Unity Centre for the Performing Arts
42 Depot Street
Unity, ME 04988
Box Office: 207 948-7469

Tickets $26.50, all ages

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. For as appealing as that regal title may sound, though, and for as much as she respects the rich legacy of artists like Bessie Smith, Etta James or Koko Taylor, Copeland insists that there’s more to who she is and what she does than a twelve-bar ballad or a Chicago shuffle could ever convey. Never Going Back, her debut on Telarc, captures Copeland at a crossroads on that artistic path – a place where numerous new avenues are open to her. While Copeland 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.