Shemekia Copeland 'The Soul Truth' album

From the softest soul whisper to a growling, full-throated blues roar, vocalist Shemekia Copeland sings soul deep. Her huge, dynamic voice and vibrant personality shine through every song she tackles. Since the release of her 1998 Alligator debut, TURN THE HEAT up, Copeland has conquered the blues world and beyond. Both mainstream media and blues publications could barely contain their enthusiasm over the young star-on-the-rise. Billboard referred to her as a “fire-starter.” “Copeland always delivers,” raved The Washington Post. And now the 21-year-old “diva-in-the-making,” as CNN called her, continues to pour it on. With her new album, WICKED, she turns the heat way up, delivering a no-holds-barred collection of hip-shakers and slow-burners. Recorded in New York City and produced by Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, songwriter John Hahn and Late Night With Conan O’Brien guitarist Jimmy Vivino, WICKED picks up right where TURN THE HEAT UP left off. Copeland’s command of subtlety, matched with her bursting-at-the-seams talent, drives each and every song with full-throttle power. From the foot-stomping urgency of It’s 2:00 A.M. to the slow-burning Love Scene to the gospel-tinged Whole Lotta Water to the declarative Wild, Wild Woman, Copeland leads the band (fronted by Vivino) through a wide range of emotions, resulting in music that moves bodies and souls. And with the help of The Uptown Horns and her road-tested touring band (guitarist Arthur Neilson, pianist Doña Oxford, bassist Eric King and drummer Barry Harrison) on a few songs, and special guest Ruth Brown on If He Moves His Lips, WICKED treads the ground where blues and soul meet rock and roll.

“I never knew I wanted to sing until I got older,” says Copeland. “But my dad knew ever since I was a baby. He just knew I was gonna be a singer.” Her father, the late Texas blues guitar legend Johnny Clyde Copeland, recognized his daughter’s talent early on. He always encouraged her to sing at home and even brought her on stage to sing at Harlem’s famed Cotton Club when she was just eight. At that time Shemekia’s embarrassment outweighed her desire to sing. But when she was 15 and her father’s health began to slow him down, she received the calling. “It was like a switch went off in my head,” recalls Shemekia, “and I wanted to sing. It became a want and a need. I had to do it.”

Shemekia’s passion for singing, matched with her huge, blast-furnace voice and impeccable timing, give her music the timeless power and foot-stomping urgency of a very few greats who have come before her. The media has compared her to a young Koko Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, and Ruth Brown, but Shemekia — who was raised in the tough, urban streets of Harlem — has her own story to tell. Although schooled in Texas blues by her father, Shemekia’s blues come from deep within herself and the streets she grew up on, where a daily dose of city sounds — from street performers to gospel singers to blasting radios to bands in local parks — surrounded her. When Alligator Records president Bruce Iglauer first heard Shemekia, he declared, “I think she will be the next great female blues singer. She has the voice, the presence, and the roots all combined with the energy of a teenager. The blues world has been waiting for someone like Shemekia for a long time.”

After his heart condition was diagnosed, Johnny Copeland began taking Shemekia on the road with him when she was just sixteen. Soon enough Shemekia was opening, and sometimes even stealing, shows. “She grabbed the crowd with her powerful voice, poised and intense,” raved Blues Revue. Eventually, though, it became clear to Shemekia who was helping whom. “Dad wanted me to think I was helping him out by opening his shows when he was sick, but really, he was doing it all for me. He would go out and do gigs so I would get known. He went out of his way to get me that exposure,” recalls Shemekia. “It sure is a thrill watching my daughter perform,” the proud papa told an interviewer. “She’s a real blues person.”

While opening shows for her father, Shemekia was making plenty of other friends. Along with Johnny, she appeared on Good Morning America, and shared stages with Gatemouth Brown, James Cotton, Bobby Rush and Johnnie Johnson. “Shemekia is more than ready to step out on her own,” declared The Village Voice, a year before her debut album.

Shemekia stepped out in 1998 when Alligator released TURN THE HEAT UP to massive popular and critical acclaim. Rave reviews ran everywhere from Billboard to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, Emerge and many others. She made the cover of both Blues Revue and Blues Access and was featured on CNN’s Showbiz Today and Entertainment Weekly programs as well as appearing on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. She even performed the title track from the album on Late Night With Conan O’Brien, reaching an audience of millions. “Nothing short of uncanny,” said The Village Voice. “Pure, beautifully unaffected and powerful,” raved Living Blues. “She roars with a sizzling hot intensity,” shouted The Boston Globe.

Shemekia has already toured the world — including five tours of Europe — and won fans at every stop. She’s played at New York’s Beacon Theatre with Buddy Guy, Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club with B.B. King, and shared the stage with Taj Mahal at England’s Bishopstock Blues Festival. She won the hearts and souls of new fans at the 1998 Chicago Blues Festival as well as Chicago’s Park West, The North Atlantic Blues Festival, Milwaukee’s Summerfest, The Monterey Jazz Festival and The New York State Blues Festival, The North Sea Festival in Holland, The Montreaux Jazz Festival and many others. Some of her famous friends and fans include Robert Cray, Taj Mahal, Ruth Brown and Robert Plant, who declared Shemekia “is bigger than the blues. She’s the next Tina Turner.” In addition to all of Shemekia’s touring, she appeared in the major motion picture, Three To Tango, and on the CBS television series, Early Edition. And her song, I Always Get My Man, will be featured in another Hollywood film, Broken Hearts Club, to be released in September, 2000.

One of the many lessons Shemekia learned growing up was the importance of singing from the heart. “Nobody wants to listen to someone singing just to earn some money,” she says. “You’ve gotta sing because you need to do it.” One of her other needs, besides becoming a success in the music world, is to encourage her peers to discover the blues. “A lot of kids my age say they don’t like the blues because it’s boring or whatever,” says Shemekia. “But when they come to see me they love it.” Indeed, Shemekia’s soul-satisfying vocals matched with her inner need to sing have already brought her to blues audiences both young and old.

“I listen to Koko Taylor, Katie Webster, Trudy Lynn, Etta James. But I don’t try to copy them. I just take little things from each one and add them to my style. But for as long as I live my father’s music will live through me. I feel his spirit on stage every night. As long as I’m here, the blues will always be in me and I’m gonna be spreading it around the world. I’m going to keep on doing this and make my daddy proud.”

With the powerful and radio-friendly songs on WICKED and continued non-stop touring, Shemekia will not only make her daddy proud, she’ll make him right. After all, he knew Shemekia was a blues singer from day one. “Copeland’s promise is as limitless as her talent,” roared Living Blues. And her talent, fans and critics agree, has no bounds.

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Shemekia Copeland - The Soul Truth