SINGSONG PR NEWS: Alligator Records

SHEMEKIA COPELAND

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Appearing: Sat 30 and  Sun 31 July 2005. The Cambridge Folk Festival

Artist: SHEMEKIA COPELAND

Shemekia pronounced Shemeka (I is silent) 

New Release: THE SOUL TRUTH

Label: Alligator 
Cat No: ALCD 4905
UK Distributor: Proper

Release Date: Mon, July 25 UK (USA Aug 16)

“Shemekia Copeland is a major talent,” raves The Chicago Tribune. 

“Wonderfully expressive singing, breathtaking performances that touch the heart,” DownBeat. 

When singing sensation Shemekia Copeland first appeared on the USA music scene in 1997 with her ground breaking debut CD, TURN THE HEAT UP, she quickly became, at eighteen years old, a roots music superstar.

Critics from around the USA celebrated Shemekia’s music as fans of all ages agreed that an unstoppable new talent had arrived.

Shemekia released two more CDs the Grammy nominated WICKED in 2002 and TALKING TO STRANGERS in 2002, produced by Dr. John. 

In that short period of time, Shemekia collected five W.C. Handy Blues Awards, a Grammy nomination, five Living Blues Awards, and the coveted “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition” award by DownBeat’s critic’s poll. Rock legend Robert Plant called her “the next Tina Turner.”

Appearances on national television, in films and on stage, with some of the biggest names in the music world have already given Shemekia a lifetime’s worth of career highlights.

But all of this popular attention has only been a precursor for what is to come. 

Shemekia's new CD, aptly titled, THE SOUL TRUTH, is the funkiest, deepest, and most exciting statement yet from the woman CNN calls, “a legend in the making.” 

THE SOUL TRUTH is produced by renowned Stax guitarist Steve Cropper who also adds his stellar guitar playing to the CD. 

The album is steeped in the spirit of classic Memphis soul but at the same time it presents a contemporary and up to the minute slice of life. Shemekia’s powerful, emotional vocals soar over a blistering band with horns punching in all the right places, THE SOUL TRUTH is a tour-de-force of rock, soul and blues. 

From the funk and fervour of Breakin’ Out to the timely question of Who Stole My Radio? to the rock-powered Givin’ Up You, THE SOUL TRUTH tells it like it is, with deep emotion, forceful beats and music that is satisfying, original and memorable.

Bio:

Born in Harlem, New York in 1979, Shemekia came to her singing career slowly. 

“I never knew I wanted to sing until I got older,” says Copeland. “But my dad knew ever since I was a baby. He just knew I was going to be a singer.” 

Her father, the late Texas blues guitar legend Johnny Clyde Copeland, recognised his daughter’s talent early on. He always encouraged her to sing at home and even brought her on stage to sing at Harlem’s famed Cotton Club when she was just eight. 

At that time Shemekia’s embarrassment outweighed her desire to sing. But when she was fifteen and her father’s health began to slow him down, she received the calling. “It was like a switch went off in my head,” recalls Shemekia, “and I wanted to sing. It became a want and a need. I had to do it.”

Shemekia’s passion for singing, matched with her huge, blast-furnace voice gives her music the timeless power and heart-pounding urgency of a very few greats who have come before her. 

The media has compared her to a young Etta James, Koko Taylor, Aretha Franklin and Ruth Brown, but Shemekia who was raised in the tough, urban streets of Harlem has her own story to tell.

Although schooled in Texas blues by her father, Shemekia’s music comes from deep within her soul and also from the streets she grew up on, where a daily dose of city sounds from street performers, to gospel singers, to blasting radios, to bands in local parks surrounded her.

With all this experience under her belt sixteen year-old Shemekia joined her father on his tours after he was diagnosed with a heart condition. Soon enough Shemekia was opening, and sometimes even stealing her father’s shows. “She grabbed the crowd with her powerful voice, poised and intense,” enthused Blues Revue at the time. 

Eventually, though, it became clear to Shemekia who was helping who? “Dad wanted me to think I was helping him out by opening his shows when he was sick, but really, he was doing it all for me. He would go out and do gigs so I would get beter known. He went out of his way to get me that exposure,” recalls Shemekia.

