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As for the continuing evolution of her music, It’s well known that your first public
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, now the
mother of a baby boy, sang about the blessings
and curses of the world around her. 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. All Music said, “Witty and
sincere...Shemekia Copeland is one of the best
singers in contemporary blues, not just for her
voice but for her courage to use it to say
something about American culture...showing
good times and a social conscience can co-exist.” Washington Post Sunday magazine story and
In addition to earning a Grammy Award
nomination (her fourth), Copeland’s
groundbreaking 2020 release Uncivil War was
named the 2020 Blues Album Of The Year by
DownBeat, MOJO and Living Blues magazines.
The album, like its predecessor, looked at the
hardships and happiness people encounter,
seeking common ground, demanding change
and still finding ways to have a good time.
“Shemekia Copeland is a powerhouse,” said
Rolling Stone. “She can do no wrong.”
Copeland has performed thousands of gigs at
clubs, festivals and concert halls all over the
world, and has appeared in films, on national
television, NPR, and has been the subject of
Photo credit:
© Victoria Smith
major feature stories in hundreds of
magazines, newspapers and internet
publications. She’s sung with Bonnie Raitt,
Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, Dr. John,
James Cotton and many others, and has
shared a bill with The Rolling Stones. She
entertained U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait in
2008, a trip she says, “that opened my eyes to
the larger world around me and my place in it.”
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. She has
showcased on PBS’s Austin City Limits and
was the subject of a six-minute feature on the
PBS News Hour.
Copeland was the subject of a recent
appeared on both NPR’s Weekend Edition and
Here And Now. And NPR’s Jazz Night In
America recently aired an hour-long program
featuring Copeland. In April 2022, she
performed at the United Nations General
Assembly Hall to a worldwide audience of
millions as part of International Jazz Day
celebrations. Copeland continues to host her
own popular daily blues radio show on Sirius
XM’s Bluesville.
FRI-MON 9 AM
TUE 10 AM
WED 9 AM
THU 10 AM
B.B. King's Bluesville with Shemekia Copeland
Grammy Award-nominated music legend Shemekia
Copeland is your host for new and old Blues in BB King's
Bluesville. Nothing but authentic Blues.
But it’s not just press and radio singing
Copeland’s praises. She is beloved by her
fellow musicians across genres and
demographics. Jeff Beck called her “amazing.”
Carlos Santana said, “She’s incandescent...a
diamond.” Bonnie Raitt told BBC radio,
“Shemekia always knocks me out.” The late
John Prine said, “She doesn’t sound like
anybody else.” Mary Gauthier declared,
“Shemekia is one of the great singers of our
time. Her voice is nothing short of magic.”
Photo credit:
© Victoria Smith
Copeland is very clear. “Once my son was born,”
she says, “I became even more committed to
making the world a better place. On America’s
Child, Uncivil War and now Done Come Too Far,
I’ve been trying to put the ‘United’ back into
United States. Friends, family and home, these
things we all value.”
With Done Come Too Far, Copeland hits harder
than ever with musically and lyrically
adventurous songs and jaw-dropping
performances that are at once timely and
timeless. The Chicago Tribune’s famed jazz critic
Howard Reich said, “Shemekia Copeland is the
greatest female blues vocalist working today.
She pushes the genre forward, confronting
racism, hate, xenophobia and other perils of our
time. Regardless of subject matter, though,
there’s no mistaking the majesty of Copeland’s
instrument, nor the ferocity of her delivery.
Copeland reaffirms the relevance of the blues.”
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performance was at the Cotton club when you
were about 10. What do you remember about
playing at that historic venue?
Being scared stiff before it started. And being
relieved when it went well. I have to admit the
audience was stacked in my favor with loads of
my parents’ friends from the neighborhood. So
after we had a big party.
What was it like touring the Blues Circut with
your father, Johnny Copeland, as a kid?
Wonderful and sad. Being with him was always
special and I learned so much from him. It was
also sad because his health was deteriorating.
Would you rather be able to copy and paste in
real life or undo in real life? What would
influence this decision?
Overall I’m pretty happy and grateful for the
way my life has gone. So I think I would just
copy and paste. Also undoing and redoing just
sounds like too much work.
Besides being a mom, what do you do when you
are not touring? Hobbies outside of music?
When I’m not being a mom, I’m still busy being
a mom. Nothing takes priority over that.
Luckily I really enjoy it. I have a lot of fun. Only
other hobby I have is I’m a bit of a foodie who
loves to cook.