News

MARCIA BALL JOINS THE HACKBERRY RAMBLERS ON NBC'S TODAY SHOW!
2/20/2003
Alligator recording artist Marcia Ball joins her longtime friends The Hackberry Ramblers on NBC-TV's Today Show in a feature story to air on Friday, February 21. The Today Show story on The Hackberry Ramblers' 70th anniversary features a guest appearance by Ball, who joins in at a Sunday afternoon dance deep in bayou country. The feature was filmed both at McGee's Landing in Henderson, LA, and at the Rendez-vous des Cajuns radio show in Eunice, LA.
KOKO TAYLOR TO RECEIVE 2003 PIONEER AWARD
2/12/2003
The Rhythm & Blues Foundation will honor "Queen of the Blues" Koko Taylor with a coveted Pioneer Award on Thursday, February 20 at the Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom in New York City. The thirteenth annual awards ceremony will honor solo artists, vocal groups, songwriters and producers whose work has contributed to the rhythm and blues art form. Other 2003 honorees include The Del Vikings, The Supremes, George Clinton, Maceo Parker, Johnny Nash, Clarence "Frogman" Henry and The Dixie Cups. Taylor was recently nominated for a W.C. Handy Blues Award in the Contemporary Blues - Female Artist Of The Year category.

KOKO TAYLOR TO RECEIVE 2003 PIONEER AWARD

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SHEMEKIA COPELAND APPEARS ON "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN"!
2/5/2003
Singing sensation Shemekia Copeland joined B.B. King in a duet performance of the blues classic, “Everyday I Have The Blues” on "The Late Show With David Letterman" on Wednesday, February 5, 2003.

SHEMEKIA COPELAND APPEARS ON "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN"!

Copeland and King (along with many other blues and rock luminaries) will take part in the "Salute To The Blues" concert at Radio City Music Hall on Friday, February 7, 2003. The concert will also be filmed for theatrical distribution, and will be directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) and executive produced by Martin Scorsese.
Copeland was born in Harlem in 1979 and began singing as a child, encouraged by her father, the late Texas blues guitar legend Johnny Clyde Copeland. She first appeared with her father at Harlem’s famed Cotton Club when she was just eight. When Johnny Copeland was diagnosed with a heart condition, he began taking Shemekia on the road with him to open his shows when she was just sixteen. She began appearing on her own at New York clubs a year later.

Signed to Alligator Records at the age of 18, Shemekia released her debut, TURN THE HEAT UP, in 1998 to massive popular and critical acclaim. In 2000 she returned with WICKED and received a Grammy nomination. Copeland's latest Alligator album, TALKING TO STRANGERS (produced by Dr. John), debuted at #1 on the Billboard blues chart and has been hailed by critics and fans as the best of her career. Copeland recently received five 2002 W.C. Handy Blues Award nominations, including Blues Album of the Year, Blues Entertainer of the Year, and Blues Band of the Year. TALKING TO STRANGERS has received glowing praise from USA Today, Vibe, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Ebony, The Chicago Tribune, Time Out New York, The Associated Press, Salon.com, Billboard, DownBeat, and many other national and regional publications.

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TEN ALLIGATOR ARTISTS RECEIVE 19 W.C. HANDY BLUES AWARD NOMINATIONS!
1/20/2003
SHEMEKIA COPELAND LEADS ALL NOMINEES WITH FIVE, W.C. CLARK FOLLOWS WITH FOUR! ------------ The Blues Foundation today announced the nominees for the 24th Annual W.C. Handy Blues Awards. Ten Alligator recording artists received a total of 19 nominations. Singing sensation Shemekia Copeland leads the field with five nominations, followed by the Austin, TX-based "Godfather of Austin Blues," W.C. Clark, with four. Other nominees include Little Charlie and the Nightcats, Marcia Ball, Koko Taylor, Cephas & Wiggins, Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials, The Holmes Brothers, and the newest members of the Alligator family, Roomful of Blues. The Handy Awards ceremony and concert will be held May 22, 2003 in Memphis, TN, at the Orpheum Theatre.

