Not long into his Tucson debut at Rialto Theatre last July, blues guitar phenom Christone “Kingfish” Ingram took his show from the stage to the audience, where he was greeted by a sea of cellphone cameras and fans lining up for photo ops.
Ingram gave Tucson a taste of the hard-driving blues rock that has earned him legions of fans well beyond his native Mississippi.
He will likely deliver as blistering a show when Arizona Arts Live and the Rialto bring Ingram’s “The Hard Road Tour” to the historic downtown theater on Friday, Sept. 18.
His Rialto show last July was a precursor to this year’s tour and came nearly three months before he released “Hard Road,” his third studio album and one that he had a role in writing all of the songs.
The album has been widely acclaimed for demonstrating the 27-year-old’s artistic maturity.
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Glide Magazine said the album "represents considerable self-reflection” and maturity from “this once child prodigy. … His guitar still does plenty of talking, but we hear his true voice more than previously.”
Bobby Liddycoat, writing in Blues Rock Review, echoed Glide in saying the album “definitely demonstrates a growth in maturity and impressive versatility,” adding that Ingram also embraces funk, soul, hip-hop, pop and jazz, seamlessly crossing “their boundaries with ease and remarkable acuity.”
Ingram is set to go on stage at the Rialto, 318 E. Congress St., at 8 p.m. Friday; doors open at 7. Tickets are $43.50-$87.65 through ticketmaster.com.
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Bluesky @Starburch
Cathalena E. Burch
Reporter
