Blues Phenom Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Brings His 662 Live Juke Joint
to Highmark Blues & Heritage Festival
Thursday, September 15, Highmark Stadium
Pittsburgh, PA, September 01, 2022 – Every so often, a few blues child prodigies like Lucky Peterson, Derek Trucks and Johnny Lang, arrive on the scene and deliver much-needed excitement into the idiom, with the promise of their coming greatness. At only 23 years old, guitarist/vocalist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram has already fulfilled his potential and is one of the most impactful blues artists of his generation. Guitar World declared that he, “has already made his mark as one of the best, and undoubtedly most exciting, blues guitarists in the world.”
On Thursday, September 15, 2022, Ingram brings his 662: Live Juke Joint Tour to Pittsburgh’s Highmark Blues and Heritage Festival, performing selections from his 2021 recording 662, which won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album, the Blues Music Award for Best Blues Album, and was number one on both the DownBeat Critics’ Poll and the Living Blues Critics’ Poll. The follow-up to his 2019 Grammy-nominated debut, Kingfish, 662 - the area code for Clarksdale, Mississippi, Ingram’s birthplace - and, in his words is, “an ode to my roots, a nod to the area where I was born and raised.”
Ingram was immersed in the blues by birthright. His mother, Princess Pride, who died in 2019, was a cousin to the late country icon, Charley Pride. His father showed him a Muddy Waters video when he was 5, and he was enrolled in The Delta Blues Museum’s music and arts program in Clarksdale at the age of 8, starting on bass then moving to guitar, and was nicknamed Kingfish after the Amos & Andy character. He also sang gospel music in his mother’s Baptist church.
Ingram became a professional musician at the age of 14, playing in the local and national blues venues, drawing praise for his unique amalgam of guitar styles that in his words included, “Robert Johnson, Sun House and Lightnin’ Hopkins [who comes from the Texas style], B. B. King and the rock guys like Hendrix, Prince and [Funkadelic’s] Eddie Hazel.” Ingram also toured with the legendary octogenarian blues guitarist/ vocalist Buddy Guy.
Ingram’s extensive media exposure includes his thrilling performance of B.B. King’s “The Thrill is Gone” on Netflix’s Luke Cage mini-series, performed with rap legend Rakim on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert, worked with a number of blues artists including Eric Gales, the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Keb Mo, and performed for First Lady Michelle Obama. Ingram has won a total of nine Living Blues Awards, and he was recently featured in a 5,000-word July 2022, Washington Post Magazine feature.
With his gifts and the promise of an even brighter future, Christone “Catfish” Ingram is poised to go where no blues musician has gone before.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets, starting at $30, are on sale now at https://blues.awaacc.org. Individual day passes as well as two- day passes are also available. For additional details and the complete festival line-up, please visit http://blues.awwaacc.org.
SPONSORS
The Highmark Blues & Heritage Festival would like to thank its sponsors, including Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Allegheny County Airport Authority, AARP, River’s Casino and the Libation sponsor, Bacardi. Partners include Adda Coffee and JazzCorner. A special thank you to Highmark Blues & Heritage Festival and Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival special media sponsor, The Comcast Corporation.
ABOUT HIGHMARK INC.
One of America's leading health insurance organizations and an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Highmark Inc. (the Health Plan) and its affiliated health plans (collectively, the Health Plans) work passionately to deliver high-quality, accessible, understandable, and affordable experiences, outcomes, and solutions to customers. As the fourth-largest overall Blue Cross Blue Shield- affiliated organization, Highmark Inc. and its Blue-branded affiliates proudly cover the insurance needs of approximately 6.8 million members in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and West Virginia. Its diversified businesses serve group customer and individual needs across the United States through dental insurance and other related businesses. For more information, visit www.highmark.com.
