Photo by Victoria Smith
Shemekia Copeland, who plays Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa, Florida on May 24, 2023.
On Done Come Too Far, the 45-year-old new Queen of the Blues (as christened by Koko Taylor’s daughter) zooms in on the hardships of being a Black woman in the U.S., while also showing off a fighting side that refuses to step back into history even a little bit.
Copeland salutes Rosa Parks in the first lyrics of opening track “Too Far To Be Gone” (with a guest spot from blues guitar everyman Sonny Landreth, no less), and stresses about giving her children “The Talk.” No, not the sex talk, you dipshit; rather the discussion over how racism still runs rampant across the world.
All this isn’t to say that the record is entirely bleak, though. Everyone’s family when the accordion comes out on “Fried Catfish and Bibles,” and “Nobody But You” (written by Shemekia’s late father, fellow blues legend Johnny Copeland) depicts a figure who was perpetually there in the narrator’s darkest hour.
Backtrack Blues Band, a local five-piece that has backed up the likes of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and yes, Koko Taylor, will also be present at the Skipperdome.
Tickets to see Shemekia Copeland play Tampa's Skipper's Smokehouse on Friday, May 24 are still available and cost $30.
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