TEN ALLIGATOR ARTISTS RECEIVE 19 W.C. HANDY BLUES AWARD NOMINATIONS!

Alligator artists and nominations are as follows:

SHEMEKIA COPELAND
Blues Album of the Year - TALKING TO STRANGERS
Blues Entertainer of the Year
Blues Band of the Year
Contemporary Female Blues Artist of the Year
Contemporary Blues Album of the Year - Talking To Strangers

W.C. CLARK
Blues Album of the Year - FROM AUSTIN WITH SOUL
Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year
Soul Blues Album of the Year - FROM AUSTIN WITH SOUL
Blues Song of the Year - "Let It Rain" (W.C. Clark)

MARCIA BALL
Contemporary Female Blues Artist of the Year
Blues Instrumentalist - Keyboards

CEPHAS & WIGGINS
Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year
Acoustic Blues Album - SOMEBODY TOLD THE TRUTH

LITTLE CHARLIE AND THE NIGHTCATS
Blues Band of the Year

KOKO TAYLOR
Traditional Female Blues Artist of the Year

ANN RABSON (of Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women)
Traditional Female Blues Artist of the Year

LIL' ED AND THE BLUES IMPERIALS
Traditional Blues Album of the Year - HEADS UP!

HOLMES BROTHERS
Historical Blues Album of the Year - Righteous (reissue on Rounder Records)

ROOMFUL OF BLUES
Blues Instrumentalist - Horns

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ALLIGATOR RECORDS SIGNS ROOMFUL OF BLUES
1/20/2003
Alligator Records is pleased to announce the signing of four-time Grammy Award nominees Roomful of Blues. Now celebrating its 35th Anniversary, Roomful of Blues is a band that has always boasted great musicianship featuring a stellar horn section (the band just received a W.C. Handy Blues Award nomination for Best Instrumentalist – Horns). DownBeat says the band "is in a class by itself." The San Francisco Chronicle calls them "the hottest, most solid and wonderfully entertaining band around." Currently an eight-piece unit led by guitarist Chris Vachon, the band has never sounded fresher, tougher, or more focused. With newest members vocalist/harpist Mark DuFresne, bassist Brad Hallen, drummer Jason Corbiere, keyboardist Mark Stevens and baritone and tenor saxophonist Mark Earley joining long time members tenor and alto saxophonist Rich Lataille (the longest standing member of the group) and trumpeter Bob Enos, the band will make their Alligator Records debut on March 11 with THAT'S RIGHT!.

