Shemekia Copeland

Last updated
Shemekia Copeland
Shemekia Copeland, Summit on Race.jpg
Copeland at the 2019 Summit on Race
Background information
Birth nameCharon Shemekia Copeland
Born (1979-04-10) April 10, 1979 (age 44)
Harlem, New York, United States
Genres Electric blues, [1] gospel, R&B
Occupation(s)Singer
Instrument(s) Vocals
Years active1996–present
Labels Alligator Records, Telarc (2008-2012)
Website Shemekia Copeland.com

Charon Shemekia Copeland (born April 10, 1979) [2] [3] is an American electric blues vocalist. [1] To date, she has released ten albums and been presented with eight Blues Music Awards.

Contents

Career

Copeland was born in Harlem, New York City, United States. She is the daughter of Texas blues guitarist and singer Johnny Copeland. [4] She began singing at an early age and her first public performance was at the Cotton Club when she was about 10. [5] She began to pursue a singing career in earnest at age 16. When her father's health began to decline, he took Shemekia on tour as his opening act, which helped establish her name on the blues circuit. Copeland graduated in 1997 from Teaneck High School in Teaneck, New Jersey. [6]

She landed a recording contract with Alligator Records, which issued her debut album, Turn the Heat Up! in 1998, following it up with a tour of the blues festival circuit in America and Europe. Her second album, Wicked, was released in 2000 and featured a duet with one of her heroes, Ruth Brown. It earned her three Blues Music Awards.

The follow-up record, Talking to Strangers, was produced by Dr. John, and in 2005 she released The Soul Truth, produced by Steve Cropper.

In 2008, Copeland signed with Telarc International, [7] and released her first album, Never Going Back, with that label in February 2009. She won the "Rising Star - Blues Artist" in Down Beat magazine's critics poll announced in the December 2009 issue.

Copeland participated in the Efes Pilsen Blues Festival in 2009. On June 12, 2011 at the 2011 Chicago Blues Festival, Copeland was presented Koko Taylor's crown, and officially given the honor as the new "Queen of the Blues" by Koko Taylor's daughter, Cookie Taylor.

In 2013, Copeland was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the Contemporary Blues Female Artist' category. [8] She won the title in 2016. [9]

In October 2015, her album Outskirts of Love peaked at number 6 in the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart. In 2017 she participated in Mahindra Blues Festival, Mumbai. [10] In August 2018, her next album, America's Child, entered the same listing at number 3. [11] The recording won both the 'Album of the Year' and 'Contemporary Album of the Year' titles at the 40th Blues Music Awards in 2019. [12]

In May 2020, Copeland was presented with another Blues Music Award in the 'Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year' category. [13]

In July 2022 she won the award Blues artist of the year at the annual Downbeat Critics Poll. [14] She released her tenth studio album, Done Come Too Far, on August 19, 2022 [15] In 2023, Copeland triumphed in the 'Instrumentalist - Vocals' category at the Blues Music Awards. [16]

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koko Taylor</span> American blues singer (1928–2009)

Koko Taylor was an American singer whose style encompassed Chicago blues, electric blues, rhythm and blues and soul blues. Sometimes called "The Queen of the Blues", she was known for her rough, powerful vocals. Over the course of her career, she was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards, winning 1985's Best Traditional Blues Album for her appearance on Blues Explosion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonny Landreth</span> American blues musician

Clide Vernon "Sonny" Landreth is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rory Block</span> Musical artist

Aurora "Rory" Block is an American blues guitarist and singer, a notable exponent of the country blues style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Foley</span> Musical artist

Sue Foley is a Canadian blues guitarist and singer. She has released 15 albums since her debut with Young Girl Blues (1992). In May 2020, Foley won her first Blues Music Award, in the 'Koko Taylor Award ' category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Mississippi Allstars</span> American southern rock and blues band

North Mississippi Allstars is an American blues and southern rock band from Hernando, Mississippi, founded in 1996. The band is currently composed of brothers Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson. Their most recent album Set Sail was released in 2022.

Taral Hicks is an American actress and R&B singer. Hicks is best known for her acting in such films as 1993's American crime drama film A Bronx Tale and her 1997 debut R&B studio album This Time which featured a cover of Deniece Williams' "Silly" that peaked at No. 4 on Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Iglauer</span> American businessman and record producer

Bruce Iglauer is an American businessman and record producer who founded Alligator Records as an independent record label featuring blues music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Copeland</span> Musical artist

John Clyde Copeland was an American Texas blues guitarist and singer. In 1983, he was named Blues Entertainer of the Year by the Blues Foundation. He is the father of blues singer Shemekia Copeland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otis Taylor (musician)</span> American blues musician (born 1948)

Otis Taylor is an American blues musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist whose talents include the guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, and vocals. In 2001, he was awarded a fellowship to the Sundance Film Composers Laboratory.

