Shemekia Copeland: Queen of the Blues

Saturday, November 23rd @ 7:30 pm

Barre Opera House | Barre, VT

-Get Tickets and Event Info Here-

Shemekia Copeland possesses one of the most instantly recognizable and deeply soulful roots music voices of our time. The multi-GRAMMY nominee is beloved and honored worldwide for the fearlessness, honesty and humor of her revelatory songs, as well as for her winning, engaging personality. The Chicago Tribune says, “Copeland is the greatest female blues vocalist working today. There’s no mistaking the majesty of her instrument, nor the ferocity of her delivery.”

On Copeland’s new album, Blame It On Eve, the songs all hit hard, with jaw-dropping performances that instantly take hold and command repeated listening. “There’s serious business on the new album,” Copeland says, “but there are a lot of smiles here too, a lot of joyous moments. It’s my blues for sure but it’s the brighter side. Issues are always important to me, but so is rocking, dancing and just having fun. And that’s something we all can all agree on.”

Blame It On Eve was recorded in Nashville and produced by instrumentalist/songwriter Will Kimbrough (who also produced her previous three albums). It features 12 new songs that tackle subjects as important as a woman’s right to choose and climate change, but also leaves space for Copeland to have fun and unwind. From the autobiographical, rocking blues boogie Tough Mother to the anthemic title track’s good-humored but serious focus on reproductive self-determination to the happy hour of Wine O’Clock, Copeland is inspired throughout.

Born and raised in Harlem in 1979, Shemekia Copeland first stepped on stage with her famous father at New York’s Cotton Club when she was eight. Upon release of her Alligator Records debut Turn The Heat Up in 1998 when she was only 18, Copeland instantly became a blues and R&B force to be reckoned with. The New York Times and CNN, among many others, praised her talent, larger-than-life personality, dynamic, authoritative voice and true star power. With each subsequent release, Copeland’s music continued to evolve. From her debut through 2005’s The Soul Truth, Shemekia earned eight Blues Music Awards and a host of Living Blues Awards. 2000’s Wicked received the first of her five GRAMMY nominations. After two successful releases on Telarc (including 2012’s GRAMMY-nominated 33 1/3), Copeland returned to Alligator Records in 2015 with the GRAMMY-nominated, Blues Music Award-winning Outskirts Of Love, melding blues with more rootsy, Americana sounds.

With 2018’s America’s Child, Copeland brought out the first of her celebrated trilogy of albums concerning the state of the world, sung from her perspective as a young, Black woman and new mother. MOJO magazine named America’s Child the #1 blues release of 2018. It won both the Blues Music Award and the Living Blues Award for Album Of The Year.  In addition to earning a GRAMMY Award nomination, Copeland’s groundbreaking 2020 follow-up, Uncivil War, was named the 2020 Blues Album Of The Year by DownBeat, MOJO and Living Blues magazines. “Shemekia Copeland is a powerhouse,” said Rolling Stone. “She can do no wrong.” She received her fifth GRAMMY nomination for Done Come Too Far, which closed the trilogy with a searing set of truth-to-power, rock and Hill Country blues-fueled songs. “Shemekia Copeland is an antidote to artifice,” said The Philadelphia Inquirer. “She is a commanding presence, a powerhouse vocalist delivering the truth.”