Kingfish pushes the blues forward by refusing to hold back: ‘I let my problems out with my guitar’

Described by blues-rock titan and mentor Buddy Guy as “the next explosion of the blues,” 25-year-old Christone “Kingfish” Ingram has wowed fans and critics alike with his incendiary guitar playing, velvety smooth vocals and expressive songwriting — a veritable triple threat.

His first album, 2019’s “Kingfish,” debuted atop the Billboard Blues Chart and received a Grammy nomination. His sophomore effort, “662,” won the Grammy for best contemporary blues album. “Live In London,” which came out last year and also received a Grammy nomination, captures Kingfish and his band’s raw power, moving seamlessly from blues barnstormers to acoustic Delta blues.

Kingfish has played around the world to adoring audiences stretching from the U.S. to Japan to Australia. Along the way, he has helped to rescue modern blues from the margins. His music is all its own but infused with his influences: Albert King, B.B. King, Guy, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Prince. “I’ve been described as kind of like a natural player, that’s exactly what it is,” Kingfish says. “I just let it flow.”

Born and raised in Clarksdale, Miss., in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, arguably the cradle of the blues, Kingfish comes from a family of musicians and singers. At 8 years old, he began taking lessons at the nearby Delta Blues Museum. Kingfish not only mastered the blues there, but he also learned about its history. One of his instructors nicknamed him Kingfish after “The Amos ‘n Andy Show” character.

At 14, the wunderkind performed for then-First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House as part of a student delegation of musicians from the Delta Blues Museum. As a high schooler, he toured the United States and abroad.

Kingfish will appear at the City National Grove of Anaheim on Tuesday as part of the Experience Hendrix Tour, along with Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Taj Mahal, and Zakk Wylde. His goal is to release his third studio album in 2025.

The Times spoke to Kingfish about his influences, being a bluesman in a hip-hop world, and his dreams for the future. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

You’ve been called the future of blues and celebrated as among the most exciting new blues artists out there. Why do you think your music resonates so deeply with so many people?

Kingfish: I have my own theory that people just see the realness. You know, people see that I’m authentic, that there’s no gimmick. There’s a lot of people posing when they’re playing the blues these days.

I come from the source, and I just can’t fake it. When I squint my eyes and throw my head back when I’m playing and stuff like that, I’m not doing it because I saw B.B. King do it. I do it because I let my problems out with my guitar.

You’ve won a Grammy, opened for the Rolling Stones and Vampire Weekend, and collaborated with everyone from Guy to funk bassist extraordinaire Bootsy Collins to Southern rapper BIG K.R.I.T. What has been the highlight of your career?

Kingfish: Man, everything, I just enjoy it all. Of course, anytime I play with Mr. [Buddy] Guy is a highlight. And the Grammy was great. I’ve had some amazing experiences.

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

(Jim Fraher / Courtesy Alligator Records)

You’re playing several dates across the country on the Experience Hendrix Tour. You were born in 1999, and Jimi Hendrix died in 1970. How do you relate to his music?

Kingfish: Well, he was a player who was one of the first guys to come and add his spin to the blues, if you know what I mean. He wasn’t doing it in a traditional sense. He’s this Black guy that’s coming and playing these rock riffs. That wasn’t normal at the time. So, he was very unique. Me, I like being unique, and that was the main thing that drew me to Hendrix. He was unique and diverse. Like the minute you hear Hendrix play, you can tell it’s him. Also, he wasn’t afraid to try new things, like adding psychedelic stuff to the blues and just making a big melting pot of blues, rock and funk and even R&B in his music.

What are your favorite Hendrix songs?

Kingfish: The first song I heard by him was “Purple Haze.” I like a lot of deep cuts; “Angel,” “If 6 Was 9,” “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).” “Machine Gun” is definitely a favorite. He played some guitar on that song.

Besides Hendrix, what other guitarists have inspired you? Who are some of your all-time favorites?

Kingfish: Well, from the traditional blues sound, you got guys like Son House, Robert Johnson, Johnny Shines, Lightnin’ Hopkins to guys like Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Albert King, Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Eddy Clearwater, all these Chicago blues greats. And then when I started to expand my ear, I got into guys like Prince, Ernie Isley, Gary Moore. You can even throw Stevie Ray Vaughan in there.

What are some of your favorite albums?

Kingfish: I will say Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced.” I love that record. D’Angelo’s “Brown Sugar” and “Voodoo” are two of my favorite records. Curtis Mayfield’s “Super Fly,” yeah, that was a great album. And Prince’s “Purple Rain” was another great one.

How did you get so good at guitar?

