Kingfish launches new record label, will release studio album in 2025
Grammy-winning guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Christone “Kingfish” Ingram has teamed with Exceleration Music to launch a new label, Red Zero Records. The label’s inaugural release slated for 2025 will be the third studio album by Ingram and will follow up his 2023 chart-topping, critically-lauded Live in London, which was Grammy nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album.
In addition to releasing his own recordings under the Red Zero banner, Ingram will serve as the label’s CEO. His longtime manager and label co-founder Ric Whitney will assume the role of president, and both will be directly involved in signing and developing artists on the label’s roster.
Under the terms of their partnership agreement, Exceleration Music and Redeye Distribution will exclusively provide label services and global distribution for Red Zero. This new imprint provides Ingram and Red Zero artists with the ability to tap into expertise that exists across the Exceleration labels and central teams, including Alligator Records, who released his first three albums, including the Grammy-winning 662.
“The name Red Zero Records is a nod to my early days in both Clarksdale, Mississippi and in music,” said Ingram. “As a kid, I played my first few live performance gigs in my hometown at Red’s Lounge and Ground Zero Blues Club. These places and the people there were instrumental in my development as a musician, so we wanted to pay homage in a unique way.”
He continues, “Red Zero Records will be focused on creating avenues for Blues musicians to make great music and get it out widely to the world. Blues is the cornerstone of American music, so our goal is to take a genre we love, and with time, expand our musical breadth into Soul, Rock & Roll, R&B, and roots music as these genres are the fruit of the Blues.”
Whitney adds, “Launching a label was an idea Kingfish and I formulated during COVID. The ability to release music under a label we own is a special moment and a testament to years of doing the hard work. Further, the opportunity to partner with Exceleration and to work with musicians we truly respect and whose music we enjoy is what also makes this business endeavor exciting.”
John Burk, a partner in Exceleration Music, said “Christone is a remarkable artist who’s already accomplished a great deal early in his career. This launch of his Red Zero Records marks an exciting new chapter for him as an artist and as an ambassador for American roots music. All of us at Exceleration Music look forward to continuing to work with Christone and Ric in supporting their vision of taking the music forward while also creating more opportunities for deserving artists.”
