Search - Watermelon Slim :: Watermelon Slim and the Workers

A fresh-sounding take on the blues

loce_the_wizard | Lilburn, GA USA | 06/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bill "Watermelon Slim" Homans sings about misery and treachery, but instead of just going to the well and reroasting the same blues chestnuts he gives the genre a good, swift kick in the rear. "Watermelon Slim and the Workers" is the kind of CD that one should play to a group of friends assembled for a game or cards or dice on the porch. Nobody will know what is playing, but everybody will like this fresh-sounding take on the blues.



Mr. Homans penned most of the tracks here, and he delivers his musical tales in a howl that might raise the hackles on more than a few dogs. His slide and harp playing are on the money, and the Workers, the excellent trio who accompany him, lend plenty of feisty energy to this blues-laden outing. Instead of over-the-top guitar or gutbucket baying, Watermelon Slim and the Workers features crisp arrangements paired with laconic insights instilling new life into a sometimes tired genre.

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