Shemekia Copeland

Shemekia Copeland is the blues.

Born in Harlem, she is the daughter of legendary bluesman Johnny Copeland. She is a featured DJ on Siriux XM's Bluesville station and she has been touring the country ever since she signed with Alligator Records in 1998 as a 21-year-old blues singer. Not bad for a Jersey girl who graduated from Teaneck High School.

On June 12, 2011 at the 2011 Chicago Blues Festival, Copeland was presented Koko Taylor's crown, and officially given the honor as the new "Queen of the Blues" by Koko Taylor's daughter, Cookie Taylor.  Just last year, Copeland was nomonated for three Grammy Awards.

Copeland, who always fronts a killer band, has released 12 albums with many more to come.

The opener is James Carpenter.

Carpenter is an American electric blues saxophonist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, who won a Blues Music Award in both 2021 and 2022 in the 'Instrumentalist - Horn' category.

He has been involved in the music industry over a span of six decades and, since 2008, has released five solo albums. His most recent was The Louisiana Record, issued in 2022 by Gulf Coast Records. His recording credits include work for Billy Iuso, Jimmy Thackery, Tab Benoit, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Eric Lindell, Maria Muldaur, Honey Island Swamp Band, and Mike Zito, among others.