Samui Profile

The following is an extract of an interview between Steven Willeboordse of Samui Explorer and Li'l Willy from the Fabulous Hepcats.

Samui Explorer:
Where does Li'l Willy come and what is his background?

Li'l Willy:
I am originally from East London in England. I am not going to bore you with my complete background but I will tell you how my music career started. Years ago while I was working in Hong Kong as an engineer I bought a Blues CD. Back home I listened to it and got fascinated by this type of music. I never had a real interest in music before and if I heard some music I could never tell who and what kind of music it was. After listening to it several times the music fascinated me so much that I decided I had to visit the place where it was recorded and experience the real deal live in Anton's Bar in Austin – Texas. So I packed my bags, including the CD and a Blues Harp (better known as the harmonica) which I also bought in Hong Kong, and left to the States. After visiting Austin and being completely caught by the blues, I travelled for one year with a camper between the two Blues Mecca's: New Orleans and Chicago. I practised a lot how to play the mouth harp and in Memphis I met another harp player named Billy Simmons who invited me to play with him and his band The Electric Mud Blues Band and the Carl Drew Blues Band. This was quite a success and they asked me to stay in Memphis to play with them every weekend in W.C. Handy Park.

Samui Explorer:
That must have been a good learning school.

Li'l Willy:
Oh yes it was, but this is only the beginning of my steps into the world of the real blues. During this period of 6 months I met the famous blues musician Arthur Lee Williams who invited me to hang out with him in Saint Louis, soak up the blues, play with him and get better on the blues harp. I stayed there for three months and jammed with him and his band. A better way to learn the real blues is hard to find. I left there as a student and 3 years later, after filling up my wallet in England I returned to the States to meet up with my friend Arthur Williams. He invited me again to play with him and that's where I became a musician. By the way, Arthur Williams also plays Metalmouth Sims in the soon to be released John Sayles film 'Honeydripper' also starring Danny Glover, Keb 'Mo and Stacey Keach.

Samui Explorer:
So what happened after that?

Li'l Willy:
After leaving Saint Louis I went back to Memphis where I reunited with the Carl Drew Blues Band, but this time as an experienced blues musician. We played every weekend as the resident band of the famous B.B. King Blues Club, on Beale Street, in Downtown Memphis. A lot of famous musicians have left their footsteps on stage, to name a few; Buddy Guy, Charley Musselwhite, Eric Clapton, John Lee Hooker, and of course B.B. King himself. We played there for three months every Saturday and Sunday, what a great time we had there.

After this period I packed my bags and moved to Australia to see what is was like to live down under. I ended up living in Tasmania for nine months, jamming the blues and forming a couple of bands. When my visa ran out it was time to move on and find a new place. On my way back to England I hit Samui to play in Secret Garden. The owner JJ introduced me to Coco Blues which resulted playing there for three months with my own band Smokehouse and as a guest player with the Stealers. It was a fabulous time with great performers. After that I started freelancing and formed the Jelly Roll All Stars. We played for a year in different venues such as Springer Pub, Morning Glory and Catfish Music Bar.

Samui Explorer:
So Samui became your new home?

Li'l Willy:
It certainly did. Especially after forming The Fabulous Hepcats, a solid blues band with a jazz feel, what we call Blazz. Apart from playing in the Frog & Gecko in Fisherman's village, Out of Africa in Chaweng and gigs on festivals in Krabi and Hua Hin, the last three months we also spend a lot of time in the studio recording our first CD, produced by Ritchie Newton from Rino Entertainment (www.rinoentertainment.com). The recording at Music Village Studios was a colourful experience due to the modern day recording techniques and the old style sound that we wanted to achieve. The finishing touch, which is the mixing, has been done by Gunther from Sonic Art Studios and so we are proud to present "Night Prowling"! For more information check our website www.fabuloushepcats.com and hope to see you all soon.