Releases
Shemekia Copeland to perform in Belgium
ALLIGATOR RECORDS, SEPTEMBER 26, 2018. – “Shemekia Copeland is a powerhouse, a superstar…she can do no wrong.” –Rolling Stone
“Shemekia Copeland is one of the great blues voices of our time. No one comes close to the sheer firepower that Copeland conjures at will.”–Chicago Tribune
“America’s Child is a groundbreaking, genre-bending work of beauty. Shemekia is one of the great singers of our time. This record introduces listeners to another side of her, and I predict it will result in many new fans. Her voice on these songs is nothing short of magic.”–Mary Gauthier
Award-winning blues, R&B and Americana vocalist Shemekia Copeland, touring in support of her latest Alligator Records release, AMERICA’S CHILD, will headline the Swing Wespelaar festival in Wespelaar, Belgium on Saturday, August 17, 2019. Produced by Will Kimbrough (who also plays guitar on the album) and recorded in Nashville, AMERICA’S CHILD – named the #1 blues album of 2018 by MOJO magazine – is a courageous and fiery statement of purpose, a major step forward for the singer whose musical consciousness continues to expand as her star continues to rise. With guests including John Prine, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Gauthier, Emmylou Harris and Steve Cropper, AMERICA’S CHILD bursts with Copeland’s bravado and embraces with her tenderness. In 2019, Copeland received two Blues Music Awards for AMERICA’S CHILD: Album Of The Year and Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year. Copeland can be heard daily hosting her own blues radio show on SiriusXM. Concert information is as follows:
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Swing Wespelaar
Wespelaar, Belgium
www.swingwespelaar.be
*See website for complete festival line-up and detailed ticket information
AMERICA’S CHILD is by far Copeland’s most compelling work yet, with music swelling beyond blues and into spirited Americana, with elements of rock, soul, and country. Her instantly recognizable voice–capable of being sultry, assertive and roaring–delivers every song with unparalleled honesty and passion. The three-time Grammy nominee’s wide-open vision of contemporary Americana roots and soul music showcases the evolution of a passionate artist with an up-to-the-minute musical and lyrical approach. From AMERICA’S CHILD’s anthemic opening track, Ain’t Got Time For Hate, to the closing lullaby, the traditional Go To Sleepy Little Baby, Shemekia sings with passion and insight about the chaos and uncertainty in the world while still finding joy all around her.
Upon the birth of her son Johnny Lee Copeland-Schultz in 2016, Shemekia, with fresh eyes, began to take an even deeper look at the state of the world. Of the new album, she says, “After having a child, I started thinking about the world I brought him into, how it actually is and how I wished it was and all the things he will have to go through. And to live in this world today, you have to have a strong foundation like I did to make it through. So that’s what ‘America’s child’ means to me. I’m truly grateful to all the artists that joined me on this record – it wasn’t about the genre for anyone, it was about the music and mutual love and respect.”
When Shemekia broke on the scene at age 18 in 1998 with her groundbreaking Alligator Records debut CD, Turn The Heat Up, she instantly became a blues and R&B force to be reckoned with. News outlets from The New York Times to CNN praised Copeland’s talent, larger-than-life personality, and true star power. With each subsequent release, Copeland’s music has continued to grow. From her debut through 2005’s The Soul Truth, Shemekia earned eight Blues Music Awards, a host of Living Blues Awards (including the prestigious 2010 Blues Artist Of The Year) and more accolades from fans, critics and fellow musicians. 2000’s Wicked received a Grammy nomination. Two highly successful releases on Telarc (including 2012’s Grammy-nominated 33 1/3) cemented her reputation as a singer who, according to NPR’s All Things Considered, “embodies the blues with her powerful vocal chops and fearless look at social issues.”
Copeland returned to Alligator Records in 2015 with the Grammy-nominated Outskirts Of Love. She won the 2017 Living Blues Readers’ Award for Blues Artist Of The Year (Female), the same distinction she won the year before. She also took home the 2016 Blues Music Award (BMA) for Contemporary Blues Female Artist Of The Year. Outskirts Of Love won the BMA for Best Blues Album Of The Year. MOJO said Copeland was “spectacular, stirring, sanctified and sassy.”
Shemekia Copeland has performed thousands of gigs at clubs, festivals and concert halls all over the world and has appeared on national television, NPR, and in newspapers, films and magazines. She’s sung with Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, James Cotton and many others. She opened for The Rolling Stones and entertained U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait. Jeff Beck calls her “amazing.” Santana says, “She’s incandescent…a diamond.” In 2012, she performed with B.B. King, Mick Jagger, Buddy Guy, Trombone Shorty, Gary Clark, Jr. and others at the White House for President and Mrs. Obama.
Now, with AMERICA’S CHILD, Shemekia Copeland is standing on the cusp of her greatest success. Her intensely empowering, American music is as insightful as it is fun. NPR Music says, “She brings a perfect balance of authority and understatement to each song.” No Depression adds, “When Shemekia Copeland opens her mouth, everybody pays attention. She pierces your soul. This is how you do it, and nobody does it better than Shemekia Copeland.”
Please contact Marc Lipkin at publicity@allig.com for interviews, photos or additional biographical information.
Shemekia to sing national anthem at New York Giants vs. New Orleans Saints
Sehmekia Copeland to sing national anthem at New York Giants vs. New Orleans Saints NFL game on Sunday, September 30
ALLIGATOR RECORDS, SEPTEMBER 26, 2018. – Grammy-nominated singer Shemekia Copeland will perform the national anthem on Sunday, September 30 at the NFL game between the New York Giants and the New Orleans Saints. The game, broadcast live on CBS Television, begins at 4:25pm ET at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Copeland is currently on tour, bringing music from her critically acclaimed, powerful new album, America’s Child (released August 3), to fans all across the country. NPR Music says Copeland is “head-turning and outspoken. America’s Child is a true hybrid of simmering, real-talking spirit and emphatic, folkie-and soul-style statement-making. Copeland sings slow-burning soul and rollicking country-blues with growling vigor and potent conviction.”
Produced by Americana Instrumentalist Of The Year winner Will Kimbrough (who also plays guitar on the album) and recorded in Nashville, America’s Child is a courageous and fiery statement of purpose, a major step forward for the singer whose musical consciousness continues to expand as her star continues to rise. With guests including John Prine, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Gauthier, Emmylou Harris, Steve Cropper, J.D. Wilkes, Al Perkins and members of the Time Jumpers, America’s Child bursts with Copeland’s bravado and embraces with her tenderness.
The Philadelphia Inquirer declares, “Shemekia Copeland is an antidote to artifice. She is a commanding presence, a powerhouse vocalist delivering the truth.”
Read on Alligator Records. 
Shemekia Copeland brings America’s Child to Germany
Shemekia Copeland is a powerhouse, a superstar… She can do no wrong.
– Rolling Stone
Shemekia Copeland is one of the great blues voices of our time. No one comes close to the sheer firepower that Copeland conjures at will.
– Chicago Tribune
America’s Child is a groundbreaking, genre-bending work of beauty. Shemekia is one of the great singers of our time. This record introduces listeners to another side of her, and I predict it will result in many new fans. Her voice on these songs is nothing short of magic.
– Mary Gauthier
ALLIGATOR RECORDS, SEPTEMBER 6, 2018. – Award-winning blues, R&B and Americana vocalist Shemekia Copeland will celebrate the release of her potent new Alligator Records album, America’s Child, with a live performance at the Kammgarn International Blues Festival in Kaiserslautern, Germany on Friday, October 26, 2018.
Produced by Americana Instrumentalist Of The Year winner Will Kimbrough (who also plays guitar on the album) and recorded in Nashville, America’s Child is a courageous and fiery statement of purpose, a major step forward for the singer whose musical consciousness continues to expand as her star continues to rise.
With guests including John Prine, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Gauthier, Emmylou Harris, Steve Cropper, J.D. Wilkes, Al Perkins and members of The Time Jumpers, America’s Child bursts with Copeland’s bravado and embraces with her tenderness.
Concert information is as follows:
Friday, October 26, 2018
Kammgarn International Blues Festival
Kammgarn Kaiserslautern – Kasino
Kaiserslautern, Germany
Showtime: 9:30 pm
Shemekia Copeland brings America’s Child to AmericanaFest in Nashville
Showcasing at City Winery Nashville on September 13
Also Appearing on WMOT-FM’s Wired In Wednesday
and on Nationally Syndicated Acoustic Cafe Program
ALLIGATOR RECORDS, SEPTEMBER 6, 2018. – Grammy-nominated blues, R&B and Americana vocalist Shemekia Copeland will perform music from her critically-acclaimed, powerful new album, America’s Child, in a series of performances during the Americana Music Association’s AMERICANAFEST in Nashville, Tennessee. America’s Childhas been a Top 10 Americana album since its August 3 release, and features the Top 5 Americana single Ain’t Got Time For Hate.
