The Charleston Blues Festival
Date: Saturday, February 13th, 2010
Location: Charleston Music Hall
37 John Street, Charleston, South Carolina
Time: 8:00 pm
Starring: Shemekia Copeland, Zac Harmon"The Prince of Beale Street" Billy Gibson, and Dan Wright & The New Beat
Tickets: Go on sale at Etix.com on
October 1st, 2009
Ticket Prices: $35
For further information:
Contact Steve Simon at 340-643-6475
or at stevesimonlive@yahoo.com
Shemekia Copeland | Zac Harmon | "The Prince of Beale Street" Billy Gibson
Shemekia Copeland
At a young age, Shemekia Copeland is already a force to be reckoned with in the blues. While still in her 20s, she’s opened for the Rolling Stones, headlined at the Chicago Blues Festival and numerous festivals around the world, scored critics choice awards on both sides of the Atlantic (The New York Times and The Times of London) and shared the stage with such luminaries as Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Taj Mahal and John Mayer. Heir to the rich tradition of soul-drenched divas like Ruth Brown, Etta James and Koko Taylor, Copeland’s shot at the eventual title of Queen of the Blues is pretty clear. By some standards, she may already be there.
Copeland’s passion for singing, matched with her huge, blast-furnace voice, gives her music a timeless power and a heart-pounding urgency. Her music comes from deep within her soul and from the streets where she grew up, surrounded by the everyday sounds of the city – street performers, gospel singers, blasting radios, bands in local parks and so much more.
Born in Harlem, New York, in 1979, Copeland actually came to her singing career slowly. Her father, the late Texas blues guitar legend Johnny Clyde Copeland, recognized his daughter’s talent early on. He always encouraged her to sing at home, and even brought her on stage to sing at Harlem’s famed Cotton Club when she was just eight. At the time, Shemekia’s embarrassment outweighed her desire to sing. But when she was fifteen and her father’s health began to fail, her outlook changed. “It was like a switch went off in my head, and I wanted to sing,” she says. “It became a want and a need. I had to do it.”
At only 19, Shemekia stepped out of her father’s shadow with the Alligator release of 1998 debut recording, Turn the Heat Up!, and the critics raved. The Village Voice called her “nothing short of uncanny,” while the Boston Globe proclaimed that “she roars with a sizzling hot intensity.” A year later, she appeared in the Motion Picture Three To Tango, while her song “I Always Get My Man, was featured in the film Broken Hearts Club.
Her second album, Wicked, released in 2000, scored three Handy Awards (Song of the Year, Blues Album of the Year, Contemporary Female Artist of the Year) and a GRAMMY nomination. Two years later, New Orleans R&B legend Dr. John stepped in to produce her third recording, Talking To Strangers (2002), which Vibe called “a masterful blend of ballsy rockers and cheeky ballads.”
Copeland released The Soul Truth in 2005. The album was produced by legendary Stax guitarist Steve Cropper (who also played on the CD), and featured generous doses of blues, funk and Memphis-flavored soul.
She joined Telarc International for the February 2009 release of Never Going Back. This new chapter in the Shemekia Copeland story represents a crossroads on her ongoing artistic journey – a place where numerous new avenues are open to her. While she will always remain loyal to her blues roots, Never Going Back takes a more forward view of the blues, and in so doing points her music and her career in a new direction.
“I’ve had success in my career, and I’m happy with that,” she says. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to continue to grow. In order for an artist to grow – and for a genre to grow – you have to do new things. I’m extremely proud to say I’m a blues singer, but that doesn’t mean that’s the only thing I’m capable of singing, or that’s the only style of music I’m capable of making.”
She adds: “I want to keep growing. My main goal when I started this was that I was going to do something different with this music, so that this music could evolve and grow. I got that idea from my father. He didn’t do the typical one-four-five blues. He went to Africa and worked with musicians there. He was one of the first blues artists to do that. I want to be the same way. I want to be innovative with the blues."
And innovative she has been. Last year Shemekia headed up one of Steve Simon’s BLUZAPALOOZA concert tours to Iraq to entertain our troops. She did 8 shows in 8 days at 8 different bases in this war zone.
Visit Shemekia Copeland's Website
Zac Harmon
Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Zac Harmon is a disciple of the Farish Street blues sound. Farish Street is universally recognized as the home of many great blues legends including the late, great Elmore James.
During the 50’s and 60’s Zac hung out at his father’s pharmacy on Farish (first African-American pharmacy in Jackson), soaking up the aura and sounds of the musician customers while developing his skills as a guitarist, organist and vocalist and then he polished those skills while at church.
Moving to Los Angeles in 1980 to pursue a career in music, Zac quickly became a much in demand writer/producer and musician. In 1994 Zac received his first Grammy nomination.
In 2002, Zac's all Blues album, Live at Babe & Ricky's Inn, was an electrifying testimonial to the Blues, featuring eight totally original songs that truly embodies the Mississippi blues sound.
In 2004 Zac won The Blues Foundation’s 2004 International Blues Challenge. Since then there’s been no looking back with the release of the latest Northern Blues CD, “From the Root" Zac continues to appear at Blues festivals all over the world including BLUZAPALOOZA II that entertained our troops in Iraq.
Last year Zac joined Steve Simon and Shemekia Copeland in Iraq to entertain our troops with BLUZAPALOOZA II. Zac also sits on the Board of Directors of The Blues Foundation.
"The Prince of Beale Street" Billy Gibson
Billy, affectionately known as “The Prince of Beale Street” since he won the Beale Street Entertainer of the Year award was honored by the entire Blues world this past May when he won the coveted Blues Music Award.
Billy was also part of Steve Simon’s very first BLUZAPALOOZA tour to Iraq two years ago and recently went with Steve on BLUZAPALOOZA III “The Cairo Tour” to entertain our U.S. Embassy staff and military families in Egypt
Dan Wright & The New Beat
Dan Wright and the New Beat have become the hottest sound in Charleston. This hard hitting Blues trio has been selling out every venue they have performed at this year so it is no wonder that they won the 1st Annual Low Country Blues Challenge and will be on their way in January to the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Dan Wright started paying his dues when he was just 16 back in the smoke filled rough and tumble Blues clubs of East Detroit. By the time he was 19 Dan Wright had already earned a nomination for a Detroit Music Award for ‘Best Blues Instrumentalist’. From the Motor City to the heart of the Low Country, 
Dan Wright has become one of the most sought after and versatile guitarists in South Carolina.
Part of the rich foundation of this amazing band is bassist Landon Moore. A Memphis native and Beale Street regular, Landon developed his soulful style as a young recording session bassist at Memphis’s legendary Ardent Studios. Sharing the stage with the likes of Tinsley Ellis, the North Mississippi Allstars and the Gamble Brothers, Landon Moore has found his groove in Charleston.
And then there is 18 year old Charleston native prodigy Quentin Ravenel. With a mix of tight New Orleans funk, intense improvisational jams and classic Memphis soul, this gospel inspired drummer is just poetry in motion. Having already shared the stage with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bryan Wilson, Durance Pace and La’June Thompson and endorsed by Saluda Cymbals and the Loscabos Drum Stick Company, Quentin Ravenel is a one man revival meeting.