Mike Palm
TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
When blues vocal dynmao Shemekia Copeland takes the stage at Humphreys Backstage Live on Shelter Island next weekend, she’ll be performing songs from her latest album, which in November earned three Grammy Awards nominations. She can’t wait to share that music live with her San Diego fans.
“We’ve been doing lots of songs from the record,” Copeland said in a September phone interview. “I’m very excited about it, so it’s been great.”
Copeland’s new album, “Blame It On Eve,” which dropped Aug. 30 via Alligator Records, features touches of folk and Americana. And it’s got a different approach than her past three albums — “America’s Child,” “Uncivil War” and “Done Come Too Far” — which mixed first-rate music with timely social commentary.
“This album’s a little bit lighter,” said Copeland, who lives in Oceanside. “I think my last records have been pretty heavy, and this record has been a little bit lighter. And it’s just a little bit more fun.”
Songs such as “Wine O’Clock” are more carefree, and Copeland finds it funny that people have been asking about her favorite wines because of that song.
“I don’t really do a whole lot of drinking,” she said with a laugh.
The album’s first single, “Tough Mother,” is highly personal for the five-time Grammy nominee.
“These records are all about my life, and that kind of takes you through, very quickly, how and where I grew up, my father and his artistry and losing my mom, battling cancer, now raising my son,” she said. “So that song is just kind of a little biography of my life.”
On “Blame It On Eve’s” title track, Copeland focuses on the poor treatment women get, a topic not often tackled in blues music.
“I mean, that’s what I do,” she said. “If there’s an issue, you can be pretty sure you’re gonna hear me talking about it because that’s what I do and what I’ve chosen to do.”
Copeland pays tribute to her late father, Texas blues great Johnny Copeland, with a cover of his song “Down on Bended Knee.” She’s made it a tradition to cover one of his songs on each of her albums, since growing up with that heritage heavily steered her toward her career in music.
“Absolutely it did, eventually. At first, my dad, I thought, man, I don’t know how he does this, this is crazy,” she said with a laugh.
“But then I feel like when I was a teenager, I kind of got my calling, and I realized: ‘Oh my god, this is what I’m gonna be doing for the rest of my life.’ It’s pretty amazing how that happened.”
Her latest album, “Blame It On Eve,” may bring more honors. It is nominated in three categories for the 2025 Grammy Awards: Best Contemporary Blues Album and — for its title track — Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song.
Often called the “Queen of the Blues,” Copeland is a 15-time winner at the prestigious national Blues Music Awards, but she doesn’t think about titles like that.
“I mean, it’s an honor. But for me Koko Taylor will always be the Queen of the Blues,” she said. “And I don’t think about stuff like that. I don’t put those types of pressures on myself.
“I just do what I do,” she added with a laugh.
Besides singing, Copeland also serves as a host on SiriusXM’s Bluesville channel.
“I really love it because it keeps me connected with the world, and I started it a year before Covid happened, which really helped keep me sane when everything was shut down,” she said.
“I felt a real good connection with people. It’s amazing how I’m sitting there by myself, but I feel like I’m connected with all these people. It’s really nice doing it.”
Shemekia Copeland, with Mercedes Moore
When: 7 p.m. Jan. 11
Where: Humphreys Backstage Live, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego
Tickets: $70
Phone: 619-224-3577
Online: humphreysbackstagelive.com