Copeland will showcase with her full band at City Winery (609 Lafayette Street, Nashville, TN) on Thursday, September 13 at 7:30pm. Additionally she will appear Wednesday, September 12 at 2:00pm on Nashville’s 89.5 WMOT-FM Wired In Wednesday live broadcast from The Local (110 28th Ave. North, Nashville, TN). On Thursday, September 14 she will appear at 1:15pm (with guitarist Arthur Neilson) before a live studio audience for a taping of the nationally syndicated radio program Acoustic Café at the Sound Stage Recording Studio(10 Music Circle South, Nashville, TN).
Produced by Americana Instrumentalist Of The Year winner Will Kimbrough (who also plays guitar on the album) and recorded in Nashville, America’s Child is a courageous and fiery statement of purpose, a major step forward for the singer whose musical consciousness continues to expand as her star continues to rise. With guests including John Prine, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Gauthier, Emmylou Harris, Steve Cropper, J.D. Wilkes, Al Perkins and members of the Time Jumpers, America’s Child bursts with Copeland’s bravado and embraces with her tenderness.
America’s Child is Copeland’s most compelling work yet, with music swelling beyond blues and into spirited Americana, with elements of rock, soul, and country. With a voice that is alternately sultry, assertive and roaring, the three-time Grammy nominee’s wide-open vision of contemporary Americana roots and soul music showcases the evolution of a passionate artist with an up-to-the-minute musical and lyrical approach. From America’s Child’s anthemic opening track, Ain’t Got Time For Hate, to the closing lullaby, the traditional Go To Sleepy Little Baby, Shemekia sings with passion and insight about the chaos and uncertainty in the world while still finding joy all around her.
The initial reviews have been stellar:
Shemekia Copeland’s voice is rich, soulful and totally commanding. Authoritative, passionate Stax-styled stirrers, raw Chicago blues and countryish folk rockers. Four Stars.
– MOJO
Head-turning and outspoken, America’s Child is a true hybrid of simmering, real-talking spirit and emphatic, folkie-and soul-style statement-making. Copeland sings slow-burning soul and rollicking country-blues with growling vigor and potent conviction.
– NPR MUSIC, First Listen
Bold and brassy attitude and soulful blues delivered with gospel fervor.
– No Depression
Fervent vocals and fierce delivery… Shemekia Copeland comes on stronger, harder and wiser than ever in her incendiary new album, America’s Child. You’re hearing music conceived to ignite passions and raise sensibilities.
– Chicago Tribune
Searing, husky vocals deliver the meticulously chosen material with fierce intent, balancing her emotionally moving four-alarm vocals with a more subtle tough yet tender approach. The riveting America’s Child pushes boundaries, creating music reflecting a larger, wider-ranging tract of Americana.
– American Songwriter
Shemekia Copeland is an antidote to artifice. She is a commanding presence, a powerhouse vocalist delivering the truth.
– Philadelphia Inquirer
Read on Alligator Records.
Media raves about Shemekia Copeland’s just-released America’s Child
ALLIGATOR RECORDS, August 3, 2018. — On Shemekia Copeland’s new album, America’s Child (released today, Friday, August 3), the Grammy-nominated singer melds Americana, blues and soul in intense, subtle performances of songs that address the complexities of life in America today. National press and radio are raving about this career-defining release.
After two weeks as #1 Most Added Single at Americana Radio, the song Ain’t Got Time For Hate shot up to #6 on the Americana Singles Chart and America’s Child entered the Top 10 Americana Albums at #9. America’s Child also garnered the #2 Most Added Album on FMQB’s AAA Radio Chart behind Tom Petty.
The initial reviews have been stellar:
Shemekia Copeland’s voice is rich, soulful and totally commanding. Authoritative, passionate Stax-styled stirrers, raw Chicago blues and countryish folk rockers. 4-Stars.
– MojoHead-turning and outspoken, America’s Child is a true hybrid of simmering, real-talking spirit and emphatic, folkie-and soul-style statement-making. Copeland sings slow-burning soul and rollicking country-blues with growling vigor and potent conviction.
– NPR Music, First ListenBold and brassy attitude and soulful blues delivered with gospel fervor.
– No DepressionFervent vocals and fierce delivery… Shemekia Copeland comes on stronger, harder and wiser than ever in her incendiary new album, America’s Child. You’re hearing music conceived to ignite passions and raise sensibilities.
– Chicago TribuneSearing, husky vocals deliver the meticulously chosen material with fierce intent, balancing her emotionally moving four-alarm vocals with a more subtle tough yet tender approach. The riveting America’s Child pushes boundaries, creating music reflecting a larger, wider-ranging tract of Americana.
– American SongwriterShemekia Copeland is an antidote to artifice. She is a commanding presence, a powerhouse vocalist delivering the truth.
