SHEMEKIA COPELAND

RnB / Blues / Jazz Related Rock • United States
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SHEMEKIA COPELAND picture
Powerful, soul-inflected blues singer, the daughter of Texas blues guitarist Johnny Copeland.

The daughter of renowned Texas blues guitarist Johnny Copeland, award-winning blues singer Shemekia Copeland began making a splash in her own right before she was even out of her teens. Projecting a maturity beyond her years, Copeland fashioned herself as a powerful, soul-inflected shouter in the tradition of Koko Taylor and Etta James, yet also proved capable of a subtler range of emotions. Her 1998 Alligator debut, Turn the Heat Up!, featured a career-elevating version of her father's classic "Ghetto Child," that has been part of her performance repertoire ever since. She released three more acclaimed rough-and-rowdy recordings that decade before revealing a more nuanced, slow-burning persona on Never Going Back in 2009. Over her next two albums, 2012's 33 1/3 and 2015's Outskirts Of Love, she became not only a formidable singer, but an influential stylist.
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SHEMEKIA COPELAND Discography

SHEMEKIA COPELAND albums / top albums

SHEMEKIA COPELAND Turn The Heat Up album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Turn The Heat Up
RnB 1998
SHEMEKIA COPELAND Wicked album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Wicked
RnB 2000
SHEMEKIA COPELAND Talking To Strangers album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Talking To Strangers
RnB 2002
SHEMEKIA COPELAND The Soul Truth album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
The Soul Truth
RnB 2005
SHEMEKIA COPELAND Never Going Back album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Never Going Back
Blues 2009
SHEMEKIA COPELAND 33 1/3 album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
33 1/3
Blues 2012
SHEMEKIA COPELAND Outskirts Of Love album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Outskirts Of Love
Blues 2015
SHEMEKIA COPELAND America's Child album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
America's Child
Blues 2018
SHEMEKIA COPELAND Uncivil War album cover 3.50 | 1 ratings
Uncivil War
RnB 2020
SHEMEKIA COPELAND Done Come Too Far album cover 3.50 | 1 ratings
Done Come Too Far
Jazz Related Rock 2022
SHEMEKIA COPELAND Blame It On Eve album cover 3.00 | 2 ratings
Blame It On Eve
RnB 2024

SHEMEKIA COPELAND EPs & splits

SHEMEKIA COPELAND live albums

SHEMEKIA COPELAND demos, promos, fans club and other releases (no bootlegs)

SHEMEKIA COPELAND re-issues & compilations

SHEMEKIA COPELAND Deluxe Edition album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Deluxe Edition
RnB 2011
SHEMEKIA COPELAND Coleção Folha Soul & Blues 30 album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Coleção Folha Soul & Blues 30
RnB 2015

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SHEMEKIA COPELAND Reviews

SHEMEKIA COPELAND Blame It On Eve

Album · 2024 · RnB
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Metatools
Released August 30, 2024, the album doesn't seem like her style...especially based on the cover. It was country music overtones and influences. Her vocal ability and range are just okay. She would have been served better to have some writers or producers custom select her tracks.

If you have an ear for music, she baresly misses a few flat or off notes and her vocal control could be much much better. If you like that sort of jazzy-country feel, then this is the album for you, but if you compare her to Jennie Bryson, Ledisi or Kandance Springs...you'd be surely disappointed.

The one silver lining is you can listen to the entire album yourself on bandcamp and judge for yourself.

https://shemekiacopeland.bandcamp.com/album/blame-it-on-eve

SHEMEKIA COPELAND Blame It On Eve

Album · 2024 · RnB
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
snobb
Shemekia Copeland is one of the better-known representatives of modern American blues-related music around the globe. Surprisingly, she was announced as the nominee of the prestigious British Jazz FM Awards 2025 in the category, "Blues Act of the Year".

