Christone “Kingfish” Ingram was already earning a reputation as a youthful tender of the blues when he made Kingfish, his 2019 debut on Alligator records. Just 18 years old at the time, Ingram already had the sound, the skills, and the determination to advance as well as represent the blues to a younger generation. That album was nominated for a Grammy and his second, 2021's 662, won a Grammy, as well as a Blues Music Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. A live album in 2023, Live in London, garnered another Grammy nomination as well as winning the Album of the Year in the Blues Music Awards.
Ingram's latest, Hard Road, is his first on his own label, Red Zero Records, named for the clubs that gave him his start in his native Clarksdale, Mississippi — Red's Lounge and the Ground Zero Blues Club. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Ingram says he started his label to give other young artists a fair shake in the business, signing up Bobby Blue Bland-flavored newcomer Dylan Triplett and Houston singer/guitarist Mathias Lattin.
But Ingram is out for himself on Hard Road, and it's a strong effort. The singer/guitarist is a formidable presence who gets his message across by blending the blues with other musical styles, while never losing sight or sound of the muddy roots.
