Tom Hambridge, the drummer, songwriter and producer behind more than 1,000 recordings by artists from Eric Clapton to ZZ Top, is bringing his band to Chan's Fine Oriental Dining in Woonsocket for back-to-back shows Friday and Saturday night. Both performances at the Main Street restaurant and listening room start at 8 p.m., offering fans two chances to see Hambridge with his band.
The Woonsocket dates come as Hambridge rides a fresh career high. According to The Valley Breeze, which first reported the shows, Hambridge grew up in Buffalo, New York, and has collaborated over the years with Buddy Guy, Susan Tedeschi, Quinn Sullivan, Keb' Mo', Delbert McClinton, B.B. King, Johnny Winter, ZZ Top, George Thorogood, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Chuck Berry. That résumé recently earned him his fifth career Grammy at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards in February, this time for producing Buddy Guy's album Ain't Done With The Blues in the Best Traditional Blues Album category, according to the Recording Academy. He had previously won four Grammys for producing albums by Guy and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram.
A Songwriter's Reach Across Genres
Hambridge's catalog runs deep. Per Blues Rock Review, more than 600 of his songs had been recorded as of 2024. Hambridge has collaborated with Buddy Guy and Susan Tedeschi, and produced Tedeschi's album Just Won't Burn.
Hambridge has worked with Roy Buchanan.
New Solo Album Riding High on the Charts
The current tour follows the release of Hambridge's solo album Down The Hatch, which came out through Quarto Valley Records on August 29, 2025. The 12-track record features Hambridge's own versions of songs he originally wrote for George Thorogood and Eric Clapton, according to Bluestown Music. Per the Valley Breeze, the album includes the song Making Lemonade as well as You Gotta Go Through St. Louis, which features Buddy Guy on guitar; Hambridge also produced Guy's song Skin Deep.
Hambridge told the Valley Breeze that his diverse early exposure to music proved invaluable in shaping him as a musician, and that he adapts his collaborations to each artist's style and his understanding of their music, while not limiting the variety of styles on his own records. Hambridge told the outlet he's excited to return to Rhode Island and play Chan's with his band.
A Historic Room in a Moment of Transition
The venue hosting him carries its own weight in Rhode Island cultural history. Chan's Fine Oriental Dining traces its origins back to 1905 and celebrated 120 years of continuous operation in 2025, according to WGBH News. The Chan family acquired the restaurant in 1965, when John Chan's father bought it from a cousin; it was then known as New Shanghai. A neighboring bank space and its former vault became a 130-seat club, per Atlas Obscura.
The first act performed at the restaurant in 1977; a radio personality coined the “Home of egg rolls, jazz and blues” slogan in the early 1980s. Chan was inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame in 2018, according to the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame.
For now, the shows go on as scheduled. Tickets and more information for Hambridge's Friday and Saturday performances are available at chanseggrollsjazz.com, with doors promising the kind of intimate, historic setting that has drawn blues and rock and roll fans to Main Street in Woonsocket for decades.
