NEVER GOING BACK
AVAILABLE ON
 

Orders can also be placed via the
Concord Music Group website


See Shemekia's Performance on
Late Night with David Letterman
Air date:  Friday, February 20, 2009
and
Backstage Photos
from theTaping:  Monday, February 16, 2009
 

2010 BLUES MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS!!
posted on 12/9/2009

Shemekia has been nominated for a 2010 Blues Music Award in the "Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year" category.  Additionally, Shemekia's hit, "Never Going Back To Memphis," written by John Hahn and Oliver Wood, has also been nominated in the "Song of the Year" category.

The 2010 Blues Music Awards will be held Thursday May 6, 2010 at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tennessee.  For more information, including a full listing of all nominees, is posted on the Blues Foundation website, at www.blues.org.

SHEMEKIA - COVER OF POLLSTAR!
posted on 7/17/2009

SHEMEKIA WINS DOWNBEAT POLL!
posted on 7/01/2009

Shemekia took top honors in the "Rising Star - Blues Artist" category of DownBeat's 57th Annual Critic's Poll.  The full listing of all categories and winners will be featured in their December 2009 issue.

LETTER FROM  SHEMEKIA
posted on 6/04/2009

Hi, everyone,

I'm at the hospital right now with my mom; she just had a triple bypass.  She is doing well right now.

The blues world just lost a TRUE legend in the passing of Koko Taylor.  She paved the way for all female blues artists, not only here in the US, but around the world.  If it weren't for Koko, I wouldn't be able to do what I do.  I have lost a friend, mentor, and my "Blues Mama."  I will think of her everyday, and she will live on in my heart for the rest of my life.

Koko Taylor is now -- and will always be -- the undisputed Queen of the Blues.

Love,

Shemekia

NPR'S WORLD CAFE FEATURING SHEMEKIA TO BROADCAST FRIDAY, APRIL 17th, 2009
posted on 3/12/2009

National Public Radio’s World Cafe with host David Dye can be heard on nearly 200 stations nationwide. Fans can find their local station by scrolling to the bottom and choosing their state under "Find a Program Broadcast Time" at this link, or worldwide they can listen online to the WXPN/Philadelphia stream Monday through Friday, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time by going here.

Late in the day of broadcast, the audio will be available on the National Public Radio website if permission has been granted for this session here.


SHEMEKIA'S INTERVIEW WITH ELWOOD BLUES (DAN ACKROYD) TO AIR WEEKEND OF FEBRUARY 7/8
Posted on 2/2/2009

Don't miss Shemekia's interview with Elwood Blues (Dan Ackroyd) on the House of Blues Radio Network this weekend!   Find your local affiliate here and make plans now to tune in!

SHEMEKIA RETURNS FROM BLUZAPALOOZA TOUR OF IRAQ AND KUWAIT
Posted on 11/17/2008

**Click here to view Bluzapalooza Video Footage**

Just as Shemekia Copeland, readied her new album Never Going Back (out 2/24 on Telarc), she signed on for the Bluzapalooza 12 day tour of Iraq and Kuwait. "I was deeply honored to go over there and entertain our troops," Copeland who returned on November 7th reflects, "It was the hardest but the most rewarding thing I've done in my career." Copeland, seen in this photo with troops, jokingly adds, "and Lord knows I love to hang out with men in uniforms."

Bluzapalooza co-producer Steven Simon declared, "This is certainly an historic event for the blues and for our men and woman who so proudly serve our country," while fellow co-producer John Hahn adds, "Our October tour's lineup would sell out any blues festival in the country but it's an honor to be able to bring it to our troops." Copeland was joined by blues icons Michael Burks, Deanna Bogart, Zac Harmon, Moreland & Arbuckle and Tony Braunagel.

This experience gave Copeland a new perspective on "Broken World," the premiere single from her vintage-soul and forward-thinking blues album Never Going Back. "Broken World" is a mid-tempo soul stirrer that asks to "find some peace and compassion / bring love back into fashion." "The song could stand for any of the many issues in our country right now however I will always think back upon my trip to Iraq when I perform 'Broken World'," Copeland says. And although she sings, "I wish I could fix a small part of this broken world" Shemekia Copeland's performances for our troops surely made a worthwhile mark.

