Christone “Kingfish” Ingram picks his six most influential blues guitar albums of all time
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram burst onto the blues scene a decade ago as a teenage electric prodigy. Now the erstwhile son of Clarksdale, Mississippi is back with Hard Road – a new album of modern blues released on his new label Red Zero Records and an upcoming world tour to support it.
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Anyone who has had the pleasure of hearing Ingram’s calling down the thunder with his soulful vocals interspersed with searing lead lines – from his signature Fender Telecaster Deluxe no less – will be expecting great things and this album does not disappoint with some stand out guitar moments. More about Hard Road later, but we really wanted to find out more about the records that have inspired Kingfish to become the 2025 blues colossus that he is. So here are his top five – well six actually – influential albums in the man’s own words.
I’ll Play The blues For You – Albert King
“The title track is the first song that I learned how to play – on bass! This album has to be first on the list. The whole record is great but my favourite song has to be Answer To The Laundromat Blues. He’s really digging in. I don’t know if this is a weird statement but I really like blues players that play with a lot of authority – not necessarily fast – they really dig in. Albert King is one of my biggest influences and he does that – especially on this record.”
Showdown – Albert Collins, Robert Cray, Johnny Copeland
“This is a classic amongst blues historians. Well, for me it’s a classic. It was a collaborative thing between Albert Collins, Robert Cray and Johnny Copeland. The first track – T-Bone Shuffle – Johnny Copeland plays one of my favourite solos on that song. I love his opening licks on that solo. I play those licks in my solos and I got them from this record!”
Live At The Regal – BB King
“Man, you can’t mess with this. Yes sir, that’s classic blues – in fact you can’t say classic blues without Live At The Regal. What can I say about the guitar work on this album? Listen to the whole thing! That’s all I can say! I love that sound – When I first started I played a Gibson 355 – that sort of guitar has certainly been part of my journey and sound.”
Are You Experienced? – Jimi Hendrix
“Jimi Hendrix was a big influence on me. Well, look, outside of classic blues – I love a lot of music, I’m looking at my computer right now and there is so much to choose from – this ain’t easy! But this record… I love the whole thing but there is this one song in particular that is special to me – May This Be Love. This song showcases Jimi’s R&B chordal influences and that’s why I love it. It’s beautiful. He was a master of rhythm guitar.”
A Real Mother For Ya – Johnny Guitar Watson
“Yes sir, Johnny Guitar Watson is definitely an influence when it comes to my phrasing, funk playing, he was a great blues player too – just so inspiring. This is just a great record – listen to the title track. So much feel, and humour too. But I need one more, can I have one more?”
Of course!
Superfly – Curtis Mayfield
“Curtis Mayfield has to be here. Superfly 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. Not only that but his black piano key tuning and his whole approach opening up the guitar to his melody and rhythm work. This record belongs here for sure. The title track says it all.”
“I don’t consider myself a blues purist. I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with “purists” of the genre. And that’s simply because I jump back and forth – one day I’ll play traditional blues, the next I’m all rocked up and rocking out. But here’s the thing, I will play whatever the hell I want to play, how I want to play it. And not only that, I feel that it’s cool to showcase the influence of the blues as much as the language itself.
“We all know that the blues is the roots – all these other sub-genres like soul, blues rock, rock n roll, they’re all the branches. Ain’t nothing wrong with showing what the blues has influenced. I feel like the more I go out the box musically people will always be able to hear the foundation of the blues in my music because I will always have that no matter what I do. Even if I’m doing a pop record it’s going to have some blues in there somewhere because that’s where I come from.”
Image: Jen Rosenstein
You recently set up your own record label – that is an interesting step forward!
“That’s right – Red Zero Records. This was an idea that my manager and I formulated back in 2019. We wanted to create an avenue for a lot of the young blues-based musicians that we felt weren’t getting the recognition they deserved. I’m not the only one that’s out. Here doing it you know – there’s a host of young talent out here and I wanted to help. You have to give back – someone gave me an opportunity and now I’m at a point in my career where I can pass that forward.”
Did you feel a new level of creative freedom?
“Definitely! I feel like everyone knows me for the blues and blues-rock but you listen to this new record and you will hear R&B on there, you’ll hear soul, I really wanted to make a record that would showcase my voice and my vocal range too – and then all the other stuff comes in. Tom Hambridge, Patrick “Guitarboy” Hayes, and Nick Goldston did a great job with the production too – those guys know what they’re doing – I love how this record sounds.”
Hard Road is out 25 September on Red Zero Records
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