Key to the Highway: Albert Cummings

Albert Cummings — Americana Highways’ Key to the Highway series

Fans always clamor to learn more about their favorite, most beloved musicians and those who travel with them. There’s such an allure to the road, with its serendipity, inevitable surprises, and sometimes unexpected discomforts. This interview series is a set of questions we are asking some of our favorite roots rock Americana artists to get to know more about them and what they’ve learned and experienced on the road. We are sure they have key insights to share and stories to tell. Here’s one from Albert Cummings.

AH: How do you like your coffee or other morning wake-up beverage?

AC: My morning starts with a hot cup of tea then the coffee starts rolling after that. I like it straight up and black.

AH: What’s the most interesting or strangest motel/hotel or place you have stayed (while on the road?)

AC: We stay in all kinds of places both nice and terrible. Once my wife was with me and we stayed in a total dump of a hotel that was so thoughtfully provided by the venue. It was awful from the second we walked in the building. My wife said, “I can’t sleep in here, I am going out to the van.” I said, “There are bars on the windows for a reason! You are not sleeping in the van!”

AH: If one CD is stuck in the player in the van for the entire tour, what do you hope it is? And why?

AC: I would say that Muddy Waters – Hard Again would be the one. I can say that with confidence because it was the only CD I had in an old vehicle for a long time and I never wanted to change it. The CD is Muddy and his band at their best and I love it.

AH: What’s one personal item you must have with you on your road trip?

AC: Headphones are the one thing that I constantly forget but love to have to pass the time while traveling.

AH: What is your relationship with food? How do you handle this on the road, and what’s your favorite dish on the road, (or restaurant, and what do you order there)?

AC: On the road we usually eat a late breakfast and a late dinner usually at the venue. Since I like a big breakfast we usually try to find a Cracker Barrel. I always get the Country boy breakfast with steak!

AH: If you could pause your life for a few weeks and spend some time living in a place you only have passed through, which would you choose, and why?

AC: That’s a rough question as we’ve seen some beautiful places. I would have to say the Lake Tahoe area has always stuck in my head as a place I could hang out for a while.

AH: What quote or piece of advice have you gotten from someone on the road that has really stuck with you?

AC: I got a lot of advice from BB King. On my fourth show with him he sent for me to meet him backstage. When I walked in he had me sit down. He then proceeded to tell me how much he enjoyed my music, guitar playing and how I reacted with a crowd. I was blessed by the master and to this day I have never forgotten his encouragement to keep going.

Find all things Albert Cummings here: https://albertcummings.com

See other Key to the Highway interviews here: https://americanahighways.org/category/interviews/key-to-the-highway-series/ (click here for: Jimmy Smith Ben Nichols Bruce Cockburn Charlie Musselwhite Nicki Bluhm Jim White Danny Barnes Patterson Hood Jerry Joseph BJ Barham Rodney Crowell Todd Snider Elizabeth Cook Tommy Womack Eric Ambel, Dan Baird, Robbie Fulks, Malcolm Holcombe Jon Langford Steve Poltz, Lilly Hiatt Sarah Shook & the Disarmers Sadler Vaden )