Christone Kingfish Ingram

“They Call Him Kingfish”

Some artists wait their entire lives to receive an award as prestigious as a Grammy. But at just 23 years old, Christone Kingfish Ingram picked up the high-profile accolade at this year’s Grammy Award ceremony, where he was bestowed the gong for the best Contemporary Blues Album for his sophomore release 662.

Christone is part of the Alligator Records roster. A blues label with a rich heritage. Founded by Bruce Iglauer, Alligator has released albums for legends of the blues genre, such as Koko Taylor, Mavis Staples, Luther Allison, Hound Dog Taylor, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Junior Wells and Johnny Winter, to name but a few.

Kingfish is presently forging a path for the next generation of blues artists. Having toured the UK three times already during 2022, including a dream date supporting the Rolling Stones at Hyde Park, the award-winning artist is presently on a headline run in support of his latest offering. Adam Kennedy recently caught up with the Mississippi native before his show at Northumbria University in Newcastle.

You are out on tour across the UK. How have the shows been going so far?

Everything’s been going great. This is our third time back over here. The energy has been wonderful. So yeah man, it’s been like we never left.

You played in the UK earlier this year at Hyde Park alongside the Rolling Stones. What was that experience like for you?

Man, it was unreal. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen that many people out like that. We were the only band that played two sets. So, I think they really liked what we did, and it was perfect. I got a chance to see the Stones for the first time, which was a great thing.

Your latest album 662 received a Grammy award this year. What was that experience like for you to receive that level of validation?

I still can’t believe it. Because for me I’ve always been about music. After the first nomination with the album, I was like, okay, cool - it’s nice. But I wasn’t really pushing towards that for me. I just wanted to show what I was doing to blues. But it’s unreal man. I still can’t believe it. I have it sitting in my kitchen on the table. I pass by it, and I just stare at it.

Tell us a little bit about your album 662 and how it came to fruition.

Well, honestly, because of COVID, we stopped touring and got on lockdown. We felt like it was the perfect time to make a new record. So me, Tom Hambridge and Richard Fleming, I want to say from May all the way down to September, we pretty much got on Zoom sessions and wrote songs together. I wanted to showcase what had been going on in my life - the triumphs, but the pain as well.

You recently teamed up with Mississippi rapper Big K.R.I.T, and you recorded a revised version of Another Life Goes By. How did that collaboration come about?

I met K.R.I.T in a hotel in LA, in the lobby, and we just exchanged info’ from there. When we were making the song, we thought with everything going on with the protests and everything, it would be cool to make that song again with a rapper. So, we were thinking, who could we use? And Big K.R.I.T came to mind because we know him. So, we hit him up, and he was gracious enough to do it.

The album title relates to the area code for Mississippi. An area that is synonymous with the blues. Being born and raised in that area, you must have been exposed to blues music from an early age?

To show you how deep it was, I lived right next to a blues band at a young age. So, I would go and sit in with them. I would just soak it up at their Juke Joint parties and go to the Delta Blues Museum and learn and stuff like that. So, it was pretty much a blues city, for sure.

How important would you say the Delta Blues Museum is to a young artist such as yourself?

It’s been great because in Clarksdale, if you want to do something, you need a resource to go to. Fortunately, the blues museum was my resource there. I can learn

about the blues, all while learning how to play an instrument at the same time - that was my interest. So yeah, it worked out perfectly.

I hear stories of Clarksdale and the Crossroads and venues like Ground Zero. What’s the music scene like in Clarksdale these days?

Well, a lot of the older guys have died, or some of the older blues men. But no, it’s still kicking. We have some of the local musicians still playing seven nights a week. Ground Zero is still up. Red’s Blues club is there - it’s still kicking for sure.

Which guitarists from Mississippi would you say inspired you to start learning to play?

A whole heap of them. Well, first, I would like to say that a lot of the local guys who weren’t big names - those were the guys that I saw with my own eyes first. Big Jake Johnson, and Michael James, these were all local legends in the blues world. But then when I started learning, of course, Son House,

Your tour is named Juke Joint Live. Juke Joints are something you might find in the US. What’s it like playing at these intimate clubs?

Man, it’s amazing. For me, it’s comfortable, because that’s what I came up in. Back when they would let you smoke in the club, the smoke would be thick, and people would be drinking. It’s just people having a good time.

They always say that the second album is the hardest for an artist. How did you find recording 662 against your first album?

I wouldn’t say I felt the pressure. The only thing that kind of crossed my mind was the first record was blues and rock heavy. This one, we branched out, and I didn’t know how people were going to respond to that. But then, sometimes, you just have to take a leap of faith and get there.

You are part of the Alligator Records roster, which is a label with great history. How does it feel to be part of a roster like Alligator?

It’s cool, man. I was a big fan of Hound Dog Taylor and Koko Taylor, all those cats. So to be included in some way with them is a beautiful thing. There’s so much blues history.

Have you thought about how next year looks? What’s on the cards for you?

Yeah, I’ve got a couple of things in motion right now. I’m in the period of changing my show and adding more things to spice up my sound. I’ve got three months of off time coming up, so that’s studio time. So, I can’t say when the next record will be out. But just know I’m about to do some more music.

662, the Grammy Award-winning album from Christone Kingfish Ingram, is out now via Alligator Records.

Words: Adam Kennedy Photo Credit: Justin Hardiman