Altered Five Blues Band Releases 'Hammer & Chisel'

- The Milwaukee-based Altered Five Blues Band's eighth studio album, 'Hammer & Chisel', was produced by three-time Grammy winner Tom Hambridge and features guest harmonica player Jason Ricci on three tracks. - The band's frontman, Jeff Taylor, was a high school principal for years before dedicating himself to music full-time. - The group's previous album, 'Holler If You Hear Me' (2021), reached number three on the Billboard Top Blues Albums Chart and earned three Blues Music Award nominations, including Album of the Year. - Kim Wilson, best known as the lead vocalist and harmonica player for The Fabulous Thunderbirds, has won seven Blues Music Awards and received 42 nominations. - Wilson's album 'Slow Burn' was recorded in sessions spanning from 2014 to 2020 and features some of the final studio performances from late musicians Richard Innes (drums), Barrelhouse Chuck (piano), and Larry Taylor (bassist for Canned Heat). - The B.B. King tribute album, titled 'B.B. King's Blues Summit 100', is a 32-song project curated by Joe Bonamassa to commemorate what would have been King's 100th birthday on September 16, 1925. - Bonamassa, who was mentored by King and opened for him at just 12 years old, organized the tribute which has the full support of the B.B. King Estate. - The tribute album features a lineup of over 30 artists, including Slash, Keb' Mo', Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram.