BETHLEHEM, Pa. — After her past three albums brought commercial and critical success for their biting, yet bonding, social commentary, blues singer Shemekia Copeland said she was ready to lighten up on her newest disc.
With last year's album, "Blame It On Eve," Copeland said, she was aiming for "a much lighter record than my previous three records."
"I just wanted to have a little bit more fun on this record, and so we did," she said in a telephone interview from her California home.
Apparently, despite her intentions, Copeland couldn't help herself.
"I feel like that's important."Blues singer Shemekia Copeland
Released a year ago, "Blame It On Eve" tackles subjects such as a woman’s right to choose and climate change, even as it leaves space for Copeland to have fun and unwind.
The album also has continued the praise awarded her other recent discs: It won the Blues Music Award for Album of the Year and got Grammy Awards nominations for Best Contemporary Blues Album and Best American Roots Performance.
At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 19, Copeland will headline ArtsQuest's Blast Furnace Blues Festival, performing on the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks stage.
The concert, as is the rest of the festival, is free.
“I think it’s important to use your voice for good, and this is what’s happening," Copeland said, regarding the subject matter on the new disc.
"I’m very big on doing contemporary music — and to me, contemporary music is music that talks about contemporary topics. And that’s what’s happening in the world.
“I like to consider myself making little pieces of art, so if the world ended and somebody found my record, they would know what was happening, you know what I mean?
"They would know about the deportations, they would know about reproductive rights, things of that nature.
“So I feel like that’s important.”
'I really enjoy what I do'
Copeland's work has always seemed to have an importance to it.
The daughter of late Blues Hall of Famer Johnny Copeland, she first performed at age 10, and a year after graduating from high school had a contract with Alligator Records.
Her sophomore album, 2000's "Wicked," won three Blues Music Awards when she was just 21.
"But you know, getting nominations and winning awards and all that stuff is just the icing on the cake."Blues singer Shemekia Copeland
But her career has seemed to gain new depth with her discs of socially aware subject matter.
Copeland's 2018 album “America’s Child,” saw her as a new mother exploring divisions of society. It peaked at No. 3 on the Blues charts and won the Blues Music Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album.
A companion disc, 2020's “Uncivil War,” did even better, peaking at No. 2, and drew virtually universal acclaim, including a Grammy Award nomination.
And 2022's "Done Come Too Far" reflected her vision of America’s past, present and future, including an element of hope. It, too, got Copeland a Blues Music Awards nomination and her fifth Grammy nomination.
The recognition, she said, “feels great."
"But you know, getting nominations and winning awards and all that stuff is just the icing on the cake," she said. "I really enjoy doing what I do — I love it so much.
"And so it’s being recognized by your peers for doing good work.”
Also had fun making album
Copeland stresses that she also had fun making "Blame It On Eve."
On the song "Is Anybody Up There," she's accompanied by well-respected punk/roots-rocker Alejandro Escovedo, whom she says is a friend.
The song is a blistering rebuke on recent immigration enforcement; Escovedo, a son of a Mexican immigrant-to-Texas father, plays an incendiary guitar and joins on anguished vocals.
"I love him and I always have," she said. "We’ve been fans of each other forever, and we’ve always crossed paths [they also share a booking agent.]
"And it’s just an honor to have him on a song, and of course he agreed to do it and I’m so happy about it."
Copeland also sings in French on the sad lover’s tale "Belle Sorciere," over a melody composed by Pascal Danae of the Paris-based band Delgres.
"I’ve always wanted to do something like that," Copeland said. "Because I’ve listened to French music when I’d go to France. I thought how cool it would be to do a song like that.
"Of course not the whole thing in French; it’s not my native tongue. But we just thought about doing something like that. It was great.”
And Copeland delivers a blistering, deep blues delivery of "Down On Bended Knee," a song by her late father.
“Oh, man, I have an abundance of my dad’s songs to do," she said. "It’s just choosing the right one for the record. And I wanted another classic blues song for the record and that’s the one that I chose.”
'Trying to make music that means something'
It's likely not a coincidence that Copeland's music gained a new seriousness with the birth of her son, Johnny, who's now 8.
“He is the most wonderful little human. I'm so grateful to be his mama. He is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. He is. And he knows it, too, and that’s the bad part," she said with a laugh.
“I’m never done with that. Clearly that’s never going to happen in the current state of this world. I mean, there’s always going to be something happening."Singer Shemekia Copeland
Another weighty confrontation for Copeland in recent years was a May 2021 diagnosis of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma, a rare type of kidney cancer.
A month later, Copeland had surgery that removed about 20% of her kidneys.
The National Institute of Health’s National Cancer Institute says the only treatment is surgery, and is fatal in 1 in 5 cases, but Copeland said she now is healthy.
"I am 100 percent awesome — four years cancer-free," she said. "And just doing well. I’m healthy, and so that feels really good.”
But life challenges such as birth and defeating death are reasons why Copeland said she can't help but include serious messages in her music.
“I’m never done with that," she said with a laugh. "Clearly that’s never going to happen in the current state of this world. I mean, there’s always going to be something happening.
“So if you want music to evolve and grow and stay current and contemporary, that’s what you’re gonna have to talk about — what’s happening, you know?"
The secret, Copeland said, is, "I think it’s all about recording your truth and what you believe. And that’s the whole point of it.
"I always say, I don’t need an abundance of people. I just need to seize one heart at a time. That’s enough for me. I’m not looking to make hit songs, I’m not looking to win awards.
"I’m just looking to make great music. And all the other stuff is coming along for that reason — ‘cause I’m trying to make music that means something."
Blast Furnace Blues Festival concludes Saturday, July 19, with Sarah Ayers Band at 2 p.m. on Community Stage; Dyer Davis Band at 3 p.m. on Levitt Pavilion; Kelly Bell Band at 4:15 p.m. on Community Stage; Zack Person at 5:15 p.m. on Levitt Pavilion; James McKinley at 6:15 p.m. on Community Stage; Shemekia Copeland at 7:30 p.m. on Levitt Pavilion: and Dylan Triplett at 9 p.m. on Community Stage.
For more information, go to the festival webpage.
