Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, one of the brightest young stars in contemporary blues, is stepping into a new role: label founder. With the launch of Red Zero, Ingram hopes to ensure that the next generation of blues musicians won’t suffer the same exploitation and unfair deals that plagued many of the genre’s pioneers.

Speaking from Los Angeles, where he’s lived for the past three years, the 25-year-old guitarist and singer says he feels a responsibility to give back now that his own career has found steady footing. “I just figured I was at a time in my career where I could start helping other young blues musicians and singers to be shown more in the spotlight,” he explained. “A lot of artists have been shot down or given bad deals altogether. There has been a lot of awareness of the gentrification of the genre and people getting ripped off. I was lucky enough to get a good deal because I had solid people around me. Everyone doesn’t have that. So, we just want to be that guy, for some people.”

The spark for Red Zero came years ago when Ingram and his manager, Ric Whitney, watched a documentary on the late Sam Cooke. The film detailed Cooke’s SAR Records, a rare Black-owned label in the early 1960s that launched artists like Billy Preston and Bobby Womack before Cooke’s untimely death.

“Sam Cooke said something that kind of got me,” Ingram recalled. “He said he started a label for the ones who don’t get an opportunity. I see a lot of artists like that.”

For Ingram, those words carried weight as he looked around the blues landscape. Back in 2022, he spoke to Rolling Stone about the lack of young Black representation on blues charts and cruises. Now, only a few years later, he sees encouraging progress. “I’ve seen a lot of young artists of color coming out and playing this music, or music based on this genre,” he said. “People are craving more music that’s authentic.”

Red Zero joins an intimate circle of respected independent blues labels that includes Alligator, Blind Pig, Gulf Coast, and Delmark. At launch, the label has already signed two promising acts: St. Louis-born singer Dylan Triplett, whose voice evokes the soul of Bobby “Blue” Bland, and Houston guitarist Mathias Lattin.

“We want to take care of the home team first before we venture out into other genres,” Ingram said. “And it’s not just young kids. We’re looking at some middle-aged blues players and older players. Just anybody who needs to be seen.”

Still, the idea of a young musician founding a label has raised eyebrows. “A lot of people may not have expected for someone at his age,” Whitney admitted. Ingram himself acknowledges the skepticism: “I did get pushback from certain people… that I was too young and didn’t know what I was doing. But I look at it like this: if I wasn’t trying to help, they still would have something to say. So I just forget them.”

Ingram also wants to challenge narrow ideas of what blues music can sound like. “People don’t want to admit it, but we live in a world where there are just so many outlets now,” he said. “People can take the blues wherever, as long as you’re not disrespecting the genre or disrespecting the forefathers. A lot of folks think the only way to mix blues is with rock. Why not put some soul with it? Or some R&B or hip hop?”

That openness is reflected in Hard Road, his first studio album since winning a Grammy for 2021’s 662. On the record, Ingram places as much emphasis on singing and groove as on his trademark guitar fire. Tracks like “Standing on Business” and the slow-burning single “Nothin’ But Your Love” blend blues with modern R&B and pop flavors. “I’ve always wanted to do music with an R&B flavor, like Barry White meets Hendrix,” he explained.

Fame has brought opportunities, opening for the Rolling Stones and Vampire Weekend, Grammy recognition, but also challenges. “The reason the album is named Hard Road is because a lot of times we show the glamor and glitz of the road, but we never really talk about the bad stuff,” Ingram said. “Since I acquired this little fame, there are some things that come with it, like the fakeness and people not really having your best interest in mind. When people see you’re successful, they try to latch on and act like you owe them.”

His response has been to keep his focus on the music. “You have to realize all of it is part of the game,” he added, pointing to lyrics in his reflective new track “Clearly”: “Can’t always be sunshine/You get a little rain.”