Shemekia Copeland Announces Fall Tour -- New CD Set For Sept. 11 Release
Award-winning, trailblazing vocalist Shemekia Copeland has announced plans for her Fall 2015 North American tour in support of her new Alligator Records album, Outskirts Of Love. The genre-smashing CD is set for September 11 release. With a voice that is alternately sultry, assertive and roaring, Shemekia’s wide-open vision of contemporary blues, Americana, roots and soul music showcases the evolution of a passionate artist with a modern musical and lyrical approach. Whether she’s belting out a raucous blues-rocker, firing up a blistering soul-shouter, bringing the spirit to a gospel-fueled R&B rave-up or digging deep down into a subtle, country-tinged ballad, Shemekia Copeland sounds like no one else. The Chicago Tribune said Copeland delivers "gale force singing and power" with a "unique, gutsy style, vibrant emotional palette and intuitive grasp of the music." NPR Music calls her “fiercely expressive.”
Copeland’s return to Alligator Records with Outskirts Of Love (she recorded four albums for the label from 1998 through 2006) finds her at her most charismatic, performing roots rock, Americana, and blues with power and authority, nuance and shading. Produced by The Wood Brothers’ Oliver Wood, Outskirts Of Love is a musical tour-de-force, with Copeland rocking out on the title track, taking charge in Crossbone Beach, honoring her father, the late Johnny Clyde Copeland with her Afrobeat-infused take on his Devil’s Hand, tackling homelessness on Cardboard Box and showing off her country swagger on Drivin’ Out Of Nashville. She puts her stamp on songs made famous by Solomon Burke (I Feel A Sin Coming On), Jesse Winchester (Isn’t That So), Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (The Battle Is Over), Creedence Clearwater Revival (Long As I Can See The Light), ZZ Top (Jesus Just Left Chicago), Albert King (Wrapped Up In Love Again) and Jessie Mae Hemphill (Lord Help The Poor And Needy). Friends including Billy F Gibbons, Robert Randolph, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Will Kimbrough and Pete Finney all add their talent with unbridled enthusiasm. The result is Copeland’s most decidedly contemporary and musically adventurous album of her still-evolving career.
Copeland has performed thousands of gigs at clubs, festivals and concert halls all over the world and has appeared on national television, NPR, and in newspapers, films and magazines. She is a mainstay on countless commercial and non-commercial radio stations. She's sung with Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, James Cotton and many others. She opened for The Rolling Stones and entertained U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait. Jeff Beck calls her “f*cking amazing.” Santana says, “She’s incandescent…a diamond.” In 2012, she performed at the White House for President and Mrs. Obama. Afterward, Jagger (with whom she sang) sent her a bottle of champagne.
With Outskirts Of Love and a packed tour schedule, Copeland has her eyes fixed firmly on the future as she continues to break new musical ground. "I want to keep growing, to be innovative," she says. “I’m a lifer, singing about things that are important to me, using my music to help people. My dad always said ‘we’re all connected.’ I’m an old soul marching to the beat of my own drum,” she continues, “And right now I’m making the most exciting music of my career.”
Tour dates are as follows:
Aug 14, 2015 Calabogie Blues & Ribfest, Calabogie, ON, CANADA
Aug 15, 2015 Festival de Blues de Donnacona, Donnacona, QC, CANADA
Aug 29, 2015 Paola Roots Festival, Paola, KS
Sep 11, 2015 Stone Mountain Arts Center, Brownfield, ME
Sep 12, 2015 The Colonial Theatre , Bethlehem, NH
Sep 13, 2015 Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River, MA
Sep 16, 2015 The Foundry, Athens, GA
Sep 17, 2015 Music City Roots, Live From The Factory, Franklin, TN
Sep 19, 2015 Hot Springs Blues & BBQ Festival, Hot Springs, AR
Sep 23, 2015 Redstone Room, Davenport, IA
Sep 24, 2015 Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, Minneapolis, MN
Sep 26, 2015 Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL
Sep 29, 2015 Grand Theatre, Frankfort, KY
Oct 01, 2015 Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA
Oct 02, 2015 City Winery, New York, NY
Oct 04, 2015 Daryl's House, Pawling, NY
Oct 06, 2015 MexiCali Live, Teaneck, NJ
Oct 07, 2015 Rams Head On Stage , Annapolis, MD
Oct 09, 2015 Richmond Folk Festival, Richmond, VA
Oct 10, 2015 Richmond Folk Festival , Richmond, VA
Oct 11, 2015 Pleasure Island Seafood Blues & Jazz Festival, Kure Beach, NC
Oct 13, 2015 Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, Fort Myers, FL (with Buddy Guy)
Oct 14, 2015 Florida Theatre, Jacksonville, FL (with Buddy Guy)
Oct 17, 2015 Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts, Melbourne, FL (with Buddy Guy)