– Philadelphia Inquirer
Copeland and her band will showcase at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville on Thursday, September 13, 2018, and tour throughout the country in the coming months.
Read the press release on Alligator Records.
America’s Child streaming on NPR Music’s First Listen
ALLIGATOR RECORDS, July 26, 2018. — NPR Music’s First Listen will stream award-winning vocalist Shemekia Copeland’s potent new Alligator Records album, America’s Child, in its entirety beginning Thursday, July 26 through the album’s official release date of Friday, August 3. Writer Jewly Hight says the album is “an act of artistic evolution” and highlights its “slow-burning soul” and “confrontational intensity.” Listen here.
Produced by Americana Instrumentalist Of The Year winner Will Kimbrough (who also plays guitar on the album) and recorded in Nashville, America’s Child is a courageous and fiery statement of purpose, a major step forward for the singer whose musical consciousness continues to expand as her star continues to rise. In their just-published four-star review of the album, MOJO says, “Shemekia’s voice is rich, soulful and totally commanding.”
America’s Child (her eighth album) is Copeland’s most compelling work yet, with music swelling beyond blues and into spirited Americana, with elements of rock, soul, and country. Her instantly recognizable voice—capable of being sultry, assertive and roaring—delivers every song with unparalleled honesty and passion. The three-time Grammy nominee’s wide-open vision of contemporary Americana roots and soul music showcases the evolution of a passionate artist with an up-to-the-minute musical and lyrical approach. From America’s Child’s anthemic opening track, Ain’t Got Time For Hate, to the closing lullaby, the traditional Go To Sleepy Little Baby, Shemekia sings with passion and insight about the chaos and uncertainty in the world while still finding joy all around her.
With guests including John Prine, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Gauthier, Emmylou Harris, Steve Cropper, J.D. Wilkes, Al Perkins and members of the Time Jumpers, America’s Child bursts with Copeland’s bravado and embraces with her tenderness. Gauthier and songwriter/executive producer John Hahn wrote two striking songs for the project. Smoked Ham And Peaches is a search for truth and tranquility in America, featuring Giddens on African banjo. Americans celebrates our collective diversity in all its forms and colors. American music legend Prine joins Shemekia for a stirring duet on his own Great Rain. Guitar great Cropper adds his scorching playing to the ballad Promised Myself, written by Shemekia’s father, the late bluesman Johnny Clyde Copeland. And her version of I’m Not Like Everybody Else transforms the Kinks song into a blues-fueled declaration of independence.
With the birth of her son Johnny Lee Copeland-Schultz in 2016, Shemekia, with fresh eyes, began to take an even deeper look at the state of the world. Of the new album, she says, “After having a child, I started thinking about the world I brought him into, how it actually is and how I wished it was and all the things he will have to go through. And to live in this world today, you have to have a strong foundation like I did to make it through. So that’s what ‘America’s child’ means to me. I’m truly grateful to all the artists that joined me on this record – it wasn’t about the genre for anyone, it was about the music and mutual love and respect.”
Upon release of America’s Child, Copeland will tour nationwide, including a showcase performance at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville in September.
Read the press release on Alligator.com.
Autographed copies
for the first 250 pre-orders!
Pre-order before the August 3rd release date and the first 250 will receive an autographed copy.
Also available digitally:
Shemekia Copeland stakes her claim as a riveting Americana singer of striking authenticity on this album produced by genre champion Will Kimbrough. Eight new songs from Mary Gauthier, Kimbrough and more, plus brilliant versions of John Prine’s “Great Rain” (a duet with Prine), The Kinks’ “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” Johnny Copeland’s “Promised Myself” and the traditional ballad “Go To Sleepy Little Baby.” Rhianna Giddens, Steve Cropper, Emmylou Harris and more guest.
Copeland is a powerhouse, a superstar… she can do no wrong
– Rolling Stone
More information on Alligator Records.
Shemekia Copeland
to perform in Switzerland
© Mike White
ALLIGATOR RECORDS, June 21, 2018. — Groundbreaking vocalist Shemekia Copeland will perform at Jazz Tage Lenk in Lenk, Switzerland, on Thursday, July 19, 2018. Her latest album is the Grammy-nominated album, Outskirts of Love. Copeland won the 2017 Living Blues Readers’ Award for Blues Artist Of The Year (Female), the same distinction she won the year before. She also took home the 2016 Blues Music Award (BMA) for Contemporary Blues Female Artist Of The Year. Outskirts of Love won the BMA for Best Blues Album Of The Year.
