"THERE WILL BE A LOT OF GREAT GUITAR PLAYING AT THESE SHOWS!"

Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram is a huge fan of Slash- and the feeling is mutual

- Amit Sharma

Any conversations concerning the future of blues will usually include a mention of 25-year-old  Mississippi sensation Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram. So it should come as little surprise that he’s met and jammed with nearly all of the acts appearing on Slash’s S.E.R.P.E.N.T. festival, including his hero, Eric Gales…

What will the audience get from your set at S.E.R.P.E.N.T.?

In recent years, I’ve been adding a lot of funk and R ’n’ B grooves into my show. So the crowd will get a mixture of things – it won’t just be blues or hard rock. As well as songs I haven’t played much before, there are at least two new songs from my upcoming record that we’ll be performing. I also have some new guitars that I’m bringing out…

That’s interesting. Tell us more!

I can’t go too deep because I don’t want to upset my family at Fender. But there’s a custom ES-339-style guitar that I’ve started using and another Les Paul-style guitar that I’ve added to the arsenal, both made by another brand. I’ll be using those along with my Fender signatures.

Is there anything else you’re looking at changing, rig-wise?

Well, since I last spoke to TG I ended up going back to the Marshall Shred Master. That one’s back on the ’board. I want to do something different in  terms of amps. The plan is to run two Fender DeVilles through with my pedalboard. I’m hoping I’ll have that as my main rig by the time we hit the road for this tour.

What kind of message do you think this festival sends in terms of culture?