Watermelon Slim & The Workers Release No Paid Vacations June 24

He's back! Back to defend the title as top contemporary bluesman of our era is Watermelon Slim and his band of merry men, The Workers.

The band is ready to defend the title they won last month at the 2008 Blues Music Awards when they were named Band of the Year and their album The Wheel Man was awarded album of the year.

No Paid Vacations joins a list of fantastic releases slated for June, dropping on June 24. This is his third release for the burgeoning independent blues label Northern Blues and third album in three years. That's an amazing pace considering the number of shows he plays each year in support of his albums. So far, the pace of his releases have had no adverse impact on the quality of the albums. Watermelon Slim has been nominated for more BMAs than any other artist the last two years. He has been nominated for 12 BMAs in the past two years, leading the field with six in 2007 and 2008.

On The Wheel Man, Slim was joined for a cameo by the amazing Magic Slim. On No Paid Vacations, Slim welcomes slide guitar ace Lee Roy Parnell. I haven't heard a note of this record and I'm already excited.

Hell, I'd never heard of Watermelon Slim at all until I wrote a story about the 2007 BMA nominations. That led to me checking out his self-titled release and I've been a fan ever since. The Wheel Man further cemented that and now we're less than a month until No Paid Vacations, a title that has special meaning for me these days. I'm not getting too many days off at present. Normally that would be cause for complaint but now that I've seen the roster of upcoming releases I'm glad I'm working all these extra hours because music can be an expensive habit. It's worth it, though.

Tracklist for No Paid Vacations

1. Blues for Howard
2. Archetypal Blues No. 2
3. Call My Job
4. Dad in the Distance
5. You're the One I Need
6. Bubba's Blues
7. And When I Die
8. Into the Sunset
9. Gearzy's Boogie
10. This Traveling Life
11. Max the Baseball Crown
12. Bloody Burmese Blues
13. I've Got a Toothache
14. Everybody's Down on Me