SOUNDTRACK: CHRISTONE “KINGFISH” INGRAM-NonCOMM (May 16, 2019).
Generally speaking, I don’t like the blues. I think it’s pretty boring music-wise, with most songs sounding vaguely the same, especially on record. I would never go to a blues show on purpose. However, if all blues shows were like this one from Kingfish, I’d go to a lot more.
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram a Mississippi guitar player has a lot of hype around him (XPN loves him) and while I haven’t enjoyed the songs they’ve played, this set was stunning. And when you learn how old he is, it’s even more incredible.
Ingram’s otherworldly guitar playing and ridiculously rich voice make it hard to believe that he is only twenty years old. He is clearly aware of the absurdity of his talent given his age, as he sings “they say I got an old soul and I ain’t even 21.”
He opened with “Before I’m Old”, off his debut album Kingfish. The song opens with a lengthy guitar solo and lyrics that are basically an autobiography. When I was younger, I used to rate guitar players by their soloing skills. I don;t do that anymore. In fact I don;t really care if there are solos in songs these days. But I do still enjoy a guitarist who can play a wicked solo live.
I don’t care much about the structure of “Before I’m Old” because it’s all about the jamming solo he plays. The great part of the solo is the tone he gets. It’s just him and a bassist (and a drummer), but it doesn’t sound like a bassist playing notes and a guitarist soloing independently. His guitar is full enough that it sounds like a bigger band.
But his skills are really tremendous. He seemingly casually busts out a minute and a half solo mid-song that is exciting and full of passion. There’s basically two verse sin this five minute song which ends with a little nod to Jimi Hendrix.
Next came “Fresh Out”, which Ingram started solo. Eventually he was joined by his bassist and drummer, but his solo verse demonstrated that in a way, they’re just extras; he can carry this all on his own.
This is a slower, classic blues song about having no love. But it’s all about the three and a half minute solo. In the middle of it, he quiets everything down while playing a slow, moody passage while the band is almost silent, playing just enough to keep the song going while Kingfish jams.
The final song, “Out of This Town” is the one I’ve been hearing on the radio. It’s catchy in a classic bluesy way, but I never thought much about it. I do like the five note hook and pause just before he sings “out of this town” but otherwise it was just a blues song.
But this live version was a revelation.
Ingram stretched each of his tracks out, squeezing every last drop of possibility out of them. He stretched them so much that he was only able to fit three songs in his twenty minute slot. Like with the two before it, Ingram led “Out of This Town” into an explosive electric blues epic.
This song stretches out to 9 minutes, five of which are the guitar solo. In the wrong hands, a five minute guitar solo can be an interminable wank-fest. But Kingfish makes it interesting–you actually don’t want the song to star up again because the guitar is so good. And yet, when his sings, his voice is deep and rich as well.
This show may even get me to enjoy the song more the next time I hear it on the radio.
[READ: June 1, 2019] “In the Hay”
This essay is a fascinating insight into manual labor, immigration and alcohol. All in three columns of type.
In 1959, Wolff looked for summer work on the farms along the Skagit River near Seattle. Wolff was fourteen and kind of small, so he worked at a farm for a bit and then moved on. Then he met a farmer who paid him better and treated him well, so he settled in.
The more permanent field hands bucked hay, but Wolff was not strong enough to do that, so he hacked weeds or shoveled shit. He would pause from time to time, catching snippets of conversation on the wind.
The following summer he returned bigger and strong and he joined the hay crew. The crew was four people: Wolff, Clemson, the farmer’s nephew and two Mexican brothers, Miguel and Eduardo.
Miguel was quiet (he spoke little English) and Eduardo did most of the talking. He told rakish stories that he played for laughs but which Tobias felt had to have a ring of truth–a life he knew nothing about.
The farmer should have hired more people, but instead he worked them all very hard, especially as it came time to finish up the baled hay. It was hard, exhausting work, but Tobias was secretly glad to be a part of this crew.
One night, while Clemson and Tobias were dropping off Eduardo and Miguel, Eduardo invited the boys in for a drink. Clemson wasn’t interested, but Tobias really wanted to hang out. They drank rye and listened to Eduardo’s stories.
Then someone knocked on the door and said something in Spanish. Eduardo quickly left. It was just Miguel and Tobias drinking while Clemson nodded off.
Miguel was very drunk and began talking a lot in Spanish. He seemed angry, possibly at Tobias, although Tobias didn’t know what he was saying or why he would be angry. Then Miguel picked up a pistol and put it on the table between them.
Clemson broke the tension by throwing up on the table.
There’s a good punchline about the dangers of storing wet hay at the end. Who knew a summer job could be so exciting?
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