At 24, he left for glory. His three Montreal shows are events. Kingfish throws us the blues sauce with the assurance of the good old warrior with solos of constant intensity.
His snarling riffs leave considerable indentations.
For once, no need to hang up a copy of the Living Blues or Blues Magazine to get an idea.
The attack is fierce, it reminds the Buddy Guy ofI Smell A Rat. Obviously, we are not in a congress 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.
The guitarist prints sensations, with the tormented feeling that springs from his strings, he relies on rudimentary melodies and direct pugnacity.
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.
About the few covers that he offers, he specifies: 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 KRIT All his childhood friends embraced hip-hop while he also participated in eleven shows of the indie group Vampire Weekend.
Excerpt fromAnother Life Goes By
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-Pelletier and Bell Center halves is in this league, it’s the universal law of the market.
His first album, kingfish, was released in 2019. Without delay, Billboard consecrates him as a blues prodigy. In 2020 he won five Blues Music Awards. It won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album for his record 662 (the state’s area code).
Extract of My Dog & Me
Mississippi, welfare state
Mississippi’s GNP is the blues. And there are many locals hood to have passed through Quebec. Jack Johnson, the oil man (who delivered fuel oil during the day), to Roosevelt Booba Barnes, king of the juke seals passing by the RL Burnside with its blues with rudimentary frameworks. Alvin Youngblood Hart in solo, Mr. Sipp and his captivating shows…
One 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 & Education program in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Apprentices from 5 to 65 years old can learn the musical instrument of their choice”, he confided on stage exit during the gigantic Byron Bay Blues Fest in Australia last year.
Suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, the 24-year-old bluesman has everything going for him, he has been immersed in the blues since he was very young, like Obélix with his bonhomie, his physiognomy and his body envelope, except that instead of throwing menhirs, he gives to the following.
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 right 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 just released the model Kingfish Signature Telecaster Deluxe.
Extract of Long Distance Woman
We can see it and hear it, we hope on Long Distance Womana naughty Friday night track that reaches the plexus or so in the turmoil of Empty Promisesright in the middle of the plea, three catchy, unstoppable minutes. kingfish offers titles under high tension.
He loves walking through crowds, as Buddy Guy always does. It strengthens the communion, let’s say. It will basically be this: just beef, no sauce. For him as for us, the essential is safe. It’s unpretentious, but what freshness!
“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 candidate.
June 29, 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Rogers Stage, Le Parterre. And June 30, 7:30 p.m., Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts