ALBERT CUMMINGS

“True To Yourself”

Blind Pig Records

Albert Cummings’ musical career followed a unique path to arrive where it is now. The 36 year-old blues rock guitarist began on the banjo at age 12, and subsequently switched to guitar at the age of 17 after hearing the music of Stevie Ray Vaughan. But instead of joining a band and hitting the road to pursue a musical career, Cummings went to school to study carpentry, joined the National Guard, got married, and went to work. But the musical bug would later return to bite Cummings once again. Years later, while performing in a band called Swamp Yankee, Cummings crossed paths with Vaughan’s rhythm section “Double Trouble” and that meeting would eventually evolve into Double Trouble supporting Cummings on his debut record “From The Heart”. After a listen to Cummings demo for the record, Double Trouble joined Cummings in what represented the first joint effort from the three musicians (bassist Tommy Shannon, drummer Chris Layton, and keyboardist Reese Wyans) since Vaughan’s passing.

Now Albert Cummings returns to the musical scene with “True To Yourself”, his debut on the Blind Pig label featuring 10 original tracks. Shannon once again return to lend a hand with the recording, joining Riley Osborne on keyboards and B.E. “Frosty” Smith on drums. Jim Gaines (Santana, Luther Allison, etc.) handles the production chores. The opening track, “Man On Your Mind” wastes no time in making an authoritative musical statement, with Cummings’ enthusiastic chops and soulful voice setting the tone for the rest of the way. The variation between straight-ahead rock songs like “Come Up For Air” and “Separately” mesh nicely with blues-based shuffles like “Work It Out” or “Blues Make Me Feel So Good”. “Follow Your Soul” closes the disc on an optimistic note and sends a message of opportunity. Overall, “True To Yourself” displays a bit more SRV influence that it’s predecessor “From The Heart”, especially evident on the blues shuffle “Where Did I Go Wrong” or the slow blues jam “Lonely Bed”. But the influence is subtle enough to entice the ears without being a carbon copy; Cummings definitely delivers his own message here.

Albert Cummings is living proof that there are some New Englanders out there that can play authentic Texas blues. With the release of “True To Yourself” and a busy tour schedule to follow, Albert Cummings should potentially begin to receive some of the notoriety he greatly deserves. After listening to “True To Yourself” again and again, I was surprised that he has been able to hide this long.

- Don Sikorski

****1/2