Black Inspirations: Christone “Kingfish” Ingram on O.V. Wright

For the month of February, in celebration of Black History Month on XPN, we’re presenting a new series called Black Inspirations. We’ve asked contemporary Black artists to share some of their influences from the Black music vanguard. The series continues today with a testimonial from Christone “Kingfish” Ingram.

Clarksdale, Mississippi guitarist and singer-songwriter Christone “Kingfish” Ingram has become a celebrated voice in the blues world over the past few years, bringing the history and heritage of this uniquely American genre to a new generation. When we asked him to talk about one of his musical inspirations, he chose R&B vocalist O.V. Wright. Here’s what he had to say.

O.V is an amazingly soulful musician who you may not readily know and does not receive a great deal of celebration. But, O.V. is certainly an OG and is a true representative of Memphis Soul in the vibe of Otis Redding, Al Green, Issac Hayes, Bobby Womack and many others. O.V. has a sound that really pierces. His voice has a perfect, preaching-like singing sound. Some of my favorite tracks from O.V. Wright are “A Nickle and A Nail, “You’re Gonna Make Me Cry,” and a medley he does of “God Blessed our Love/When A Man Loves A Woman/That’s How StrongMy Love Is.” Check him out, I hope you dig his sounds like it do. 

Below, listen to Christone “Kingfish” Ingram’s three favorite O.V. Wright songs, chosen for Black Inspirations on WXPN.

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram’s album Kingfish was released in 2019.