Good news, everybody! After five years apart, popular roots 'n' blues giant Watermelon Slim has reunited with his talented, road-tested, award-winning band the Workers to record a brand new album! On June 25th, 2013 Northern Blues Music will release Bull Goose Rooster, the first album of new Watermelon Slim and the Workers music since 2008's No Paid Holidays. During his hiatus from the band, Slim recorded two critically acclaimed albums of twang-infused honky-tonk gems, 2009's Escape from the Chicken Coop and 2010's Ringers, as well as 2011's Okiesippi Blues, a musical collaboration with his friend and neighbor Super Chikan.
Bull Goose Rooster promises to be a return to form for Watermelon Slim and the Workers, the album featuring the band working out on a mix of Chicago, Delta, and Hill Country blues styles while also incorporating rock, country, and folk influences. "I promised myself that I would make this the best and biggest album I've ever made," Slim explains in a press release for the album. "At the bottom of it all, I'm a bluesman. I started playing and writing songs because I was interested in playing blues, but when I perform I play all kinds of music that came out of the American South. In the interest of reflecting that, the 16 songs on Bull Goose Rooster comprise my broadest, most ambitious recording to date."
Slim is particularly proud of his vocal and six-string performances on the album, claiming that "I'm playing the best guitar of my life right now," infusing songs like "Foreign Policy Blues" and "Prison Walls" with his wicked slide-guitar work and emotional vocals. Of course, it wouldn't be a Watermelon Slim album without some lyrical tall tales and the title track of Bull Goose Rooster is based on a "truly majestic bird" (in Slim's words) that rules the roost at the U.S. Post Office parking lot in Key West, Florida. Of course, Watermelon Slim and the Workers will hit the road hard, touring in support of the album over the summer and into the waning months of 2013.
"At his point I'm at the absolute top of my game," Slim attests. "I can sing my heart out every night and I've developed a unique style on all of my instruments. I may be a toothless 64-year-old bluesman, but I put on a hell of a show."
Related content: Watermelon Slim and the Workers - Live At The Ground Zero Blues Club DVD review
Photo courtesy Northern Blues Music
