Page 30 - BiTS_05_MAY_2020

Traveling Man Watermelon Slim Northern Blues Music

ASIN: B084H5M9BB
If you’ve seen Watermelon Slim you’ll know that he is a talented
musician and singer and also an engaging raconteur and this new
record captures him performing solo before live audiences in 2016
at the Blue Door in Oklahoma City and at the Depot in Norman,

Oklahoma. The album contains mainly original songs but also
tributes to Howling Wolf and Muddy Waters (’Smokestack
Lightning’/’’Two Trains Running’) - although Slim says he's been
singing ‘Smokestack Lightning’ since hearing it on the Yardbirds'
first album in the 60s. He also name checks Fred McDowell when
covering his ‘Highway 61’, as well as playing an original take on the traditional song, ‘John Henry’.

Slim was a truck driver for many years so his own songs ‘Truck Drivin’ Songs’ ‘Scalemaster Blues’
and ‘300 Miles’ are written from experience. The songs are mainly delivered over slide guitar and on
‘Jimmy Bell’, written by William Carridine (Cat-Iron) he also plays harp. I particularly liked the
plaintive ‘Into the Sunset’ and as Slim says he's been singing ‘Oklahoma Blues’ for around 30 years.

On ’Oklahoma Blues’ and ‘Devil’s Cadillac’ you get a hint of his story telling from the song introductions
but personally I would have liked to have heard more of Slim talking to give a true flavour of his live
shows. Slim may not be the greatest guitarist or singer but he is a charismatic character and this
really comes across in both his delivery and his song-writing.

Graham Harrison

High Risk, Low Reward Ryan Perry RUF Records ASIN:

B082PQ33K5

I can’t say that I'd heard much by the Homemade Jamz Blues Band
- which featured Ryan on vocals and guitar - but right from the first
track here this really begs your attention, particularly the vocals
which sound much more mature than his 26 years. The album was
recorded at Berlin’s Studio Erde with producer Roger Inniss (Climax

Blues Band, Joanne Shaw-Taylor, Chaka Khan, etc) and includes a
mixture of original songs and some blues classics like BB King’s
“Why I Sing the Blues” and Howling' Wolf's “Evil is Going On”. The
band is Inniss on bass; Lucy Piper on drums and Jeffrey Staten and Stefanie Bechtold on backing vocals
and I quite like this minimal instrumentation that puts the emphasis firmly on Ryan and he certainly

rises to the occasion.
Ryan is from Mississippi so he brings some real authenticity to the material here, it's definitely blues
but it is also original and not backward-looking, his version of “Why I Sing the Blues” is quite funky

and similarly “Evil is Going On” is more like Hendrix than Wolf, with pounding rock drums and
wah-wah guitar. His own song “Changing Blues” is a thoughtful song that considers his own
development and the current blues scene, while “Hard Times” is a real down and dirty blues and "Oh
No" is a slow blues with some screaming lead guitar. This is a very impressive debut solo album and
I'll be very interested to see what he does next.

Graham Harrison