“It’s evident who inspired much of Shemekia Copeland’s latest album”

It’s evident who inspired much of Shemekia Copeland’s latest album, “American Child,” after listening to the leadoff track, “Ain’t Got Time to Hate.”

“Where’s your little angel wings/my sweet baby child/and how you gonna live/in a world gone wild.”

Copeland’s 2-year-old son, Johnny, changed the blues singer’s outlook on life.

“So much changed after he arrived,” Copeland, 40, said by phone from her Chicago home. “My music has definitely been impacted by him. You can hear that on this album. It all happened organically.”

Copeland…explores a variety of issues on the album. The gritty “America’s Child” tackles racism on “Would You Take My Blood,” the state of a bewildering nation on “Ain’t Got Time for Hate” and a poetic take on individuality with “I’m Not Like Everybody Else.”

By Ed Condran, before Shemekia headlines the North Liberty Blues and BBQ in North Liberty, Iowa, this Saturday, July, 13. Read the full story in The Gazette.