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Singer shares story in song
By Dan Craft
dcraft@pantagraph.com
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When Shemekia Copeland was just 8 years old, her daddy took her to Harlem's fabled Cotton Club and, in her words, "pushed me out on stage."

Lucky her?

Yes, lucky her.

Never mind that she was "nervous as hell."

And never mind that she'd never sung in public before.

On the same hallowed stage where the likes of Cab Calloway once ruled, she belted out one of daddy's own ditties, "Stingy."

Since daddy was Texas blues guitar great Johnny Clyde Copeland, the ditty was more than, well, a ditty.

Expressly penned for Shemekia, it was basically "a song that we did around the house."

Its theme dealt with the perils of "being too stingy with love."

Wasn't 8 years old a bit too young to be understanding about the wages of holding out on love?

"Listen, I was daddy's little girl," Copeland says. "Definitely, daddy's little girl."

And daddy's little girls need their parental love quotient, too -- not to mention vice versa.

Twenty years, one Grammy nomination, five Blues Music Awards and the same number of Living Blues Awards later, 28-year-old Shemekia Copeland has made good on her Cotton Club coming out.

Many times over.

And when she takes to the stage of Bloomington's New Lafayette Club at 8 tonight (tickets still available), she'll no longer be "nervous as hell."

Happy as heck, yes.

Though her last album, 2005's "The Soul Truth," was released nearly three years ago, Copeland says she isn't champing at the bit to produce another.

"To be honest, I kind of like it that way," she confesses, just days after returning from several weeks at sea with the famed Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise (aboard with her were the likes of Taj Mahal, Tab Benoit, Irma Thomas, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Tommy Castor, Cyril Neville and Ruthie Foster).

"I've been producing pretty steady for a lot of years," she adds.

Indeed, she has.

Though it took another 10 years after her Cotton Club debut, by the time she was 18 Copeland had evolved into a fully formed blues sensation -- daddy's little girl all grown up and ready to roar.

During this period, she was nurtured by her father, who, tragically, developed the heart ailment that would send him to an early death.

Shemekia began opening for his shows, not only honing her own art but also providing her dad with a support system.

As a result, she was signed by A-list blues label Alligator Records and sizzled with 1998's "Turn Up the Heat," a triumphal moment rendered bittersweet by her father's passing around the same time.

"Heat" was followed by 2000's Grammy-nominated "Wicked" and 2002's Dr. John-produced "Talking to Strangers."

With this year's Grammy Awards just weeks away, Copeland is inspired to ruminate on their basic worth.

"Actually, 'Wicked' is my least favorite record," she confesses. "(Expleted deleted)!, how am I supposed to know what goes on in those folks' minds? All I know is that I was tired and sick the whole time we were recording it, my voice was half gone, and I was all stressed out."

Much better, she thinks, is its non-nominated follow-up, "Talking to Strangers," which allowed her to collaborate with one of her father's closest cronies, New Orleans keyboard legend Dr. John.

"It was wonderful," she recalls. "It was almost like being in the studio and having daddy there, he (Dr. John) was so close to my dad. They were like brothers, and he was like my uncle. They went through a lot of (expletive deleted) together. And I felt that in the studio. It was an amazing experience."

During her first 10 years as a recording artist, Copeland gathered up an armful of the aforementioned awards and accolades to spare (CNN: "A legend in the making"; Billboard: "A true blues diva"), became a frequent visitor to David Letterman's and Conan O'Brien's late-night haunts, and wound up placing her music on a number of TV and movie soundtracks (including Martin Scorsese's "Lightning in a Bottle").

Recently, her anthem, "Better Not Touch" was embraced by the world of reality TV: It was used as the solo piece for "So You Think You Can Dance" winner Sabra Johnson.

Needless to say, having a blues legend as a parent is strongly recommended, at least if that parent is Johnny Clyde Copeland.

Besides being a great musician, "my father was a good father," his daughter says. "You can be a great performer and all that stuff, and still not be any good as a parent. He taught me how to act and behave, and I think that's important for a blues career."

Exhibit A: Shemekia Copeland.

"I haven't been in any trouble," she says. "At least not yet!"

From her mother, who studied psychiatry, Copeland learned the art of being able to understand people and impart useful advice.

Her therapy is administered via her music.

"I think people come to me to hear stuff in my songs that they've been through, and that kind of stuff comes naturally to me," she says. "When I tell them my story (through music), I'm also telling their story."

For those attending tonight's New Lafayette Club Show, be advised, then: The doctor will see you now.



At a glance



What: Shemekia Copeland, with Blueskillet

When: 8 p.m. Jauary 24

Where: New Lafayette Club, 1602 S. Main St., Bloomington

Tickets: $20, at www.ticketweb.com

Information number: (309) 828-1212

Take a look
Award-winning R&B singer Shemekia Copeland, who Robert Plant once called "the next Tina Turner," performs at 8 tonight in Bloomington's New Lafayette Club.
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Reader comments on this story - 1 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

FYI wrote on Jan 24, 2008 4:17 PM:

" According to WWHP this afternoon, the Copeland Band was involved in an accident on the way to the New Lafayette Club. There were no details about the accident or any injuries, but tonight's show HAS BEEN CANCELLED. "
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