About Bluzapalooza and the Armed Forces Entertainment:

The Bluzapalooza tour has been made possible with the help of Armed Forces Entertainment, The Blues Foundation, Blues Revuemagazine, NorthernBlues Music, Alligator Records, Blind Raccoon, Delta Groove Records, Blind Pig Records, Hohner Harmonicas, Telarc International, Sony Corporation, Ruf Records and Entertainment Support Systems, LLC.

Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) is the lead agency with the Department of Defense that provides entertainment to U.S. military personnel serving overseas. Founded in 1951, AFE brings a touch of home to more than 500,000 troops each year. Bluzapalooza is proud to be working with AFE.

Bluzapalooza website:
www.myspace.com/bluzapalooza

BLUZAPALOOZA PICTORAL PUBLISHED BY THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Posted November 12, 2008

View photographer Joseph Rosen's amazing pictures from the Kuwait and Iraq tour!
Our heartfelt thanks to Joe, as well as Patrick Montero at the New York Daily News.

SHEMEKIA COPELAND TAKES HER MUSIC TO A NEW PLACE ON TELARC DEBUT
Press Release from Telarc International - posted 10/25/2008

Never Going Back due at retail on February 24, 2009
Guest players include John Medeski, Marc Ribot and Chris Wood

For more than a decade, Shemekia Copeland has been paving a road that will inevitably lead to her reign as Queen of the Blues. By some standards – numerous blues awards in the U.S. and elsewhere, a Grammy nomination, a resume that includes work with musical titans like Dr. John and Steve Cropper and film giants like Martin Scorsese and Wim Wenders – she may already be there.

For as appealing as that regal title may sound, though, and for as much as she respects the rich legacy of artists like Bessie Smith, Etta James or Koko Taylor, Copeland insists that there’s more to who she is and what she does than a twelve-bar ballad or a Chicago shuffle could ever convey.

Never Going Back, her debut on Telarc set for release on February 24, 2009, captures Copeland at a crossroads on that artistic path – a place where numerous new avenues are open to her. While Copeland will always remain loyal to her blues roots, Never Going Back takes a more forward view of the blues, and in so doing points her music and her career in a new direction.

“I’ve had success in my career, and I’m happy with that,” she says. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to continue to grow. In order for an artist to grow – and for a genre to grow – you have to do new things. I’m extremely proud to say I’m a blues singer, but doesn’t mean that’s the only thing I’m capable of singing, or that’s the only style of music I’m capable of making.”

That pursuit of a new and different sound led to producer Oliver Wood, a member of the acoustic and highly organic collective known as the Wood Brothers – a combo whose ranks also include bassist Chris Wood, co-founder and ongoing member of Medeski, Martin & Wood. “Oliver’s ideas were creative and innovative and different, and he was able to bring a different Shemekia out of me. I’m just so excited about that. I know what I’m capable of, but sometimes you just need the right person to bring that out of you, and I think he did a fantastic job of that.”

In addition to handling production duties, Oliver Wood also lays down guitar tracks on every one of the album’s dozen tracks and even contributes backing vocals in a couple places. The sizable crew of guest musicians also includes Chris Wood, keyboardist John Medeski and guitarist Marc Ribot.

The swampy opening track, “Sounds Like the Devil,” co-written by Copeland and executive producer John Hahn, addresses the dual hot buttons of religion and politics, two topics that Copeland has generally tried to stay away from in the past. However, the times being what they are, that kind of avoidance is no longer possible, she says.

“The truth is being twisted to a point where our faith – in the political system and just about everything else we believe in – has been completely busted,” she says. “We don’t trust anybody, we don’t know what to do, and a lot of the time, we’re politically handicapped because we’re kept in the dark. I can be brutal when I talk about this stuff, but I love the way John helps me get the frustration out of my system in the form of a good song.”

