Shemekia Copeland - 33 1/3
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BLUES QUEEN SHEMEKIA COPELAND TAKES HER MUSIC FOR A CONTEMPORARY SPIN ON NEW ALBUM
33 1/3 features a guest appearance by Buddy Guy, with songs made popular by Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke, Lucinda Williams and more
In a span of less than two decades, Shemekia Copeland has evolved from teenage upstart to one of the most prominent voices in the blues. She's currently the most feted woman in the blues world and actually had a coronation where she was crowned and declared "Queen of the Blues" at the Chicago Blues Festival in 2011. Shemekia earned her crown with a series of high-quality recordings and an unrelenting tour schedule that has taken her to all corners of the globe. She's played all the major festivals and concert dates from Europe to Iraq to a memorable performance at the White House in front of an audience that included the President of the United States, sharing the bill with Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck, B.B. King and other greats.
Earlier this year, Shemekia participated in two tribute concerts celebrating recently departed great Hubert Sumlin and Robert Johnson's centennial, both at New York's Apollo Theater in Harlem, not far from the neighborhood where Shemekia spent her childhood. Those nights she was a featured attraction along with Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Derek Trucks, Elvis Costello and Taj Mahal. Clearly, she's risen to the top of the field and that reckoning is underscored with the forthcoming album release of 33 1/3, her second for Telarc International, a division of Concord Music Group.
For Shemekia, it's all about ushering the blues -- an art form that stretches back to the early 1900s -- into a fast-paced new century and keeping the music true to its roots, making it relevant to a new generation. Her latest step in this ongoing journey is 33 1/3, an 11-song CD set for release on September 25, 2012.
The album's title is a nod to Shemekia's past, but also an acknowledgment of where she is right now. "I always loved vinyl records," she says, recalling her teenage years in the twilight of the vinyl era. "I loved the whole experience -- looking through them in the bins at the store, taking in the cover design on the sleeve, reading the liner notes while I listened to the music. Nobody under a certain age knows that experience anymore. So when John Hahn, my manager, who also wrote some of the songs on this record, asked me what I grew up listening to, I said, 'LPs.'" And he said, 'How many times did they go around?' and I said '33 1/3 revolutions per minute.' He said, 'How old will you be when this record is released?' I said '33 1/3.' It's a meaningful number for me, especially at this time in my life and in my career."