Slim Fatz's Page

Profile Information

City & State: Panama City ,Fl

Country: USA

Music Genre(s):: Blues, Roots

Bio:: As much at home playing on your front porch or on a festival stage Slim Fatz is a bluesman extraordinaire,who has represented Atlanta in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis . Slim has made the list for Grammy consideration for the last three years in a row. He is a masterful storyteller and what he does with a guitar should be illegal. Slim started his career in New York before later moving to New Orleans, Memphis, Atlanta then to Florida,spending quality time on the streets of New Orleans and in the alleys of Memphis.Some of Slim Fatz' influences include: Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson, Taj Mahal, Leon Redbone and Tom Waits. Slim's music matches his personality. His live shows are a must see in order to appreciate all the aspects of his music. On occasion, if the mood and booze are right, Slim will lay a preachin' on ya. He stands up, slaps his chest as if to chase out the demons, stomps his feet to be heard, falls down on his knees and raises his arms into the air to shake a finger, as if to say, I've got something to say. Listen up folks. His music cries out from the soul, with lyrics that cut straight to the bone. His latest offering is a team effort between Slim Fatz and legendary music producer Neal James, a cd titled:"Everybody Loves Slim". Closing your eyes it is as if you have stepped back into the modern past enjoying an all acoustical, all original Delta based album recorded with realism and extreme technique. Crystal clear guitar riffs flow down main street towards memory lane. The sound grabs you, draws you in. You can't help but follow the hypnotic rhythm and the unusual beat. You have now been touched by blues man extraordinaire Slim Fatz. The songs are a story of heartaches, love, loss, beautiful women, hard drinking, hard living and hard times. The raspy, sandpaper grit of Slim Fatz' voice tells the story of an emotional life, living on the street, playing slide guitar for a living and surviving to tell the story in song.

Review

Album, Single and Download Reviews

Slim Fatz

Everybody Loves Slim

Aladdin Entertainment Recordings

Released: 2010

US blues artist Slim Fatz has lived the life that so many pretenders just love to sing about. Despite this, and an ongoing struggle with chronic fatigue syndrome, Slim remains dedicated to the blues. “Everybody Loves Slim” - his latest release - is not only a fine showing of his take on the Delta blues but also a fine showing of character from a real character.

Asserting his mastery of both resonator and slide guitar early on, the title track paves the way for “Giddy-up A Go-Go”, which benefits from some basic percussion. This proves to be the case all though the album. Background vocals - most notably those of Jennifer O’Brian - also aid Slim’s cause throughout the album as can be heard best on “Evil”.

There’s a wealth of emotion to be read from Fatz’s voice and every word seems to carry its own worth. “New Orleans in the Rain” further demonstrates this. Boasting a weathered snarl that sits somewhere between a hushed Howlin’ Wolf and the late Captain Beefheart, there’s little doubt that his voice has been earned through hard living.

“Crawl” takes us towards swampier territories while “Never Again No Mo’ carries a decidedly remorseful tone and “Angel on a Cloud” offers some hope at the end of the album.

Recorded as if it were a live sitting, there’s a homely feel to the album which is rather appropriate when you consider the nature of the album. It isn’t the prettiest blues album you’re likely to hear but, frankly, it’s all the better for not being so.

Available from CD Baby.

Peter McGee