Albert Cummings (born

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

, United States) is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musician who has recorded under

Blind Pig Records Blind Pig Records is an American blues independent record label. Blind Pig was formed in 1977 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by Jerry Del Giudice, owner of the Blind Pig Cafe, and his friend Edward Chmelewski. The label is now based in San Francisco. I ...

. He has played alongside

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-win ...

, and

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray V ...

Biography

Cummings started playing the five-string

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

at the age of twelve. He started to learn basic

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord (as ...

and progressions and became a fan of bluegrass music. In his late teens, he encountered the early recordings of

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

. 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 A wedding reception is a party usually held after the completion of a marriage ceremony as hospitality for those who have attended the wedding, hence the name reception: the couple ''receive'' society, in the form of family and friends, for t ...

. In Cummings' late twenties, he formed a band, Swamp Yankee. In 1999, he released an independently produced

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''The Long Way''. The trio spent two hours in a

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

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. In 1999 the musician competed in the Blues Foundation's

International Blues Challenge The International Blues Challenge (IBC) is a music competition run by the Blues Foundation. Notable blues artists that have competed in the IBC over the years also includes Fiona Boyes, Eden Brent, Michael Burks, Tommy Castro, Sean Costello, Alb ...

, in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

. The following year, he released his debut recording. He later worked with Double Trouble, the late

's rhythm section. Bassist

Tommy Shannon Tommy Shannon (born Thomas Lafitte Smedley; April 18, 1946) is an American bass guitarist, who is best known as a member of Double Trouble, a blues rock band led by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born in Tucson, Arizona, Shannon moved to Dumas, Texas whe ...

and drummer

Chris Layton Christopher Layton (born November 16, 1955), also known as "Whipper", is an American drummer who rose to fame as one of the founding members of Double Trouble, a blues rock band led by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Te ...

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 Reese Wynans (born November 28, 1947) is an American keyboard player, who has done session work and has been a member of Double Trouble and progressive rock band Captain Beyond. In 2015, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a ...

) in their first recording project since Stevie Ray’s passing. Cummings was signed to

in 2004 with a multi-album deal. Only Shannon remained as the

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

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 An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

''Feels So Good'', recorded at the Colonial Theatre in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

. In 2011, Cummings released an instructional DVD for the

Hal Leonard Corporation Hal Leonard LLC (formerly Hal Leonard Corporation) is an American music publishing and distribution company founded in Winona, Minnesota, by Harold "Hal" Edstrom, his brother, Everett "Leonard" Edstrom, and fellow musician Roger Busdicker. Curre ...

entitled, ''Working Man Blues Guitar''. His 2012 album ''No Regrets'' debuted at No. 1 in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

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on the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Blues Charts and at No. 5 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' 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 David Z may refer to: * David Z (producer) David Rivkin (born 1953), professionally known as David Z, is an American music producer, engineer, and songwriter from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is best known for his long-standing work with Prince, a ...

. In February 2020, Cummings released his 11-track Provogue Records debut titled ''Believe,'' produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Jim Gaines. Recorded at 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 Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The ...

''. 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.

Discography

*'' The Long Way'' (Albert Cummings and Swamp Yankee), 2000 *'' From the Heart'', 2003 *'' True to Yourself'', 2004 *'' Working Man'', 2006 *'' Feel So Good'', 2008 *''No Regrets'', 2012 *'' Someone Like You'', 2015 *''Believe'', 2020 *''10'', 2022

References

External links

Official Albert Cummings Official Site facebook.com/albertcummingsmusic/youtube.com/user/ACummingsOfficialBlind Pig Records Official Site
* ttp://www.elmoremagazine.com/2015/07/music-news/listen-to-blues-guitarist-albert-cummings-soulful-track-finally-in-love Elmore Magazine ''Someone Like You'' 2015 article* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cummings, Albert Living people American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Singers from Massachusetts People from Williamstown, Massachusetts 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from Massachusetts Blind Pig Records artists Year of birth missing (living people) Provogue Records artists