ALLIGATOR RECORDS SIGNS ROOMFUL OF BLUES

THAT'S RIGHT!, produced by Vachon, captures the band's swinging, horn-heavy vintage blues sound in a return to the more traditional approach Roomful of Blues first became famous for performing. Throughout its history, Roomful of Blues has been a proving ground for outstanding musicians playing songs fueled by ‘big band swing meets rock ‘n’ roll swagger’. Twice, the prestigious Down Beat Critics Poll selected Roomful of Blues as Best Blues Band. With an almost non-stop performance schedule for the last 35 years, Roomful of Blues has earned critical, popular and radio success and a legion of fans across the globe
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LISTEN TO CEPHAS & WIGGINS APPEAR ON NPR's WEEKEND EDITION!
1/6/2003
Acoustic guitar and harmonica duo Cephas & Wiggins appeared and performed on National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition" Saturday, January 4, 2003. Host Scott Simon interviewed both "Bowling Green" John Cephas and "Harmonica" Phil Wiggins and invited them to perform songs from their latest Alligator release, SOMEBODY TOLD THE TRUTH.
Shemekia Copeland Live From Nashville
12/4/2002
Catch a live concert exclusive of Shemekia Copeland this Sunday Night on the web. Shemekia and her band will be performing live for WRLT "Lightning 100" at 3rd & Lindley in downtown Nashville. The broadcast will start at 9 PM ET this Sunday, December 8th.
Shemekia Copeland-Live Concert Exclusive!
11/5/2002
Shemekia Copeland will be broadcasting her entire live performance on 11/7 at the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC this Thursday, November 7th! This live radio exclusive will air at 10:15 PM EST on WNCW-FM in the North Carolina area and it will be available live on the web at www.wncw.org. Shemekia will be performing tracks from her critically acclaimed new release, TALKING TO STRANGERS. Join her live on WNCW or on the web this Thursday!
Shemekia Copeland on House Of Blues Radio Hour
10/22/2002
Shemekia Copeland will be the featured artist on the nationally syndicated program, The House of Blues Radio Hour, with host Dan "Elwood Blues" Aykroyd. The show will air the weekend of December 7th & 8th. Shemekia will discuss the making of her exciting new release, Talking To Strangers, and lots more. The House Of Blues Radio Hour appears weekly on over 175 stations in the US and Canada!
Shemekia Copeland Live on World Cafe
10/3/2002
Shemekia Copeland will be the featured artist on the nationally syndicated, Public Radio Internation (PRI) program, World Cafe. She'll be performing songs with her band from her new release, Talking To Strangers. Join Shemekia, her band and World Cafe's host David Dye for a rousing live set and interview on Thursday, October 10th. World Cafe airs at 2 PM EST from its homebase at WXPN in Philadelphia but it also airs at various times across the country. Look for the link below to check your local listings or listen on the web. Don't miss this exclusive live performance!
SHEMEKIA COPELAND'S TALKING TO STRANGERS DEBUTS AT #1 ON THE BILLBOARD BLUES CHART!
9/25/2002
Shemekia Copeland's new, Dr. John-produced CD, Talking To Strangers, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart for the week ending September 22, 2002. Since its September 17 release, Talking To Strangers has been featured and/or reviewed in The New York Times, Ebony, Time Out New York, CDNow, Amazon.com, The Chicaqo Sun-Times the Associated Press (review) and Billboard. Stories and/or reviews are slated to run in Vibe, USA Today, DownBeat, the Associated Press (feature), The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Women Who Rock, Honey, Black Beat, OffBeat, Blues Review, Living Blues and many other publications

SHEMEKIA COPELAND'S TALKING TO STRANGERS DEBUTS AT #1 ON THE BILLBOARD BLUES CHART!

In addition to all of the publicity, the album has massive national radio support, as follows:
#1 Most Added Album Network Adult Rock (36 adds) - #1 Commercial (15 adds) & #1 Non- Com (21 adds)
#1 Most Added FMQB AAA (28)
#1 Overall Most Added on the R&R AAA Panel (15 adds) - #1 Indicator (12 adds) & #13 Non-Com (3 adds)
*Shemekia is also featured this week as the R&R AAArtist Of The Week

On September 16, Copeland, along with Dr. John, opened for the Rolling Stones at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom. Beginning tonight, she will open a series of dates for Buddy Guy, as follows:
Sept. 25        Denver                Filmore Auditorium
Sept. 27        Vancouver        Commodore Ballroom
Sept. 28        Portland, OR        Roseland Theatre
Sept. 29        Seattle                Moore Theatre
Oct. 2                San Francisco        Fillmore
Oct. 3                Agoura Hills        Canyon
Oct. 4                Los Angeles        House of Blues
Oct. 5                Scottsdale        Cajun House
Oct. 6                San Diego        4th & B
Oct. 8                Anaheim        House of Blues
Oct. 9                Las Vegas        House of Blues


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Shemekia Copeland's Talking To Strangers Reviewed in Billboard
9/18/2002
Shemekia Copeland's new Dr. John-produced CD, Talking To Strangers, received a rave review in the 21 September issue of Billboard. On September 16, Shemekia, along with Dr. John, opened for The Rolling Stones at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom.