At 24, he set out for glory. His three Montreal shows are events. Kingfish throws the blues sauce at us with the assurance of the good old warrior with solos of constant intensity.
His snarling riffs leave considerable indentations.
For once, you don’t need to snag a copy of Living Blues or Blues Magazine to figure it out.
The attack is fierce, reminiscent of the Buddy Guy from I Smell A Rat. Obviously, this is not a convention of jovialists; with so many sentimental disappointments expressed and the mask of suffering displayed, we are right in the manure pit.
When we listen to him in an interview, not depressing for two cents, he is clearly not the type to want to take a bath with his toaster.
We frankly adhere to it with the same great pleasure. Here is a musician who stirs you body and soul with his very personal way of thickening the good old blues with heavy electricity.
Of the few covers he offers, he says, “Hey Joe, you don’t want to disrespect the original version, but at the same time, you don’t want to reproduce it note for note either. »
Opening for the Rolling Stones at Hyde Park in London last July, Kingfish has several collaborations to his credit, including with Mississippi rapper Big K.R.I.T. All his childhood friends embraced hip-hop while he also participated in eleven shows of the indie group Vampire Weekend.
At least two major blues festivals in Quebec can no longer afford it, the price has skyrocketed, it’s the Gary Clark Jr syndrome, although the frenzied madness that agitated fans about the latter has is calmed down.
Joe Bonamassa, who fills Wilfrid-Pelletiers and Bell Center halves, is in this league, it’s the universal law of the market.
His first record, Kingfish, was released in 2019. Without delay, Billboard consecrated him as a blues prodigy. In 2020 he won five Blues Music Awards. It won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album for its record 662 (the state’s area code).
Mississippi’s GNP is the blues. And there are many hood locals who have passed through Quebec. Jack Johnson, the oil man (who delivered fuel oil during the day), to Roosevelt Booba Barnes, king of juke joints, passing through R. L. Burnside with his blues with rudimentary frameworks. Alvin Youngblood Hart in solo, Mr. Sipp and his captivating shows…
You would think that the blues musicians of the mythical state, by their means of bits of string all come from the school “of the curb” like the old ones. Well no.
“I learned everything at the Delta Blues Museum through their Arts program
The jewels to be polished are framed, supported. He himself still does some mentoring with the younger ones.
He can, for example, incorporate a few bars of reggae in the middle of a song, like an Eric Gales, a top handler who unfortunately cannot come here because of a non-compliant file.
Guitar maker Fender has just released the Kingfish Signature Telecaster Deluxe model.
We can see and hear her, we hope, on Long Distance Woman, a naughty Friday night track that reaches the plexus or else in the turmoil of Empty Promises, right in the middle of the plea, three catchy, unstoppable minutes. Kingfish offers titles under high tension.
He loves walking through the crowd, as Buddy Guy always has. It strengthens the communion, let’s say. It will basically be this: just beef, no gravy. For him as for us, the essential is safe. It’s unassuming, but how cool!
“After the show, it’s time to relax, time to party!” »
In all the intoxication of his rise, the terrible child of the blues has a workforce finally stabilized. A hungry wolf?
If he is not at the top of the hierarchy, he is a serious applicant.
