Blues musician, Watermelon Slim, performing in Vicksburg tonight

American blues musician, Watermelon Slim, will be performing live in Vicksburg on The Roof at 1311.

Watermelon Slim, whose birth name is William Hoomans III, is accredited with 17 Blues Music Award nominations. The BMAs are considered the highest possible honor given to blues musicians. Tonight, he will be in Vicksburg, sharing his knack for the blues with locals and guests.

Hoomans is best known for his skills in harmonica and guitar. In addition to an extensive knowledge of those instruments, he can also play the bongos, tambourine, conga drums and harp. He has a vast history and a unique background that turns his music into captivating story telling. You can check out his interesting style of playing the guitar using a slide and finger picking in this youtube video. In the video, Slim is playing with his band, The Workers.

Watermelon Slim and The Workers won Album of the Year and Band of the Year at the 2008 Blues Music Awards. They won Album of the Year at the 6th Annual Independent Music Awards. In 2008, Slim was also the International Artist of the Year at the Maple Blues Awards. He and The Workers were featured in Mojo Magazine in 2006 and 2007 for number 1 Blues Album of the Year. On May 26, 2007, he was rightfully inducted into the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame.

He was friends with Bonnie Raitt, made a living as a Watermelon Farmer, is a veteran, and possesses a hippie’s heart as he is passionately anti-war. All of his experiences have crafted his specific sound and are shared with the public through his music. To learn more about the Watermelon Slim’s rich history, you can indulge in an interview done by Blues Blast Magazine in 2019 here.

Thursday night, above Cottonwood Public House, Watermelon Slim will share his musical blues stories once again with the city of Vicksburg.  This is all part of Raise the Roof Thursdays which is a recently added concert series presented by The Roof at 1311 and Key City Brewing. Slim will be the third musician to perform following the success of the last two Thursdays.

The Roof is open to guests at 5 p.m. Watermelon Slim will perform from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Roof is located at 1311, Washington Street in Vicksburg.

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