Albert Cummings
Albert Cummings (born Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States) is an American blues musician who has recorded under Blind Pig Records. He has played alongside B.B. King, Johnny Winter, and Buddy Guy. Biography. Cummings started playing the five-string banjo at the age of twelve, he started learning basic chords and progressions, and became a fan of bluegrass music. In his late teens, he encountered the early recordings of Stevie Ray Vaughan. While in college, in 1987, he saw Vaughan perform. His first public guitar performance was in 1997 when he played at his friends wedding reception. In his late  twenties, he formed a band, Swamp Yankee, and, in 1999, he released an independently produced album, "The Long Way". The trio spent two hours in a recording studio to record the nine songs for the album. After the release, the band went on the Northeast blues circuit. In 1998, he walked into a Northeast Blues Society open jam, which led to Cummings’ winning the right to compete in the Blues Foundation's 1999 International Blues Challenge, in Memphis. The following year he released his debut recording, "The Long Way". Bluesprint magazine said it was "a barrage of guitar pyrotechnics that  calls to mind a grand mix of the styles of past masters like Albert King, Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Jimi Hendrix". He later worked with Double Trouble, the late Stevie Ray Vaughan's rhythm section. Bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton volunteered to play on and produce Cummings' solo debut recording, 2003’s self-released "From the Heart". Recorded in Austin, Texas, it featured Cummings fronting Double Trouble (including Reese Wynans) in their first recording project since Stevie Ray’s passing. Cummings was signed to Blind Pig Records in 2004 with a multi-album deal. Only Shannon  remained as the bassist for Cummings' next album, "True To Yourself" in 2004. In 2006, Cummings recorded a fourth album "Working Man", with new band members. In 2008, Cummings released a live album "Feels So Good", recorded at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 2011, Cummings released an instructional DVD for the Hal Leonard Corporation entitled, "Working Man Blues Guitar". His 2012 album "No Regrets" debuted at No. 1 in the U.S., Canada and France on the iTunes Blues Charts and at No. 5 on the "Billboard" blues charts. In a 2012 interview, he called "No Regrets" his "best  album yet". In July 2015, Cummings released "Someone Like You," a 12-track Blind Pig album produced by David Z. In February 2020, Cummings released his 11-track Provogue Records debut titled "Believe," produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Jim Gaines. Recorded at the iconic FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Cummings notes the influence the location had on the process of creating this project, “If I had recorded those same songs anywhere else, then Believe would have sounded like a completely different album.” Arguably one of the most notable tracks on the album is a cover of the song  Hold On by legendary soul duo "Sam & Dave", illustrating Cummings' ability to fuse genres while remaining stylistically unique and fresh. On April 8, 2022, Cummings released "10", a 13-track Ivy Music Company album produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Chuck Ainlay. Simply described as "the blues rocker's gone country", it features discovered depth and complexity within a new style.