Kingfish: At school, I had friends, but I didn’t have friends that that was so cool with me that they would hang with me outside of school or text my phone or anything like that. So, when I got home, I didn’t talk to anybody. All I had to do was get on my guitar and get on the laptop and just study videos of all these guitarists and just play. The guitar became my best friend in a way.

I’ve heard that you work on your singing a lot.

Kingfish: I just started to work on my voice a couple years ago, when I started to get compliments on it. I’m starting to stretch out more and project more, to use my range a little bit more. I love singers with slow and heavy vibrato like Luther Vandross and Erykah Badu, Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Barry White and Nate Dogg.

I recently saw you at the Fonda Theater in L.A. You had the crowd on its feet the entire concert. How do you feel playing live?

Man, I feel like I’m 10 feet tall! All my woes and pain just go away for those 90 or 100 minutes or so. I have no worries in the world. I’m totally living in the moment. For me, I think being on stage is the best thing about being in music.

You released 2023’s “Live In London” after putting out just two studio albums. Why did you put out a live album so early in your career?

Kingfish: I always hear from the fans that a live Kingfish experience is quite different than the records. I just wanted to capture that for the people who haven’t seen me live. Not exactly sure why, but I do think I have contained myself in the studio somewhat. But live, I just naturally let everything hang out.

The blues are steeped in sorrow and pain. What personal experiences do you draw upon to tap into those emotions?

Kingfish: I’ve had quite a few. Me being a big guy, other kids in school would pick on me and stuff like that. So, that experience gave me the blues. My parents also divorced when I was about 8. They didn’t go out on a good note, and that there was the cause of me and my mom becoming homeless for a while. That’s also the blues. Then my mom passed in 2019, which was hard. I didn’t have girl or woman troubles or anything like that per se at that age, but I have had my fair share of pain.

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You’re an electric bluesman in a hip-hop world. Albert King, Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King and Duane Allman and Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers, to name a few, are long gone. Do you ever feel like you were born decades too late?

Kingfish: As a musician who loves all those guitarists, you think about wanting to be back in that time and seeing what it’s like. But then again, those weren’t really the best times for everyone in the world, if you know what I mean. Being a Black man from the South and knowing history, people weren’t as open minded as they are now. So, yeah, it’s a double-edged sword for me.

Why do you think the blues has fallen out of favor?

Kingfish: I don’t think it’s fully fallen out of favor, but we are in an ever-evolving world. I would say in the U.S., people do sometimes look at the blues as yesteryear music, so that I think limits the demographic of people who expose themselves to it. But I do think in the last few years, there have been some artists who have come on the scene, who have somehow melded a more mainstream sound together with the blues. And it’s been great for the music. You’ve got Gary Clark Jr., Eric Gales and myself, for instance, who I think are pushing what people think of the blues to be.

Understand something: the blues is going to be around forever. It’s life, and there’s always going to be some people in pain, and this is a musical genre that speaks directly to that. When Gary’s gone, Eric’s gone, and when I’m gone, there’s gonna be some other kids out here having it on. That’s the beauty of the blues.

What role did your parents play in exposing you to music?

Kingfish: My mom, she had a pretty diverse taste in music. Because of her, I was always listening to the Spinners, Earth, Wind & Fire, Rick James, the Isley Brothers, Smokey Robinson, Chicago, Bon Jovi. My mom was also a singer in church. She, my uncles and aunts and my family played and sang in church. They were the first musicians that I was inspired by. My dad, on the other hand, he was the one that exposed me to the rap, along with my brother. And he was the one that bought me instruments.

The blues came from me simply being a product of my surroundings. Clarksdale is a historical blues city. I lived right next to a blues band when I was little, a blues band full of local legends. I would go over to their house when they had parties.

(Jon Naugle)

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Kingfish: I want to collaborate with a bunch of artists that are outside the blues world, do something on record with Snoop Dogg, Thundercat, the R&B singer H.E.R.

I heard you just moved to L.A. Is that true?

Kingfish: Yeah. I’ll be honest; I started dating a woman out here. So, when I would get off the road, I would just fly back and visit her, but that relationship didn’t work out. So, I recently got my own spot in Hollywood.

I love how diverse [the city] is. I miss the slow pace of the South, but then again, with the slow pace, you don’t have a lot going on. I’m closer to the [recording] studios and different artists and stuff because almost everybody’s here or visiting at some point. The culture is great. The food here is great too. I love the sushi. Some nice smoothie spots here. All the vegan spots are cool too. I’m not vegan, but I do try to eat a bit healthier these days, so L.A. offers some nice options instead of a heavier rack of ribs ... I guess I’m now an official California resident (Kingfish laughs).

Ballon, a former Times, Forbes and Inc. Magazine reporter, teaches an advanced writing class at USC. He lives in Fullerton.