Gina Sicilia is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Her album, Heard the Lie, peaked in the Top 10 on Billboard charts blues music charts in September, 2018 as well as Sunset Avenue peaking at #15 in September, 2016. She was nominated for a Blues Music Award for Best New Artist in 2008 and has shared the stage with such artists as Beth Hart, Joan Osborne, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joe Bonamassa, Shemekia Copeland, and Johnny Winter amongst others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruthie Foster</span> American blues musician, singer, and songwriter

Ruthie Cecelia Foster is an American singer-songwriter of blues and folk music. She mixes a wide palette of American song forms, from gospel and blues to jazz, folk and soul. She has often been compared to Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janiva Magness</span> Musical artist

Janiva Magness is an American Grammy Award nominated blues, soul, and Americana singer, songwriter, and author. To date she has released 16 albums.

Trudy Lynn is an American electric blues and soul blues singer and songwriter, whose recorded work has been released on twelve studio albums, one live album, and four compilation albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharrie Williams</span> American singer-songwriter

Sharrie Williams is an American blues/soul/gospel singer-songwriter.

Diunna Greenleaf is an American blues singer and songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cécile McLorin Salvant</span> American jazz vocalist

Cécile McLorin Salvant is an American jazz vocalist. She was the winner of the first prize in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2010, releasing her first album, Cécile, shortly thereafter. Her second album, WomanChild, was released in 2013 on Mack Avenue Records, receiving a 2014 Grammy Award nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Salvant won four categories in the 2014 DownBeat Critics Poll: Jazz Album of the Year, Female Vocalist, Rising Star–Jazz Artist, and Rising Star–Female Vocalist. Her third album, For One to Love, was released on September 5, 2015, to critical acclaim from The New York Times, The Guardian, and Los Angeles Times. It won her the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danielle Nicole</span> Musical artist

Danielle Nicole is an American blues/soul musician from Kansas City, Missouri, United States. Her self-titled solo debut EP was released March 10, 2015 on Concord Records. The self-titled EP features Grammy Award-winning producer-guitarist Anders Osborne, Galactic's co-founding drummer Stanton Moore and keyboardist Mike Sedovic. On February 25, 2015, American Blues Scene premiered the track "Didn't Do You No Good" off the new EP.

Grady Champion is an American electric blues harmonicist, singer, guitarist and songwriter. He has released ten albums to date. His influences include Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Koko Taylor. His "rough, raspy vocals", complement his "authentic Mississippi juke joint blues and... modern ultra produced dance party soul and R&B".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supersonic Blues Machine</span> American band

Supersonic Blues Machine is an American, California-based trio, consisting of drummer Kenny Aronoff, producer/bass player Fabrizio Grossi and singer/guitarist Kris Barras, currently signed to Provogue Records. Their sound is predominantly based on American roots music, but stretches out to reach different styles of the genre, such as contemporary blues, funk R&B, rock 'n' soul, and alternative. Their "claim to fame" is to always enlist a noticeable line up of guests and sidemen, both on their records as on their live shows. They have recorded two albums, West of Flushing, South of Frisco (2016), Californisoul (2017), both of which reached the Top 15 of the Billboard Blues Albums chart, and released their first live record Road Chronicles - LIVE! in July 2019. Their third studio album VooDoo Nation was released in June 2022.

The Libera Award for Best Blues Record is an award presented by the American Association of Independent Music at the annual Libera Award which recognizes "best blues album released commercially in the United States by an independent label" since 2018.

References

  1. 1 2 Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music (1st ed.). Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 181. ISBN   1-904041-96-5.
  2. ↑ Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 263. ISBN   978-0313344237.
  3. ↑ "Today in History - April 10", Fox News, April 10, 2008. Accessed November 22, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Metroactive Music - Santa Cruz Blues Festival". Metroactive.com. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Shemekia Copeland sings about what's going on (Ep266) - Americana Music Show Podcast". Americanamusicshow.com. 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2015-10-10.
  6. ↑ "WHERE STARS ARE BORN -- NORTH JERSEY NURTURES ITS ASPIRING ARTISTS". Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Telarc". Telarc.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Blues Music Awards Nominees - 2013 - 34th Blues Music Awards". Blues.org. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  9. ↑ "2016 Blues Music Awards Winner List". Blues411.com. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
  10. ↑ "Mahindra Blues Festival, Mumbai". Rollingstone India. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  11. ↑ "Shemekia Copeland". Billboard.com. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  12. ↑ "2019 Blues Music Awards Winners Announced". Antimusic.com. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  13. ↑ McKay, Robin. "BLUES MUSIC AWARDS". Blues.org. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  14. ↑ "70th Annual DownBeat Critics Poll Delivers!". downbeat.com. 2022-07-26. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  15. ↑ "Done Come Too Far Review by Thom Jurek". AllMusic . 2022-08-19. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  16. ↑ Grein, Paul (May 12, 2023). "Tommy Castro Repeats as Entertainer of the Year at 2023 Blues Music Awards: Full Winners List". Billboard.com. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.