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Christone "Kingfish" Ingram
Photo: Rory Doyle (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Modern

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram

Born: January 19, 1999, Clarksdale, Mississippi• United States
Contemporary BluesElectric Blues
Instruments
Electric guitar, Voice
Labels
Alligator
from
Clarksdale, Mississippi — the same town that produced Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker
Born
January 19, 1999, Clarksdale, Mississippi
NPR Music's Tom Moon described his playing simply: "Astounding... It's almost like he's singing through the guitar." Christone Ingram was still in his early twenties when critics started running out of adequate ways to describe him — a Clarksdale, Mississippi kid trained in an after-school program who, within a few short years, was winning the same Grammy category as B.B. King and Buddy Guy. He was born Christone Ingram on January 19, 1999, in Clarksdale, Mississippi — the same small Delta town that produced Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker — to Princess Pride and Christopher Ingram. His mother is a first cousin of country singer Charley Pride. At age five, his father showed him a PBS documentary about Muddy Waters, and the music stuck immediately (Kilde: Wikipedia). He started on drums at six, moved to bass at eleven, and eventually landed on guitar, training through the Delta Blues Museum's after-school arts education program under instructors Bill "Howl-N-Mad" Perry and Richard "Daddy Rich" Crisman. It was Perry who gave him the nickname "Kingfish," borrowed from a character on "The Amos 'n' Andy Show." He also attended the Pinetop Perkins Workshop Experience every year (Kilde: Wikipedia). His talent was evident young: he made his professional performance debut in seventh grade in 2014, and that November played for First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House. He performed at the Chicago Blues Festival in 2018, and on May 17, 2019, released his debut album, "Kingfish," on Alligator Records — a record that reached number 1 on the Billboard Blues chart and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album. In May 2020 he won five Blues Music Awards, including Album of the Year (Kilde: Wikipedia). His second album, "662" — named for the area code of his home region of the Mississippi Delta — came out on July 23, 2021, and on April 3, 2022, won him the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album, putting him in the same historical company as B.B. King, Buddy Guy and his own early champions. "Live in London" followed in October 2023, the year he was also named Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year. In October 2024 he launched his own label, Red Zero Records (Kilde: Wikipedia). He has recorded and shared stages with Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Ally Venable and Keb' Mo', and performed alongside the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Samantha Fish, Rick Derringer, Guitar Shorty, Vampire Weekend and the Rolling Stones — an astonishing range of company for an artist still in his mid-twenties. Asked why he was drawn to blues when his peers found it unusual, he has explained it as a matter of lineage, not nostalgia: "I ain't really like that, I'm listening more for a culture thing... This is history. This birthed what you guys listen to today, because... rap is nothing but the blues' grandchild" (Kilde: Wikipedia). Critics from Buddy Guy on down have called him the most important young blues artist to emerge in a generation — proof, as the site's editors have put it, that the line from Charley Patton to today has never broken.

Musical Influence

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram represents the clearest proof that the Delta blues lineage has not broken: trained in the same town that produced Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, he won a Grammy Award by his early twenties and is regularly cited by figures like Buddy Guy as the most important young blues artist of his generation. His view of blues as the direct ancestor of hip-hop and modern Black American music — "rap is nothing but the blues' grandchild" — has helped reframe the genre for younger audiences (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Influences

Buddy GuyB.B. KingAlbert KingMuddy Waters

Family and personal life

Mother
Princess Pride

First cousin of country singer Charley Pride.

Father
Christopher Ingram

Showed him a PBS documentary about Muddy Waters when he was five, sparking his lifelong interest in blues.

Formative experiences

  • •Age 5: Sees a PBS documentary about Muddy Waters, sparking his interest in blues. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •Trains at the Delta Blues Museum's after-school arts program; earns the nickname "Kingfish" from instructor Bill Perry. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •2014: Professional performance debut; plays for Michelle Obama at the White House. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •2019: Debut album "Kingfish" reaches #1 on the Billboard Blues chart. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •April 2022: Wins the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album for "662," at age 23. (Kilde: Wikipedia)

Instruments & Equipment

Guitar

Electric guitar

Primary instrument since his early teens, after starting on drums and bass.

Other

Bass, drums

Started on drums at six, moved to bass at eleven, before settling on guitar.

Stories & Anecdotes

"Got the nickname "Kingfish" from his Delta Blues Museum instructor Bill Perry, borrowed from a character on "The Amos 'n' Andy Show." (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Performed for First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House in November 2014, while still in seventh grade. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"His album "662" is named for the telephone area code of his home region, the Mississippi Delta. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Has explained his interest in blues as cultural lineage, not nostalgia: "rap is nothing but the blues' grandchild." (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"NPR Music's Tom Moon wrote that his playing is "almost like he's singing through the guitar." (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

Collaborators

Buddy Guy

Recorded and shared stages together; has publicly praised Ingram as the most important young blues artist of his generation.

Bill "Howl-N-Mad" Perry

Delta Blues Museum instructor who trained him and gave him his nickname.

Eric Gales, Ally Venable, Keb' Mo'

Recording collaborators.

Tedeschi Trucks Band, Samantha Fish, the Rolling Stones

Shared stages/touring partners.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram - 662 (Official Video)

Title track of his Grammy-winning 2021 album.

Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram

CHRISTONE INGRAM - "Outside Of This Town" (Live at JITV HQ in Los Angeles, CA 2019) #JAMINTHEVAN

CHRISTONE INGRAM - "Outside Of This Town" (Live at JITV HQ in Los Angeles, CA 2019) #JAMINTHEVAN

662 (Live)

662 (Live)

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

YearTitleProducerStudioLabelChartSalesMusiciansYouTubeNotes
2019KingfishTom Hambridge—Alligator Records———Debut album; #1 on the Billboard Blues chart; Grammy-nominated, Best Traditional Blues Album.
2021662Tom Hambridge—Alligator Records——Tom Hambridge (Drums, producer), Marty Sammon (Hammond organ, Wurlitzer, piano), Bob Britt (Guitar), Kenny Greenberg (Guitar), Glenn Worf (Bass)Named for his home area code; won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album (2022).
2023Live in London——Alligator Records————
2025Hard Road——Red Zero Records———First release on his own newly founded label.

Famous songs

01Outside of This Town
02662
03Empty Promises
04Long Distance Woman

External links

YouTube Music Wikipedia

Booking / Contact

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Sources

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