Watermelon Slim and the Workers Win Top Industry Honors For Band Of The Year and Album Of The Year
The NorthernBlues Music release The Wheel Man wins ‘Album of the Year’ over peers Koko Taylor, Bettye LaVette and Jimmie Vaughan.
Watermelon Slim and the Workers won a pair of awards at the Memphis-based Blues Foundation’s 2008 Blues Music Awards (formerly W.C. Handy Awards) on Thursday May 8, 2008 at the Grand Casino Event Center in Tunica, Mississippi.
Watermelon Slim is a relatively new luminary of the blues, rapidly building a career behind four albums and constant touring. In 2008 Slim was nominated for six awards, a feat matched only by the likes of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray. Slim has twelve nominations in the last two years, a feat unmatched in the event’s 29 years.
Slim, his band and the album have been steadily building praise preceding these two Blues Music Awards. The legendary Jerry Wexler penned the liner notes of the award winning album which also won the Independent Music Award for ‘Blues Album of the Year.’ Watermelon Slim and the Workers have long been leading earners for their exclusive booking agency, Intrepid Artists. Among other accolades, the band also won the 2008 Maple Blues Award for ‘International Artist of the Year.’
Blues Revue Magazine wrote of The Wheel Man “(Watermelon Slim) not only holds his own but defines a new genre – one that’s the blues’ answer to some of rock’s greatest garage bands.” Mainstream media such as Paste Magazine describes Slim as “the most exciting and authentic blues performer I’ve heard in years.” The U.K.’s MOJO Magazine ranked Slim’s last two records #1 on its annual ‘Best Blues Albums of the Year’ list.
The Toronto based world/roots/blues label NorthernBlues Music has released the last two Watermelon Slim & The Workers CDs. A self titled album was released in February 2006. ‘The Wheel Man’ was released in April 2007 and debuted in the top ten on Billboard’s Blues Charts. It was produced by Chris Wick and features keyboardist Dave Maxwell and Chicago blues legend Magic Slim on the title track. As mentioned earlier, Jerry Wexler wrote the liner notes yet had to decline a producer role due to health issues.
Owner of NorthernBluesMusic, Inc. Fred Litwin beams "I can't tell you how proud I am of Watermelon Slim - these awards show that the fans recognize he is the most authentic and honest bluesman out there." These are not lighthearted words considering Litwin’s label launched the likes of Otis Taylor and Janiva Magness into worldwide recognition and their own bevy of awards.
Born in North Carolina, raised in Boston, Bill ‘Watermelon Slim’ Homans was schooled at Middleberry College until he enlisted in Vietnam. While laid up in an Army hospital he taught himself upside down left handed guitar with his military issued Zippo as a slide and a plastic pick cut from the top of a coffee can. He has been a truck driver, watermelon farmer, sawmiller, funeral officiator and small time criminal. He’s earned two masters degrees in history and journalism and hauled industrial waste. In the early 2000s, a near fatal heart attack clarified his focus on mortality and he hit the road on a new career as a singing/songwriting/guitar playing/harmonica blowing/ performing bluesman.
The highly anticipated follow up to ‘The Wheel Man’ is entitled ‘No Paid Holidays’ and features Lee Roy Parnell on slide guitar. ‘No Paid Holidays’ hits the street June 24, 2008 on NorthernBlues Music via Redeye Distribution.
For almost three decades, the Blues Music Awards (and previously the W.C. Handy Awards) have celebrated excellence in performance and recording of the blues. For more information about the Blues Foundation and the Blues Music Awards, visit www.blues.org.
www.watermelonslim.com & www.northernblues.com
Label/Radio:Pamela at NorthernBlues 866-540-0003 or info@northernblues.com
Publicity & Media: Michael McClune at 310.319.1199 or michael@michaelmcclune.net
Bookings: Intrepid Artists at 704.358.4777 or staff@intrepidartists.com
Management: Chris Hardwick at Southern Artists at 405.447.4329 or chris@southernartist.net
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Watermellon Slim Press Release
Friday, May 9, 2008
BMA Winners Announced
1. DVD - Kenny Wayne Shepherd – 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads
2. Traditional Blues Male Artist - Hubert Sumlin
3. Traditional Blues Female Artist - Koko Taylor
4. Acoustic Artist - Bobby Rush
5. Acoustic Album Bobby Rush - Raw
6. Pinetop Perkins Piano Player - Honey Piazza
7. Instrumentalist-Guitar - Bob Margolin
8. Soul Blues Male Artist - Bobby Rush
9. Soul Blues Female Artist - Irma Thomas
10. Soul Blues Album - The Holmes Brothers – State of Grace
11. Historical Album - Epic/Legacy – Breakin’ It UP, Breakin’ it DOWN
12. Contemporary Blues Album - Tommy Castro - Painkiller
13. Contemporary Blues Female Artist - Bettye LaVette
14. Contemporary Blues Male Artist - Tab Benoit
15. Instrumentalist-Harmonica - Kim Wilson
16. Instrumentalist-Bass - Bob Stroger
17. Instrumentalist-Drums - Sam Lay
18. Instrumentalist-Horn - Deanna Bogart
19. Instrumentalist-Pedal Steel- Robert Randolph
20. Best New Artist Debut - Diunna Greenleaf & Blue Mercy – Cotton Field to Coffee House
21. Song - “Gonna Buy Me a Mule” – Koko Taylor
22. Traditional Blues Album - Koko Taylor – Old School
23. Album - Watermelon Slim & the Workers – The Wheel Man
24. Band - Watermelon Slim & the Workers
25. B.B. King Entertainer - Tommy Castro
Friday, February 1, 2008
Pinetop Perkins Nominated For Two BMA's
From the Helena Daily World in Helena Arkansas come an article about Pinetop Perkins. Pinetop has been nominated for two BMA's. To read about his story and the BMA's Click HERE.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
