With the success of last year’s Sinners, the blues is having, as happens every few decades, a period of increased visibility in the public eye. There was a moment near the beginning of Gary Clark Jr.’s set at Wolf Trap recently, when Gary and his band were bathed in smoke and a haunting orange light — invoking the mood of that film and the connections across time that tie us to the Old, Weird America.
On June 6, Clark dug into this connection by opening with a cover of “Catfish Blues” (after walking out to Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s “Those Lonely, Lonely Nights”), written by Robert Petway, a mysterious bluesman born somewhere in Mississippi in the early years of the twentieth century. I say somewhere because very little is known about him, not the exact date or place or his birth, or where and when he died. We know he traveled the Mississippi Delta, playing roadhouses and juke joints, and that he recorded “Catfish Blues” in 1941. Muddy Waters borrowed the arrangement and some of the lyrics for his “Rollin’ Stone,” which in turned inspired the name of the Rolling Stones.
Clark grew up in a vibrant music community in Austin, Texas, getting a boost in his career from Clifford Antone, whose club, Antone’s, was a launching pad for the late Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan, who he would play with. He’s gone on to work with artists ranging from the Foo Fighters to Alicia Keys and Tom Morello, and appeared on Saturday Night Live and in TV shows (NCIS: New Orleans, Luke Cage, and Friday Night Lights) and movies (Elvis, Sweetwater, Chef, Miles Ahead, and Honeydripper).
An advantage of seeing an artist when they’re not touring a new album is that they will often design their setlist in interesting ways. Clark’s latest album, JPEG Raw, came out in 2024. He played just one song from that record, the overtly political “What About the Children.” Politics were very present in this show; he did several tracks from his 2019 protest album, This Land, which took home the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album the next year: “Feed the Babies,” where he was joined by opening act Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and “What About Us.” (He also did the love song “Pearl Cadillac.”)
Watch Gary Clark Jr. perform “Feed the Babies” live on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert via YouTube:
Though they played for an hour and 45 minutes, Clark and his band did just 12 songs in their main set, stretching them out and showing off their considerable instrumental chops, drawing from across his catalog: “Ain’t Messin Round” (which was nominated for the Grammy for Best Rock Song in 2014), “Bright Lights,” and the title track from Blank and Blu; “Our Love” and “The Healing” from The Story of Sonny Boy Slim; “Don’t Owe You a Thang,” from GC Jr.; and “When My Train Pulls In” from Worry No More. Gary honored his influences again in his encore, playing Albert King’s “Oh, Pretty Woman.”
While he honors his connection to the blues tradition, Clark’s music is thoroughly modern and expansive. He won his first Grammy for Best Traditional R&B performance in 2014 for “Please Come Home,” and he won for Best Rock Song and Performance in 2020 for “This Land.”
Speaking of Grammy Awards, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, who got the evening started, was nominated for Best Traditional Blues his debut LP, Kingfish. Ingram hails from Clarksdale, Mississippi, in the heart of the Delta, a small city (population just under 15,000) with a deep, significant musical history and heritage. It’s the home of the Delta Blues Museum. Music runs in Christone’s family: his mother is first cousins with the late country star Charley Pride. At twenty-seven years old, he’s one of the most dynamic young talents in the field, with experience beyond his year. He was playing shows locally by seventh grade, and for Michelle in 2014. And speaking of Sinners, he appears in the final scene, along with the legendary Buddy Guy. His set on Saturday night included “Midnight Heat, Voodoo Charm,” “Bad Like Me,” “Nothing But Your Love,” “Long Distance Woman,” and a cover of Michael Burks’s “Empty Promises.”
Watch Christone “Kingfish” Ingram perform “Nothing But Your Live” live for KXT on YouTube:
It was a fantastic opening, setting the plate for Clark to knock things out of the park. Every few years, someone speculates about whether the blues is dead or dying; on Saturday night, Kingfish and Clark showed it’s very much alive.
Here are some photos of Gary Clark Jr. performing live at Wolf Trap on June 6, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
Here are some photos of Christone “Kingfish” Ingram performing live at Wolf Trap on June 6, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
