Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram has announced he’s launching a new label specifically for blues and blues-influenced artists.
Red Zero is named after two of the earliest places Ingram played in Clarksdale, Mississippi – Red’s Lounge and the Ground Zero Blues Club and it’s set to release Ingram’s own third album Hard Road at the end of this week.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Ingram explained that his aim for the label is to help younger blues musicians from being ripped off. “I just figured I was at a time in my career where I could start helping other young blues musicians and singers to be shown more in the spotlight.
"A lot of artists have been shot down or given bad deals altogether. There has been a lot of awareness of the gentrification of the genre and people getting ripped off. And we don’t want to see them hung up like that.
"I was lucky enough to get a good deal, because I had solid people around me. Everyone doesn’t have that. So, we just want to be that guy, for some people.”
As he pointed out, blues has been gentrified for quite some time, but Ingram has seen a recent shift of younger musicians of colour gravitating to the music once more, something he’s hoping Red Zero will be able to foster. “I’ve seen a lot of young artists of colour coming out and playing this music, or music based on this genre.
"I see a lot of parallels between Americana and blues music. People are craving more music that’s authentic.”
Aside from himself, he’s already signed two artists to the label – St Louis-born singer Dylan Triplett, who according to Ingram has a touch of Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland to him, and Houston guitarist and singer Mathias Lattin.
For too long, he says, blues is a genre that’s treated like a musuem exhibit. “People don’t want to admit it, but we live in a world where there are just so many outlets now,” he says. “People can take the blues wherever, as long as you’re not disrespecting the genre or disrespecting the forefathers or being ignorant in some way.
"Not only that, let’s just say this: a lot of folks have no problem mixing the blues with other genres. I just think a lot of people think that the only way you can do it is when you mix it with rock. That’s where the problem lies.
"Why not put some soul with it? Or some R&B or hip hop?”
Ingram is one of the few young blues artists with any kind of profile – he won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues album in 2022, has supported the Stones on tour and had a part in this year’s 1930s-set vampire movie, Sinners, during which he jammed with Buddy Guy - so he's well placed to act as an advocate for the genre.
“As far as putting the blues in the mainstream media, I’m behind it,” he jokes. “As Mr. Guy says, whatever can keep the blues flowing.”
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