Shemekia Copeland And Christone "Kingfish" Ingram To Celebrate Buddy Guy's ACL Hall Of Fame Induction

Alligator Records artists Shemekia Copeland and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram will perform with blues icon Buddy Guy as he is inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall Of Fame. In an all-star concert event to be held on October 24 at ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin, Texas, Guy, along with Shawn Colvin and Lyle Lovett, will be honored. Copeland and Ingram will perform with Guy as he celebrates his induction. Last year, Alligator's Marcia Ball was inducted.

Additional guests will include for this year's event include Jackson Browne, Jimmie Vaughan, Bruce Hornsby, Sarah Jarosz and Willis Alan Ramsey. The program will be hosted by Robert Earl Keen, and will be broadcast nationwide by PBS television on New Year's Eve.

Award-winning blues, R&B and Americana vocalist Shemekia Copeland's recent album, America's Child, was named the #1 blues album of 2018 by MOJO magazine. The album is a courageous and fiery statement of purpose and a major step forward for the singer whose musical consciousness continues to expand as her star continues to rise. The album, with guests including John Prine and Rhiannon Giddens, bursts with Copeland’s bravado and embraces with her tenderness. Copeland recently received two Blues Music Awards for America's Child: Album Of The Year and Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year. Her instantly recognizable voice--capable of being sultry, assertive and roaring--delivers every song with unparalleled honesty and passion. The three-time Grammy nominee’s wide-open vision of contemporary Americana roots and soul music showcases the evolution of a passionate artist with an up-to-the-minute musical and lyrical approach. The Chicago Tribune says, "Copeland is the greatest female blues vocalist working today."

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, the head-turning 20-year-old blues guitarist and vocalist from Clarksdale, Mississippi, is currently celebrating the release of his debut album, Kingfish, on Alligator Records. With his eye-popping guitar playing and his reach-out-and-grab-you-by-the-collar vocals, Kingfish delivers each song with unmatched passion and precision. NPR Music calls him a “rising blues prodigy…a torchbearer.” The album showcases Ingram’s blistering, raw and inspired guitar playing, soulful, deep vocals and memorable songwriting. On the highlight track, Fresh Out, Kingfish is joined by his friend and mentor, Buddy Guy, who adds vocals and guitar on the song. According to Guy, "Kingfish is the next explosion of the blues." Sprung from the same earth as so many of the Delta blues masters, Kingfish comes bursting out of Clarksdale, Mississippi, just ten miles from the legendary crossroads of Highways 61 and 49. A student of the Delta’s musical history, he is acutely aware of the musicians and the music that emerged from his corner of the world. “I do think I have an old soul, that I’ve been here before,” he says. “I’m moving forward with one foot in the past."