2008 Blues Music Awards Tickets On Sale Now!!
Tunica, MS – January 2008 – Tickets are now on sale for the most prestigious event in all of Blues music in 2008. The Blues Music Awards, to be held Thursday May 8, 2008 at the Grand Casino Resort Tunica (soon to be Harrah’s Casino Tunica), brings together Blues performers, industry representatives and fans from all over the world to celebrate the best in Blues recordings and performances from the previous year.
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“Each year, the Blues Foundation presents The Blues Music Awards to the artists selected by its members,” Jay Sieleman, the executive director of the Blues Foundation, said. “The awards are universally recognized as the highest honor given to Blues artists.” Tickets are on sale online at www.blues.org/tickets/bma.php. On that site as well, members are able to access the ballot to determine which of the nominees will be selected to receive the 25 Blues Music Awards. Rooms can also be booked now at the special Blues Music Award rate by calling Grand Casino Resort Tunica at 1-800-394-7263 and mentioning the group code S05BLUE.
Sieleman says holding the Blues Music Awards in the Mississippi Delta in Tunica, Mississippi, The South’s Casino Capital, will be a first for this prestigious event. The Blues Music Awards will be held at the Grand Casino Tunica Event Center, which is a state-of-the-art, 2,500 seat venue.
“We are honored to be able to host the 2008 Blues Music Awards,” Bill Wright, general manager of Grand Casino Resort Tunica, said. “We hope this is the beginning of a great tradition where the music indigenous to Mississippi is celebrated in Tunica, Mississippi, for years to come.”
The State of Mississippi, the Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau and Harrah’s Casino Tunica are sponsoring the Blues Music Awards.
“Tunica is the logical place to host this international event,” Webster Franklin, president and CEO of the Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau, said. “Not only is Tunica the entrance to the Blues Highway 61, but it’s also the South’s Casino Capital, making it an entertaining destination for all visitors coming to this event.”
In previous years, viewers have seen the appearance of more than 60 nominees and almost 30 nominee sets, many with one of a kind pairings. The 2008 show can be expected to improve on these critically-acclaimed shows.
The Blues Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Charter Member’s Dinner will be held the night before on Wednesday, May 7th at the $28 million Tunica Riverpark museum that sits right on the banks of the Mississippi River.
In addition, Blues fans can be assured that many additional events will be scheduled in the area during the week. For example, the State of Mississippi has created a Blues Trail for blues enthusiasts to travel along the Mississippi Blues Trail, walk where they walked, dance where they danced, and experience the blues where they were born. Come on an unforgettable journey and follow the Mississippi Blues trail, from street corners where blues musicians played for tips to places they called home and even to their final resting places. Point your browser to www.msbluestrail.org and start planning your authentic experience now.
The Presenting Sponsor for the Blues Awards 2008 is The GIBSON Foundation. The Blues Music Awards are also sponsored by BMI, Casey Family Programs, Eagle Rock Entertainment, FedEx, and the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.
Located 30 minutes south of Memphis, Tunica is The South’s Casino Capital. Be Taken Away by the nine world-class casinos, 6,000 luxurious hotel rooms, fine dining restaurants and buffets, headline entertainers, championship golf and tennis, award-winning museums, lavish spas, and outlet/antique shopping. Come see why everyone is saying, “Take Me Away to Tunica!” Call 1-888-4TUNICA to request a value-packed Winner’s Guide, or visit www.TunicaMiss.com for travel information.|
Contact:
Claire Pittman, Public Relations Manager
Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau
662-363-3800
888-488-6422
Thursday, January 10, 2008
2008 BMA's To Be Held In Tunica Mississippi
Friday, May 11, 2007
BMA Winners
2007 Blues Music Awards announced
Comeback Album of the Year: Jerry Lee Lewis - Last Man Standing
Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year: Robert Lockwood, Jr.
Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year: Etta James
Acoustic Artist of the Year: David "Honeyboy" Edwards
Acoustic Album of the Year: Rory Block - The Lady and Mr. Johnson
Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year: Marcia Ball
Instrumentalist-Guitar: Hubert Sumlin
Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year: Bobby Rush
Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year: Irma Thomas
Soul Blues Album of the Year: Irma Thomas - After the Rain
Historical Album of the Year: Shout! Factory - Hooker - John Lee Hooker
Contemporary Blues Album of the Year: Guitar Shorty - We the People
Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year: Janiva Magness
Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year: Tab Benoit
Instrumentalist-Harmonica: Charlie Musselwhite
Instrumentalist-Bass: Mookie Brill
Instrumentalist-Drums: Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Instrumentalist-Horn: Eddie Shaw
Instrumentalist-Other: Robert Randolph
Best New Artist Debut: Slick Ballinger - Mississippi Soul
Song of the Year: "Church is Out" - Charlie Musselwhite
Traditional Blues Album of the Year: Charlie Musselwhite - Delta Hardware
Album of the Year: Charlie Musselwhite - Delta Hardware
Band of the Year: Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials
B.B. King Entertainer of the Year: Tab Benoit