Guaranteed to be one of the most foot stomping shows at the 2022 edition of Bluesfest; Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram is an incredible young guitarist from Mississippi. Just 23 years old and Kingfish is well on the way to filling the shoes of legends like B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and Prince.
Since the release of his eponymous album Kingfish in 2019 – this Grammy-nominated guitarist, vocalist and songwriter has quickly become the defining blues voice of his generation.
Seven recently had the pleasure of riding shotgun on an interview with the man himself…
Ingram says, growing up in Mississippi he was immersed in the blues. ‘I was exposed to blues through my family. I was into gospel music simply off my mumma’s family, hanging around them, and seeing them sing and perform in church. That was even before I got into it seriously – you know, just being in the area and just being around the rich history of the blues in my hometown.’
Ingram says he realised early that he had talent. ‘When I did my first singing and performing for one of my teachers, that’s kind of when I came to concluding that maybe this is something that I could be doing.’
Ingram said he never imagined Kingfish would do so well, let alone win a Grammy. ‘Honestly, I didn’t think the record would do that good – it was all a shock to me for sure.’
Ingram’s new record 662 refers to his home phone dial code, and after the Grammy nom’ there were great hopes for the new album. ‘There was always going to be an expectation. When you make another project you want it to be better than the first one. There’s always going to be that pressure.
‘I had much more time at home, being off the road, you know, when COVID first hit, so I felt like it was time for another record.
‘I got with Tommy Hambridge and Richard Flemming. We worked from May up until September – we just did Zoom sessions on the computer – just pretty much writing songs. I was telling him what I wanted, and yeah man, we got it done. In September we took a week and recorded in Nashville.’
Ingram says he pretty much digs all the tracks of the new record, but some he just really loves to play: Another Life Goes By, Long Distance Woman, and You’re Already Gone – ‘Man, those are definitely some of my highlighted ones on the record for sure!’.
Kingfish is definitely going to be a highlight at Bluesfest 2022, playing fours shows across the weekend.
For more info, visit: bluesfest.com.au.
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