. Ingram says that working with producer, musician and co-songwriter Tom Hambridge on the first two studio albums, he \u201cwas able to learn about using my vocal range.\u201d And for the new album \u2013 co-produced with Whitney \u2013 he made a point of writing songs that would allow him to showcase that range.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ingram credits people he trusts giving him advice on techniques to control his breathing, but says that his vocal skills displayed on Hard Road<\/i> are mainly the product of singing night after night onstage. For example, he says that while he has long had the ability to sing falsetto, \u201cI [used to be] scared to do that in public. But now I\u2019m comfortable enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

His increased vocal confidence is about more than hard work and practice. Some of it, Ingram believes, comes about through being honest with oneself. \u201cSome things I used to sing about, I just wasn’t feeling it,\u201d he admits. \u201cBecause I had no place to channel [inspiration] from. But when you can really feel what you\u2019re singing about, that plays a big part.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ingram learned important lessons from the blues, and even as his style broadens, he holds those values dear. And in keeping with the blues tradition, he aims to write lyrics from experience. \u201cEven though the Most High has blessed me tremendously, there are still hardships,\u201d he says. \u201cFriendships, relationships, people trying to use you or not having your best interest [in mind].\u201d All of that feeds into his songwriting. \u201cThe blues is pretty much spewing out your feelings,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Yet sometimes those feelings are playful and upbeat, and they influence both the lyrical tone and the sound of Kingfish\u2019s guitar. \u201cOn the new song \u2018S.S.S.\u2019 [\u2018She\u2019s So Sexy\u2019] I go straight for the wah-wah [pedal],\u201d he explains with a grin. \u201cBecause that\u2019s what I was hearing in my head. I\u2019m [expressing] my appreciation for this good looking woman, so the guitar solo has that same attitude: passionate, really into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life on the road can be wearying for a musician of any age. But Christone \u201cKingfish\u201d Ingram laughs it off, emphasizing that he\u2019s looking forward to the tour, and to returning to Asheville. \u201cIt beats being at home for two or three years because of a pandemic,\u201d he says. \u201cSo you can\u2019t get no complaints from me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At age 26, Christone \u201cKingfish\u201d Ingram is a major figure in the blues world. Yet he\u2019s a relative newcomer to the music industry, having signed his first recording contract in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29928,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,41],"tags":[4624],"class_list":["post-29926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-interview","tag-christone-kingfish-ingram","cat-9-id","cat-41-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29926"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29942,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29926\/revisions\/29942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}