Watermelon Slim

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Watermelon Slim

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Img_capt = Watermelon Slim at Silver Dollar Room, Toronto, ON
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Birth_name = Bill Homans
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Instrument = Harmonica, Guitar
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Genre = Blues
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Label = NorthernBlues Music
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Bill Homans, professionally known as "Watermelon Slim", is an American blues musician. He plays both guitar and harmonica. He is currently signed to NorthernBlues Music, based out of Toronto, Ontario.

Homans has been performing since the 1970s and has been linked to several notable blues musicians, including John Lee Hooker, Robert Cray, Champion Jack Dupree, Bonnie Raitt, "Country" Joe McDonald, and Henry Vestine of Canned Heat.

His music is rooted in the Mississippi Delta style, playing his dobro guitar lap-style with a slide. While typically an acoustic performer, he has been known to occasionally play electric. Recently, he has toured with a supporting band dubbed "the Workers". In 2005, Homans was nominated for the prestigious W. C. Handy Award for "Best New Artist Debut". He and his band have also been nominated for six more Handy Awards for 2006, in a variety of categories, and for a Maple Blues Award from the Toronto Blues Society for the 2006 album "Watermelon Slim and the Workers".

Homans is a graduate of Lenox School for boys, a boarding school in Lenox, MA. Homans has a bachelor's degree in journalism and history from the University of Oregon, and a master's degree in history from Oklahoma State University. He has also served as a member of Mensa International.

He is a veteran of the Vietnam War and at first had attended Middlebury College before dropping out to enlist. He came back home a fervent anti-war activist. He has been a longtime member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

Discography

Albums

*"Big Shoes to Fill" (2003)
*"Up Close & Personal" (2004)
*"Watermelon Slim & the Workers" (2006)
*"The Wheel Man" (2007)
*"No Paid Holidays" (2008)

DVDs

*"Ripe For the Picking" (live) (2006)

External links

* [http://www.watermelonslim.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.northernblues.com| NorthernBlues Music Official Site]
* [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=watermelon+slim/ Video of Watermelon Slim playing]
* [http://www.oraclesmusic.com/Review_16_Watermelon_Slim.php Review of Watermelon Slim and The Workers]
* [http://www.oraclesmusic.com/Review_22_Watermelon_Slim.php Review of The Wheel Man]
* [http://www.oraclesmusic.com/Review_24_Watermelon_Slim.php Concert Review]