Shemekia Copeland’s soulfoul truth

Shemekia Copeland
The Patio
Saturday, Sept. 24

Inside the CD booklet of Shemekia Copeland’s newest release The Soul Truth (Alligator), there’s a photo of Miss Copeland doing some serious walking down a New York City street. She looks pleasant but determined. There are some unfocused people behind her and nobody is standing in her way.

Shemekia Copeland

You can check out the musical equivalent of this photo at the Patio (6308 N. Guilford Ave.) on Sept. 24 as Copeland will shake the walls with her soul/blues voice. She has a voice that can be feel-your-cheek tender and then powerful enough to knock a person flat. We’re talking early ’70s George Foreman out.
Copeland prefers that kind of description rather than being labeled The Next “Fill In The Name Of Black Female Singer Here.”

“We live in a world where people want to compare, compare, compare. That’s the world we live in and that’s fine. If you get compared you should be compared to the best. Hopefully someday someone will be called The Next Shemekia Copeland,” she said.

The Soul Truth is the soul/blues album of the year. Album producer Steve Cropper (Booker T & The MGs) plays guitar on 10 tracks and electric sitar on one. Not only do Copeland’s vocals pack a punch, but the album features horns that roundhouse you as well. The album will leave listeners in a happy daze with some Stax flashbacks.

“That’s what we had in mind. We never wanted to copy anything. We made our own sound, but we did take elements of Stax. Working with Steve was great. He has so much energy and is so filled with ideas. Having years and years of experience playing with so many great people will do that,” she said.

While Copeland is known and loved in the blues world, gaining an audience beyond that genre is still an uphill battle even after four albums and appearances on several television shows (Letterman, Conan, CBS Saturday Early Show, Austin City Limits).

“We’re getting some radio play. We won’t get the pop radio play. They just don’t play good music. It’s really sad because the world is big enough anybody should be able to hear all kinds of music,” she said.

Shemekia has also been able to make more of a name for herself in the music business than as just (the late, great) Johnny Copeland’s daughter. She toured with her father’s band at 16 and was singing for him much younger.

“My father was a great bandleader. He worked his band really hard and was real good to them. He would pay them and come home with no money (laughs). My band now has a drummer that worked with my father. The last two drummers I had worked with my father. They had nothing but great things to say about him. Plus I get to hear stories about him on the road. Plus we’d have all these great players over at our house. People like Albert Collins and Sonny Rhodes ...”

Did any of these blues greats get down on the floor and play with Shemekia? Picture Collins, The Master of the Telecaster, or the turban wearing Rhodes playing horsy or bouncing the little lady on their knee.

“(Laughs) No, it wasn’t anything like that. Dad would call me in the room to sing for them. That would be all,” she said.

Blues notes

Decisions, decisions. The same night as Copeland’s Patio show, I’ll be broadcasting my show, The Blues House Party, live from the Slippery Noodle Inn (372 S. Meridian St.) at 9 p.m. on WFYI 90.1 FM. Benito DiBartoli and his Black Voodoo Band will be performing.

While you’re marking your calendars, the great Bobby Rush will be at the Noodle on Sept. 27 and sassy E.C. Scott on the 29th. Duke Tumatoe and The Power Trio will be there on Oct. 4 and Tad Robinson with the Paul Holdman Group on Oct. 6.