"Blame It On Eve", is Shemekia's last album to date, from the very first minutes it sounds exactly as one can expect from her more modern works. Title-track, the opener, is seriously based on some of the Bible's citations. Still, like almost all Copeland songs, it contains her very own sort of feminist urban blues-rock. Song after song, Shemekia tells everyday life's stories, from a woman's perspective. The regular listener, familiar with Shemekia's back-catalog will find a few new themes here. Still, she sounds as energetic as usual, and the band is very good too.

Musically, of the twelve album songs, there are some rockers, some bluesy r'n'b pieces, and a few ballads too. Traditionally, Shemekia is strong on ballads, never too melancholic or sweetly sad. "Only Miss You All the Time" is one of the best songs here for my ear.

Rockers (like "Broken High Heels") or country-rock-n-roll ("Wine O'Clock") are the least successful songs on the album. The pieces with a strong country feel are not very memorable either. Will Kimbrough plays great heavy metal-like electric guitar solos on " Is There Anybody Up There? ".

In all, "Blame It On Eve" offers a few surprises. For Copeland's fans it is one more strong work from their beloved artist.

SHEMEKIA COPELAND Done Come Too Far

Album · 2022 · Jazz Related Rock
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
snobb
American singer Shemekia Copeland spent the last decade releasing strong blues albums, rooted in tradition, but with a touch of freshness. Her voice is easy recognizable, and her straight-to-face, often naïve lyrics, are both her strong trademarks. Shemekia's previous album, "Uncivil War", released in 2020, offered faster and a more rhythmic touch on blues, still being a mixed bag containing some top-songs and fillers as well. With "Done Come Too Far", Copeland explores the new territories even deeper. Still with strong blues roots, she bravely moves towards high-energy blues-rock. From the very first sounds of the new album, she offers simply, groovy pieces, which blow listener's hats away from their heads. "The Talk", strongest album's blues, demonstrates how great a blues singer she really is. "Gullah Geeche" is an acoustic country-blues with banjo and fiddle on the front, and "Why Why Why" is an old-fashioned ballad. "Fried Catfish and Bibles" is pure Americana, with banjo and fiddle again, really danceable. Shemekia returns to heavy blues-rock on the title song, a duet with guitarist and singer Cedric Burnside. "Barefoot in Heaven" is already characteristic Copeland RnB with soloing from Will Kimbrough's electric guitar. She returns back to a country piece with "Fell in Love With a Honky". "The Dolls Are Sleeping" is an acoustic ballad (with Oliver Wood on acoustic guitar). On "Dumb It Down", one can enjoy electric organ. "Nobody but You", the closer, is straight-ahead heavy blues rock again.

As many previous Shemekia's albums, the newest one is a mixed bag of some strong songs and some fillers, offering a wide range of blues and Americana this time. Her best songs are really great songs, those which are not as successful, can sound a bit boring. Still, she offers here on this album a lot of what her fans love most of all - her unique voice.

SHEMEKIA COPELAND Uncivil War

Album · 2020 · RnB
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
snobb
Shemekia Copeland is one among the brightest stars of modern blues in the states. Her music is deeply rooted in the blues tradition, but it sounds surprisingly fresh and modern at the same time. I'm a follower for some years, it's a bit pity that "Uncivil War" isn't as great as it could be.

Comparing it with her previous works, this album is faster, more groovy and significantly influenced by blues-rock. Shemekia's characteristic naïve but usually positivist lyrics are a question of taste, I don't really care much about it here. On the best numbers, her excellent vocals with lots of emotion is what takes listeners by storm. There are some truly exceptional guitarists on board, so songs like hot opener "Clotilda’s On Fire" or "Money Makes You Ugly" burn as hell. "Give God The Blues" is a clever reggae-ballade and "In The Dark" is dark night electric blues at it's best.

Main album's problem is that beside above mentioned strong numbers there are lot of fillers. Stones' "Under My Thumb" cover is probably the oddest one. Country scented "Uncivil War" and "Dirty Saint" aren't much better. Listening to this album again and again during the last few months, I just noticed that I'm listening actually to four or five songs from it on account of the others. It's still worth the attention because of its best songs.

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