Grammy Nominated ‘ blues musician “Kingfish’ Ingram

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At just 22, electrifying Mississippi guitar and vocal sensation Christone “Kingfish” Ingram may very well be the next blues superstar in the making — and, quite likely, the first to get a major boost from YouTube, Spotify and Instagram.

The 2020 Grammy nominee is also the first young blues artist in memory who has Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism. His recently deceased mother credited her son’s condition for giving him added creative depth and sensitivity.

He readily agreed with that assessment during a recent phone interview from his home in the rural Mississippi town of Clarksdale.

“I can hear music in people’s footsteps, and I can hear melodies in the sound of the rain and the blowing wind,” said Ingram, who on Saturday co-headlines the 11th annual AimLoan.com San Diego Blues Festival.

When I’m performing, I can see colors in the music,” Ingram said. “As a kid, I always pictured a mood to go with what I was hearing. And when I hear a note, I think that note represents everything — everything.”

Hailed as a missing link between B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and Prince, Ingram has been praised on social media by hip-hop star The Game and funk-music mainstay Bootsy Collins. Guitar legend Buddy Guy, a pivotal Ingram mentor, has championed him as “the next explosion of the blues.

Guy often invites young guitarists to join him on stage for a song. But few have made as big an impression on him as Ingram, whose two albums for Alligator Records — 2020’s “Kingfish” and this year’s “662" — were produced and co-written by Guy’s longtime drummer and producer, Tom Hambridge.

Kingfish’s first Grammy recognition came in 2020, when his chart-topping debut album was nominated in the Best Traditional Blues Album category. Last year also saw him win five national Blues Music Awards and four Living Blues Awards, including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year.