“An old soul marching
to the beat of my own drum”

He’s with me every time I step on the stage… I’m a lifer, singing about things that bother me, using my music to help people. My dad always said ‘we’re all connected.’ I’m an old soul marching to the beat of my own drum.

Len Lear interviewed Shemekia Copeland for the Chestnut Hill Local before her performance at the Springside Chestnut Hill Academy on Thursday, April 6.

“The concert is underwritten by the Jamie Bell ’78 Music Fund, an endowed fund at SCH Academy. The fund was started and supported by the family and friends of Jamie Bell, an alumnus of CHA, who died in 2014. He was a beloved, well-known Philadelphia blues guitarist and vocalist,” explains Len Lear.

The journalist asked questions about Shemekia’s late father, Johnny Copeland, who is going to be inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis in May this year, about her influences (Koko Taylor and Ruth Brown), her ultimate goal in her career (“Keeping the blues alive and relevant for future generations”), and covered many more fields.

Read the full interview in the Chestnut Hill Local. 

Get tickets for the show at the Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.

Check the tour page for more upcoming shows.