Tones Behind The Tracks

On latest record, Hard Road, Mississippi-born singer-guitarist Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram is sounding more soulful than ever

- Artist: Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram Album: Hard Road (Red Zero Records)

Artist: Christone Kingfish' Ingram

Album: Hard Road (Red Zero Records)

He may only be approaching his late-20s, but at this stage of his career, blues singer-guitarist Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram can no longer say he's the new kid on the block. He's a Grammy-winning artist who has earned the respect of his elders and peers, with his own Kingfish Telecaster Deluxe signature through a Fender Twin, along with invites to open for artists such as The Rolling Stones, Slash and Joe Bonamassa. Last year saw the release of his third studio album, Hard Road, which features more musical nuances than ever before. It's still a blues-rock record all in all, although Ingram has broadened his horizons by moving away from heavier tones in favour of cleaner and more soulful musings.

There's more variety to the new music than anything you've recorded to date.

"I wanted to focus on my artistic growth; that's all I wanted to showcase on this record. My sound hasn't changed too much, there are still some heavy tones in places, but I did think about my sound just before we started recording. Certain songs needed a cleaner approach, so I decided to experiment and try out some things I haven't done in the past."

So where exactly did these songs come from?

"I'll explore new directions and navigate through whatever might be happening in my personal life. This album is like a documentation of my last four years. Some of the songs were written during the sessions for [Grammy-winning previous studio album] 662 but ended up conveying how I've felt in the time since, too. I've also been working with a few external writers. There was one song I did all by myself [Clearly], where I was in the studio alone one night. I'm proud of how it all came out."