Shemekia Copeland

Copeland was born in Harlem on April 10, 1979. She is the daughter of Texas blues guitarist and singer Johnny Copeland.[2] She began to pursue a singing career in earnest at age 16, when her father's health began to decline; he took Shemekia on tour as his opening act, which helped establish her name on the blues circuit. Copeland graduated in 1997 from Teaneck High School in Teaneck, New Jersey.[3] She landed a record deal with Alligator Records, which issued her debut album Turn the Heat Up! in 1998, following it up with a tour of the blues festival circuit in America and Europe. Her second album, Wicked, was released in 2000 and featured a duet with one of her heroes, early R&B diva Ruth Brown. It earned her three Blues Music Awards W.C. Handy Awards.

The follow-up record, Talking to Strangers, was produced by Dr. John, and in 2005 she released The Soul Truth, produced by Steve Cropper.

In 2008 Copeland signed with Telarc International and released her first album, "Never Going Back" with that label in February 2009. She recently won "Rising Star - Blues Artist" in DownBeat magazine's critics poll, with the award scheduled to be announced in the December 2009 issue.

Recently, Copeland has participated in the Efes Pilsen Blues Festival. October 16 to November 21, 2009 the festival was held between the 20 different cities that Copeland has given concerts.

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