Albert Cummings

Albert Cummings hopes to make a believer out of you in his return to Volcanic Theatre Pub on Friday. The Massachusetts blues rocker and guitar virtuoso, known for his work with Stevie Ray Vaughan’s rhythm section in Double Trouble (they helped record his 2001 debut album, “From the Heart”) plus collaborations with B.B. King, Johnny Winter and Buddy Guy, brings serious soul grooves to his Provogue Records debut, “Believe.” Released this month, the album was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and features Cummings’ bluesy originals and choice covers such as Sam & Dave’s 1966 classic, “Hold On,” shot through with huge brass and choirs of backing vocals. As Cummings put it in a news release announcing the album: “You can hear the difference between this album and my others, and that is the Muscle Shoals difference.”

Albert Cummings, with Timothy James Band: 9 p.m. Friday; $18 plus fees in advance; Volcanic Theatre Pub, 70 SW Century Drive, Bend; volcanictheatre.com or 541-323-1881.