“There’s not much to do in Clarksdale – it’s either music, sports or illegal stuff”: Christone “Kingfish” Ingram on his formative years as a guitarist in the Mississippi Delta
Growing up in Clarksdale in the Mississippi Delta, perhaps it was inevitable – or at least highly predictable – that Christone “Kingfish” Ingram would go on to carve a path of blues stardom.
At just 26, Kingfish has cemented himself as a champion of modern blues, honing his six-string chops on the live circuit throughout his teenage years, sharing the stage with the likes of Samantha Fish, Tedeschi Trucks Band and Eric Gales, and with a number of killer blues albums already under his belt.
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And as he explains in a new interview with Classic Rock, he owes a great deal of that success to his hometown.
“There’s not much to do in Clarksdale – it’s either music, sports or illegal stuff,” he says. “I chose music because it was around me 24/7. I lived right next to guys who were in a blues band.”
“I was never shy about my love of blues music,” he goes on. “My classmates would ask questions and I’d explain about blues being the root and all other music being its fruit. Maybe I gave them some understanding of what it was…
“Some people think that the blues is ‘my baby left me’ and long guitar solos, but it’s a whole lot deeper than that. Blues is life experience. Blues is pain and anger. But it’s also good times. All across the world, I find people who appreciate that.”
Kingfish recently revealed his latest signature model by Fender, the Delta Day Telecaster Deluxe. Paying homage to his Delta origins, the guitar is the same as his previous Mississippi Night-finished Telecaster Deluxe which arrived in 2022, but now sports a Daphne Blue finish plus a three-ply white Parchment pickguard.
We were lucky enough to catch up with Kingfish back in September, when he broke down his six most influential blues guitar albums of all time.
Highlighting Curtis Mayfield in particular as a “prophet”, singling out his album Super Fly, the soundtrack to the 1973 movie of the same name, Kingfish said: “Curtis Mayfield has to be here. Super Fly is an important album. I always say that Curtis Mayfield was a prophet. History repeats itself and he really prophesied a lot of what we are seeing today for sure man.”
Check out Voodoo Charm, from Kingfish’s latest album Hard Road, below:
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
