ROAD- TESTED Royalty

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram assumes his throne atop the Delta blues tradition

- JIM BEAUGEZ

CHRISTONE “KINGFISH” INGRAM, the 22-year-old heir to the Delta blues crown, is holding court with fans in Indianola, Mississippi, where he and nearly a dozen other guitarists are paying tribute to the “Blues Boy” himself, native son B.B. King.'

After stepping off the stage strapped to a cherry red Gibson ES-335, he makes his way through the crowd and stops to serenade a young fan with a gentle phrase worthy of tonight’s honoree. Before the night’s over, Ingram will debut the title track from his hotly anticipated second album, 662 [Alligator], out July 23, and perform King’s 1953 single “Woke Up This Morning (My Baby She Was Gone)” with members of King’s backing band.

As part of an ensemble of guitar players that included Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi and Gary Clark Jr., Ingram was on hand to celebrate a 4,500-square-foot addition to the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, which opened in 2008. The new wing tells the story of how King made his name on the road by playing an average 300 gigs per year for nearly three decades, and features a tour bus he purchased new in 1987 and rode for more than 12 million miles — enough for 25 round trips to the moon.

The gleaming motor coach also serves as a metaphor for Ingram’s life, especially since dropping his Grammy-nominated and roundly applauded debut album,