<back - WATERMELON SLIM - Watermelon Slim (aka Bill Homans) has been generating non-stop buzz in Blues circles lately, so those 30 years in the trenches, paying dues, getting knocked around, are finally paying dividends. There were some high points along the way, such as backing up friend and ex-roommate Henry Vestine of Canned Heat fame, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, John Lee Hooker, and even a Paris stay with expatriate New Orleans barrel-house piano legend Champion Jack Dupree. But these excursions were the exception, offset by low-paying gigs and that relentless diet of frustration typical of a musician’s lot. Slim’s day job involved trucking to pay the bills.

Ironically, the ripple effect causing the good stuff to happen, resulted from a near-fatal heart attack that befell Slim in 2002. A sign that fate was extending one final chance to fulfill his dreams. So he chucked his trucking job, and hit the highway. Emboldened in his resolve, secure in the faith he had something unique to offer, this seasoned slide guitar player with scalding vocals would hook up with top tier Oklahoma players leading to the formation of The Workers, a superb backing unit. The acclaim has been universal, especially since the 2003 release of Up Close And Personal. Accorded recognition as #1 Southern Blues CD of the Year from Real Blues Magazine, it helped set the table for a 2005 WC Handy Nomination for Best New Blues Artist. The momentum shows no signs of abating with Slim’s signing to NorthernBlues, quickly followed by the 2007 release of Watermelon Slim & The Workers. Slim learned guitar in the early 70’s while confined to a Vietnam Army hospital, and became the only veteran to record a full-length LP during the Vietnam War. Merry Airbrakes--recorded and produced in Boston--has established quite a reputation with the anti-establishment crowd. The 1990’s saw Slim returning to academia, earning an MA in History from Oklahoma State University. Four years later, however, the burden of student loans took him back to trucking. Then there was that fateful heart attack--which might have ended the story. Instead that misfortune brought everything back full circle, culminating in Slim’s first Blues solo release, Big Shoes To Fill, signaling his official re-entry to the Blues, and the revitalization of his primary passion. Slim says, 'Everything I do now has a sharper pleasure to it. I’ve lived a fuller life than most people could in two. If I go now, I’ve got a lot of education, I’ve lived on three continents, and I’ve played music with a bunch of immortal Blues players. I’ve seen an awful lot'. -Gary Tate  MP3- Watermelon Slim's podcast