Shemekia Copeland

Copeland was born in Harlem on April 10, 1979. She is the daughter of Texas blues guitarist and singer Johnny Copeland.[2] She began to pursue a singing career in earnest at age 16, when her father's health began to decline; he took Shemekia on tour as his opening act, which helped establish her name on the blues circuit. Copeland graduated in 1997 from Teaneck High School in Teaneck, New Jersey.[3] She landed a record deal with Alligator Records, which issued her debut album Turn the Heat Up! in 1998, following it up with a tour of the blues festival circuit in America and Europe. Her second album, Wicked, was released in 2000 and featured a duet with one of her heroes, early R&B diva Ruth Brown. It earned her three Blues Music Awards W.C. Handy Awards.

The follow-up record, Talking to Strangers, was produced by Dr. John, and in 2005 she released The Soul Truth, produced by Steve Cropper.