Song:Black Water
Album:The Wheel Man
For many years, Bill "Watermelon Slim" Homans drove a truck for a living and occasionally toured with blues musicians. A late 90s health scare convinced him to take music more seriously and now he's a fixture on the blues festival circuit. Homans was born in Boston in 1949 but he grew up in North Carolina and he became a blues fan as a child. After a tour of duty in Vietnam, he tried music and released the 1973 album Merry Airbrakes. He also toured with John Lee Hooker and Robert Cray among others. But for the most part, Homans drove a truck. Then in the late 90s, he formed the band Fried Okra Jones and released an album and they went on tour. This was curtailed when Homans suffered a serious heart attack. Upon his recovery, Homans decided to quit driving trucks and that's when he formed Watermelon Slim and the Workers. Homans has recorded several albums for NorthernBlues. Black Water is from the 2007 CD The Wheel Man. Homans wrote most of the songs and of course he plays steel guitar. Other musicians are Ronnie "Mack" McMullen and Ike Lamb on guitar, Cliff Belcher on bass and Michael Newberry on drums. The album won two Blues Music Awards including Best Blues CD of 2007. Last year Homans released the album Golden Boy on the French label Dixie Frog. He has been recording a new album scheduled for a 2019 release. But he also recently had hernia surgery. Homans says on his website that he is recovering and will be ready to tour as scheduled in April. Check him out if you like steel guitar in your blues. Here's Watermelon Slim and the Workers performing Black Water at the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, MS. 2010. This is available on DVD.
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