Shemekia stepped out of her father’s shadow in 1998 when Alligator released TURN THE HEAT UP to massive popular and critical acclaim. The album received rave reviews from Billboard, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Boston Globe, Emerge and many others.

“Nothing short of uncanny,” said The Village Voice. “She roars with a sizzling hot intensity,” shouted The Boston Globe. She appeared in the motion picture Three To Tango, and her song I Always Get My Man was featured in another Hollywood film, Broken Hearts Club. She even appeared on the television program Early Edition.

In 2000 Shemekia returned with her album WICKED. Almost immediately the young singer was in great demand at radio, television and in the press. The opening song, It’s 2:00 A.M., won the W.C. Handy Blues Award for Song Of The Year, and the album was nominated for a Grammy Award. 

She appeared twice on Late Night With Conan O’Brien, and also performed on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition and the CBS Saturday Early Show. In November 2001, she appeared on Austin City Limits to an enthusiastic live audience and on television to millions more old and new fans all across the country.

With her Dr. John-produced follow-up, TALKING TO STRANGERS, Shemekia again turned up the heat, with far-reaching material treading the ground where blues and soul meet rock and roll. The album debuted in the #1 spot on the Billboard Blues Chart and received critical praise all around the world.

The Associated Press declared, “Copeland blazes through TALKING TO STRANGERS with fervour and grace. Her singing can be as thunderous as Etta James and as mellow as Chaka Khan.” 

Vibe agreed, saying, “TALKING TO STRANGERS is a masterful blend of ballsy rockers and cheeky ballads.” Features and reviews ran in The Washington Post, Billboard, Essence, Vibe, USA Today, DownBeat, Ebony and many other national and regional publications.

She appeared on the Late Show With David Letterman (along with B.B. King), was featured in the Martin Scorsese-produced concert film, Lightning In A Bottle, the PBS television series The Blues and even opened a show for the Rolling Stones in Chicago.

Shemekia continues to tour the world and to win fans at every stop. She’s played with Buddy Guy and B.B. King, and has shared the stage with Taj Mahal, Dr. John and Koko Taylor, among many others. 

Shemekia won the hearts and souls of new fans at the 1998 and 2002 Chicago Blues Festivals, The North Atlantic Blues Festival, Milwaukee’s Summerfest, The Monterey Jazz Festival, The San Francisco Blues Festival, The New York State Blues Festival, The North Sea Festival in Holland, The Montreux Jazz Festival, The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, The Lowell Folk Festival, and many others.

One of the many lessons Shemekia learned growing up was the importance of singing from the heart. “Nobody wants to listen to someone singing just to earn some money,” she says. “You’ve gotta sing because you need to do it.” 

Indeed, Shemekia’s soul-satisfying vocals and the lessons she learned from her father, matched with her inner need to sing, have brought her to audiences both young and old. “I still listen to Aretha Franklin, Katie Webster, Trudy Lynn, Etta James, Howard Tate, India Arie, Angelique Kidjo. But I never try to copy them. They’ve all inspired me and helped me become my own person.”

Throughout THE SOUL TRUTH, Shemekia Copeland testifies her music to both seasoned music lovers, who appreciate her musical roots, as well as to new fans, who love her contemporary attitude. “I want people who love hip-hop to know where it came from,” she told Vibe magazine. “My music is rooted in blues, but it’s different. I’m singing about my era. I’m here and I’m singing about now and not yesterday.” And that’s the truth, nothing but the soul truth.

“Copeland boasts the kind of power that commands attention, with a thundering, full-throated voice and rough-and-tumble delivery. Exuberant and buoyant” Washington Post

“Make room for Harlem-bred Shemekia Copeland, whose straight-from-the-gut realism and volcanic delivery have folks treating her as a rightful heir to Empress Bessie Smith’s legacy” Vibe

Photo Gallery

Cambridge Folk Festival. www.cambridgefolkfestival.co.uk

Unofficial Cambridge Site. www.cambrid.freeserve.co.uk

Proper Music Distribution. www.properdistribution.com

Alligator www.alligator.com

Shemekia will be in London for promotion on Friday July 29, 2005.

For further information and review copies of “The Soul Truth” contact Pat Tynan 01895 636935 Mobile 07985 400297

pattynan@btinternet.com

Issued July 2005 by Singsong Entertainment Publicity www.singsongpr.biz 

http://www.singsongpr.biz/