Born in Mississippi, Ingram, 23 and blues prodigy, is an artist to behold and clearly The Rolling Stones saw this raw talent as they wowed the crowd at the BST festival, Hyde Park.
Nice to meet you Kriston (shake hands) and thank you for your time, when did you arrive in the UK?
Yesterday, we flew from Memphis to St. Paul, then to Minneapolis (you must be tired?) Yes, (laughs) a little. This is not our first time here, we love it, we were actually here for a short tour a few weeks ago in St Luke’s, Glasgow. We’re back, like we’ve never left much (laughs).
What brings you to support The Rolling Stones?
Oh man, they just reached out and we were like hell yeah we’ll take the opportunity. I’ve always been a fan of The Stones, always enjoyed their music – so to take this opportunity, of course (yes, I’ll take that call) – (laughs).
I heard you have an influence prince?
He’s the Man, (Favorite Track?) Sign ‘O’ The Times Is On The Time, ‘I Can Never Take The Place Of Your Man’, ‘I Want To Be Your Lover’ And A Sad Song, ‘The Ride’.
You learned your first guitar at a school event?
Yes, the Delta Museum of Art and Education Program. (How was that?) They teach children ages 6 to 66 – different instruments in the room – Delta blues, Chicago blues. When I moved in, I was under the teachers of two local, nationally known blues men – where I learned blues history and who gave me the name ‘Kingfish’.
What experiences inspired you to start writing on your Grammy Award winning album, ‘662’?
While we were on the road, during covid, wanted to write about the experiences of the last two years, dealing with death in the family (sorry to hear it), love and that. As far as influences, it was R’n’B ish, jazzy kind of corpora – everything to me nowadays is elementary guitar.
What is your opinion of the blues and what are you trying to bring to the forefront of it?
What’s more, the blues was born out of African-American people – and some people don’t feel or know it and don’t want to feel it. I just want to show, that there are little black kids who are still in that history, and show that they love this music, because where I come from, there are kids like me who only do rap and hip. They like hops, they do, but that’s not all they like. Other kids like me love The Blues, and I just want to show that to the public.
Who is your fanbase?
(manager) It’s an interesting cross section – you can look into the crowd and see a mix of white, black, asian – youtubers, influencers, 40s, 50s to 70s.
Are there any musicians you would like to play with?
Man, there are a few different hip hop, jazz artists I’ve included- Thundercat, Anderson. Pack, Anthony Hamilton – I definitely want to do more in R’n’B territory, showcasing my voice more.
If you could take three things from the influence of Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix, and BBQing, what would it be?
Their innovation, each of them with their own traditional values, led the blues in its own way. BBKing would write some beats, it would have a modern taste, Muddy Waters took The Blues from Mississippi, then he went to Chicago and electrified it, his smooth voice, his slides and Hendrix, proof of it, he just took The Blues and made his own Created the genre – blues rock – so yeah, I like how they were all innovative.
What are your plans for the future?
I want to make more music, create more memories for the public – I’m working with really different and new producers, looking for different sounds. Try to take life experience and write more about it.
Thanks for your time Kriston and it’s nice to meet you.
Thank you ma’am…