ABOUT AUGUST WILSON AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER
The August Wilson African American Cultural Center is a non-profit cultural organization located in Pittsburgh’s cultural district that generates artistic, educational, and community initiatives that advance the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson. One of the largest cultural centers in the country focused exclusively on the African American experience and the celebration of Black culture and the African diaspora, the non-profit organization welcomes more than 119,000 visitors locally and nationally. In 2022, the Center opened August Wilson: The Writer’s Landscape, the first-ever permanent exhibition dedicated to the life and work of the prolific playwright. Through year-round programming across multiple genres, such as the annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, Black Bottom Film Festival, AWCommunity Days, TRUTHSayers speaker series, and rotating art exhibits in its galleries, the Center provides a platform for established and emerging artists of color whose work reflects the universal issues of identity that Wilson tackled, and which still resonate today.
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Ingram was immersed in the blues by birthright. His mother, Princess Pride, who died in 2019, was a cousin to the late country icon, Charley Pride. His father showed him a Muddy Waters video when he was 5, and he was enrolled in The Delta Blues Museum’s music and arts program in Clarksdale at the age of 8, starting on bass then moving to guitar, and was nicknamed Kingfish after the Amos & Andy character. He also sang gospel music in his mother’s Baptist church.
Ingram became a professional musician at the age of 14, playing in the local and national blues venues, drawing praise for his unique amalgam of guitar styles that in his words included, “Robert Johnson, Sun House and Lightnin’ Hopkins [who comes from the Texas style], B. B. King and the rock guys like Hendrix, Prince and [Funkadelic’s] Eddie Hazel.” Ingram also toured with the legendary octogenarian blues guitarist/ vocalist Buddy Guy.
Ingram’s extensive media exposure includes his thrilling performance of B.B. King’s “The Thrill is Gone” on Netflix’s Luke Cage mini-series, performed with rap legend Rakim on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert, worked with a number of blues artists including Eric Gales, the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Keb Mo, and performed for First Lady Michelle Obama. Ingram has won a total of nine Living Blues Awards, and he was recently featured in a 5,000-word July 2022, Washington Post Magazine feature.
With his gifts and the promise of an even brighter future, Christone “Catfish” Ingram is poised to go where no blues musician has gone before.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets, starting at $30, are on sale now at https://blues.awaacc.org. Individual day passes as well as two- day passes are also available. For additional details and the complete festival line-up, please visit http://blues.awwaacc.org.
SPONSORS
The Highmark Blues & Heritage Festival would like to thank its sponsors, including Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Allegheny County Airport Authority, AARP, River’s Casino and the Libation sponsor, Bacardi. Partners include Adda Coffee and JazzCorner. A special thank you to Highmark Blues & Heritage Festival and Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival special media sponsor, The Comcast Corporation.
ABOUT HIGHMARK INC.
One of America's leading health insurance organizations and an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Highmark Inc. (the Health Plan) and its affiliated health plans (collectively, the Health Plans) work passionately to deliver high-quality, accessible, understandable, and affordable experiences, outcomes, and solutions to customers. As the fourth-largest overall Blue Cross Blue Shield- affiliated organization, Highmark Inc. and its Blue-branded affiliates proudly cover the insurance needs of approximately 6.8 million members in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and West Virginia. Its diversified businesses serve group customer and individual needs across the United States through dental insurance and other related businesses. For more information, visit www.highmark.com.
ABOUT AUGUST WILSON AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER
The August Wilson African American Cultural Center is a non-profit cultural organization located in Pittsburgh’s cultural district that generates artistic, educational, and community initiatives that advance the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson. One of the largest cultural centers in the country focused exclusively on the African American experience and the celebration of Black culture and the African diaspora, the non-profit organization welcomes more than 119,000 visitors locally and nationally. In 2022, the Center opened August Wilson: The Writer’s Landscape, the first-ever permanent exhibition dedicated to the life and work of the prolific playwright. Through year-round programming across multiple genres, such as the annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, Black Bottom Film Festival, AWCommunity Days, TRUTHSayers speaker series, and rotating art exhibits in its galleries, the Center provides a platform for established and emerging artists of color whose work reflects the universal issues of identity that Wilson tackled, and which still resonate today.
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