This same socially conscious sentiment remerges a couple tracks later in “Broken World,” a poignant piece wherein the singer expresses a wish to repair just one small corner of a world that is profoundly out of order. The track is infused with a catchy soul/gospel groove, thanks in large part to John Medeski’s expertise on Hammond B3.

Further into the set, Copeland veers away from traditional blues with a smoky, introspective rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Black Crow.” Newly arranged by Oliver Wood, the song was admittedly a leap for Copeland, but one that she was ready to take. “I wasn’t used to doing anything like that,” she admits. “I’d been listening to Joni Mitchell all my life, and I think she’s a great songwriter. I was content just to keep listening, but to attempt to record one of her songs was intimidating. But Oliver came up with a very cool arrangement, and as a result, I wasn’t afraid to jump in and do it. That’s the kind of thing that makes Oliver such an incredible producer.”

Other highlights include the defiant “Born a Penny,” a song that Copeland considers to be the most autobiographical track on the record, and “River’s Invitation,” a grinding Percy Mayfield song that speaks to the spiritual pull of the currents – real and metaphorical – that steer us through the world.

For all of her accomplishments to date, and for all of the potential she has yet to realize, Copeland maintains a sense of humility about it all – a virtue that only makes her story all the more appealing.

“Once upon a time, my main goal was to change the shape and the direction of the blues, all by myself,” she says. “But eventually, I realized that I wasn’t driving the bus, that I wasn’t really in charge. I’ve come to realize that I’m not in control of what people buy, or the nature of the market, or any of the things that happen after the music is recorded. Now I just look at it a different way. I’m just going to do my part, and my part is to do what I can do, in the best way I know how.”

If past is prologue, and if Never Going Back is any indication, all Shemekia Copeland can do will be more than enough.

Shemekia Copeland’s Never Going Back (CD-83692) is due at retail on February 24, 2009.

# # #

For more information, contact:

Press: Amanda Sweet (202) 636-3507
Email: asweet@telarc.com

Tour Press: Kelly Johanns-DiCillo (216) 464-2313 ext. 247
Email: kjohanns@telarc.com

Radio/Artist & Tour Information: Marcia Welch (216) 464-2313, ext. 222
Email: mwelch@telarc.com

TELARC International
23307 Commerce Park Road
Cleveland, OH 44122
www.telarc.com

 

TELARC SIGNS BLUES DIVA SHEMEKIA COPELAND
Press Release from Telarc International - posted 10/18/2008

Telarc International, a leader in blues recording since the early 1990s, has signed vocalist Shemekia Copeland, who has been a dominant force on the blues scene for more than a decade. Copeland’s Telarc debut, Never Going Back, is due at retail on February 24, 2009.

Heralded by Billboard as “a vocalist who knows few stylistic limitations,” Copeland has built a rock-solid reputation as a fiery, emotional blues diva in the tradition of past luminaries like Etta James and Koko Taylor. At the same time, she represents a new generation of singers and musicians who continue to propel this innately American music founded in the early 1900s into a new century.

“I’m so excited to be working with Telarc,” says Copeland. “I’ve had success in my career, and I’m happy with that, but I want to continue to grow. I’m extremely proud to say I’m a blues singer, but that doesn’t mean that’s the only thing I’m capable of singing, or that’s the only style of music I’m capable of making. This partnership with Telarc is my opportunity to do something new and different.”

Born in Harlem, New York, in 1979, Copeland began singing as a child, and eventually sang onstage with her father, Texas blues guitarist Johnny Copeland. She launched her recording career in 1997 at age 18, and in the years since, she has scored a GRAMMY nomination as well as five W.C. Handy Awards (now known as the Blues Music Awards). Her resume also includes work with musical titans like Dr. John and Steve Cropper and film giants like Martin Scorsese and Wim Wenders.

“It’s such a pleasure to have Shemekia Copeland join the Telarc roster of blue’s artists,” says Bob Woods, President of Telarc. “In short order, this young woman has established herself as the heir to the legacy of artists like Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Etta James – while at the same time making it clear she’s ready to move this classical American music into a new generation. Her debut recording with us shows real creativity, flexibility and that gutsy kind of singing that grabs you by the ears. You just can’t help but want to listen.”

# # #

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