Albert constructs an electrifying show

by Lorraine Gibson

Ask blues rock guitarist Albert Cummings who his music heroes are and his reply will tell you all you need to know about his unique sound.

A former construction expert turned singer, songwriter with masterful guitar skills, he cites BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton as the inspiration, or raw ‘ingredients’, for much of his musical style. He’s toured with Albert BB King (the matching names merely a happy coincidence) and recorded an album with the late Vaughan’s band, Double Trouble. Which just leaves hooking up with Clapton to complete the triangle.

When I call him in his hometown in Massachusetts, Albert, who first picked up a banjo as a pre-teen before moving on to guitar, is excited about coming to Wimborne (he’s been looking it up online) as part of a 12-date tour that also takes in Ireland, Italy and Romania.

“We’ve been looking forward to it, it looks like a great place and I’m bringing my own band and our unique music, something that people can relate to.

“Playing for me is pure joy; my shows are people-orientated and our crowds are very diverse.

“When I was with BB King, I got very friendly with him and was fortunate enough to be with him back stage before the shows. I would just hang out with Mr. King and talk to him.

“One of the conversations was how we are the entertainers and our job is to entertain our audience. I don’t use a set list, I throw out a few songs and see the response.

“My band has to be on their toes ’cos I will jump right into a different groove as I feed off the crowd. I put the energy out and they throw it back to me and it just grows all night.”

He adds: “I kinda go out to the edge of the cliff, and I jump. And I just hope that I land in a good spot.”

Prior to our call, I‘d been listening to Ten, Albert’s latest and 10th (funnily enough) album. We talk about the songs that he might play.

“When I was recording in Nashville, it kinda brought out my country side. Cos, you know, I have a lot of influences.

“Anybody who has music that catches my attention kinda goes into my melting pot and comes back out as Albert.”

I mention that as well as his genre-bending blues, rock and country mix, I got a hint of Springsteen - but with bluesy tones, not only in the small-town stories like Two Hands, or the gleefully raw, Hard Way, but from his personal lyrics on She’s The One And Beautiful Bride, inspired by Christina, his wife of 35 years and his biggest supporter since he began performing, parttime, at 27 after being egged-on to play at a friend’s wedding and wowing the crowd. He says he hadn’t noticed the Springsteen thing, but as an admirer, he likes it and says, “I’ll take that!”

Albert’s been performing live and releasing albums ever since and, until fairly recently, while still working on construction projects. He teamed up with another guitarist and a drummer, his former English teacher, and after several twists of fate, got more and more bookings n July 12, 7.30pm.

“We did a few gigs here and there and the next thing I know, I get a call to open for Kansas.

“It was about twenty gigs. Bingo! But of course, we (Albert and the family, including two sons) were still running a building company. “Christina didn’t marry a guitar player, she married a carpenter!” he says. Suddenly he was recording albums and touring with guys like Johnny winter and Buddy Guy.

With Albert, the guitar’s the star, so expect electrifying, string-based prowess with soulful vocals wrapping themselves around a repertoire of life-lived, original songs as he lets go and loses himself (or ‘shows his belly’) to the music.

Online tickets £22, box office £20 tivoliwimborne.co.uk. albertcummings.com.