With a voice that is alternately sultry, assertive and roaring, the three-time Grammy nominee’s wide-open vision of contemporary blues, roots and soul music showcases the evolution of a passionate artist with a modern musical and lyrical approach. Whether she’s belting out a raucous blues-rocker, firing up a blistering soul-shouter, bringing the spirit to a gospel-fueled R&B rave-up or digging deep down into a subtle, country-tinged ballad, Shemekia Copeland sounds like no one else. The prestigious UK publication The Blues says Outskirts of Love is “a mature masterpiece of modern blues,” and named it their 2015 #1 Album Of The Year. Copeland’s new album, America’s Child, will be released on August 3.
Copeland returned to Alligator Records in 2015 with Outskirts of Love (she recorded four albums for the label from 1998 through 2006). The album finds her at her most charismatic, performing roots rock, Americana, and blues with power and authority, nuance and shading. Produced by The Wood Brothers’ Oliver Wood, Outskirts of Love is a musical tour-de-force, with Copeland rocking out on the title track, taking charge in Crossbone Beach, honoring her father, the late Johnny Clyde Copeland with her Afrobeat-infused take on his Devil’s Hand, tackling homelessness on Cardboard Box and showing off her country swagger on Drivin’ Out Of Nashville. She puts her stamp on songs made famous by Solomon Burke (I Feel A Sin Coming On), Jesse Winchester (Isn’t That So), Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (The Battle Is Over), Creedence Clearwater Revival (Long As I Can See The Light), ZZ Top (Jesus Just Left Chicago), Albert King (Wrapped Up In Love Again) and Jessie Mae Hemphill (Lord Help The Poor And Needy). Friends including Billy F Gibbons, Robert Randolph, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Will Kimbrough and Pete Finney all add their talent with unbridled enthusiasm. The result is Copeland’s most decidedly contemporary and musically adventurous album of her still-evolving career.
When Shemekia first appeared on the scene at age 18 in 1998 with her groundbreaking debut CD, Turn the Heat Up, she instantly became a blues superstar. News outlets from The New York Times to CNN took note of Copeland’s talent, engaging personality, and true star power. She followed up with 2000’s Grammy-nominated Wicked, 2002’s Talking to Strangers (produced by Dr. John) and 2005’s The Soul Truth (produced by Steve Cropper). In that short period of time, she earned eight Blues Music Awards, a host of Living Blues Awards (including the prestigious 2010 Blues Artist Of The Year) and more accolades from fans, critics and fellow musicians. Two highly successful releases on Telarc (including 2012’s Grammy-nominated 33 1/3) cemented her reputation as a singer who, according to NPR’s All Things Considered, “embodies the blues with her powerful vocal chops and fearless look at social issues.”
Copeland has performed thousands of gigs at clubs, festivals and concert halls all over the world and has appeared on national television, NPR, and in newspapers, films and magazines. She’s sung with Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, James Cotton and many others. She opened for The Rolling Stones and entertained U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait. Jeff Beck calls her “f*cking amazing.” Santana says, “She’s incandescent…a diamond.” At the 2011 Chicago Blues Festival, the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois officially declared Copeland to be “The New Queen Of The Blues.” In 2012, she performed at the White House for President and Mrs. Obama. Afterward, Jagger (with whom she sang) sent her a bottle of champagne.
With the new album coming and a packed tour schedule, Copeland has her eyes fixed firmly on the future as she continues to break new musical ground. “I want to keep growing, to be innovative,” she says. “I’m a lifer, singing about things that are important to 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,” she continues, “And right now I’m making the most exciting music of my career.”
Shemekia’s a ball-of-fire vocalist with a voice that’s part Memphis, part Chicago and all woman… devastatingly powerful. She’s a great singer, period.
– Chicago Sun-TimesShemekia captures the timelessness of the blues while spinning it forward with remarkable maturity.
– USA Today
Please contact Marc Lipkin at publicity@allig.com for interviews, photos or additional biographical information.
Shemekia Copeland receives
Living Blues Award nominations
ALLIGATOR RECORDS, June 20, 2018 — Living Blues magazine has announced the nominees for the 2018 Living Blues Readers’ Awards. Eight Alligator Records artists received a total of 12 nominations. Rick Estrin & The Nightcats received three, Elvin Bishop and Shemekia Copeland each received two, and Coco Montoya, Tommy Castro, Marcia Ball, Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials and Oscar Wilson (of The Cash Box Kings) each received one.
Shemekia Copeland was nominated for:
- Blues Artist Of The Year (Female)
- Most Outstanding Blues Singer
The public –subscribers and non-subscribers alike– can vote at www.livingblues.com or by mailing in the ballot in the current issue of the magazine (#255), by July 15, 2018.
Winners will be announced in August.