Description
Label Review.
2020 live album.
Our Overview.
American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Watermelon Slim is one of the most authentic bluesman in the world today. With an ever-expanding career of ramshackle grandeur, Bill “Watermelon Slim” Homans has built a remarkable reputation with his raw, impassioned intensity. HARP Magazine wrote “From sizzling slide guitar…to nitty-gritty harp blowing…to a gruff, resonating Okie twang, Slim delivers acutely personal workingman blues with both hands on the wheel of life, a bottle of hooch in his pocket, and the Bible on the passenger seat.” Paste Magazine writes “He’s one hell of a bottleneck guitarist, and he’s got that cry in his voice that only the greatest singers in the genre have had before him.”
Slim’s compelling live solo performance is captured on this brilliant double CD. Featuring Watermelon Slim on vocals, harmonica and electric slide guitar, and produced by Slim & Chris Hardwick, ‘Traveling Man’ is a stunning mix of original & classic blues tunes (including Fred McDowell’s “61 Highway Blues”, Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning” and Muddy Waters’ “Two Trains Running”) covering topics both personal and political. ‘Traveling Man’ features Watermelon Slim at his finest — alone with his slide guitar and powerful rough-hewn vocals.
Watermelon Slim’s critically acclaimed previous release, 2019’s Church of the Blues, has just been nominated for two 2020 Blues Music Awards — “Album of the Year” and “Traditional Album of the Year.” The Blues Music Awards will be announced in Memphis on Thursday, May 7, 2020. “A knowing observer of all those things that define the blues at its very essence, he provides a stirring reminder of what craft and credence can deliver when served up in sync.” (Living Blues)
This is Watermelon Slim at his finest’ alone with his slide guitar and amazing vocals .‘Traveling Man’ is the ultimate in a Watermelon Slim live performance: a brilliant double CD featuring the best of two shows. Watermelon Slim is Mensa-smart and possesses the acute powers of observation that makes his songwriting so seductive. But whether he’s using a mini-bar bottle, one-inch socket or a seashell as a slide, his bottleneck and singing style set him apart in today’s roots & blues world.
Tracklisting:
CD 1: Blue Freightliner (Live) / Truck Driving Songs (Live) / Northern Blues (Live) / The Last Blues (Live) / Scalemaster Blues (Live) / 300 Miles (Live) / Jimmy Bell (Live) / 61 Highway Blues (Live) / Smokestack Lightning / Two Trains Running (Live) / Frisco Line (Live) / Holler #4 (Live)
CD 2: Let It Be In Memphis (Live) / Into The Sunset (Live) / John Henry (Live) / Archetypal Blues (Live) / Oklahoma Blues (Live) / Devil’s Cadillac (Live) / Dark Genius (Live)