Kingfish Partners With Exceleration Music To Launch Red Zero Records

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Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. Photo: Anthony Abu-Hanna

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram has partnered with Exceleration Music to launch his new label, Red Zero Records. Ingram will serve as the label’s CEO, and his longtime manager Ric Whitney will take on the role of President. Together, the co-founders will be actively involved in the signing and development of new artists.

The label’s first release, slated for 2025, will be Ingram’s third studio album. The collection follows his 2023 Live in London, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Exceleration Music and Redeye Distribution will provide label services and global distribution for Red Zero, leveraging support from other Exceleration imprints like Alligator Records.

“The name Red Zero Records is a nod to my early days in both Clarksdale, Mississippi and in music,” explains 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.”

“Christone is a remarkable artist who’s already accomplished a great deal early in his career,” says John Burk, Exceleration Music Partner. “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.”

John Nix Arledge
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