Award-winning vocalist Shemekia Copeland will celebrate the release of her powerful GRAMMY-nominated Alligator Records album, Blame It On Eve, with a live performance at the Smith Opera House in Geneva on Friday, May 9, 2025.
Copeland possesses one of the most instantly recognizable and deeply soulful roots music voices of our time. The multi-GRAMMY nominee is beloved and honored worldwide for the fearlessness, honesty, and humor of her revelatory songs, as well as for her winning, engaging personality. On Blame It On Eve, the 12 songs all hit hard, with jaw-dropping performances that instantly take hold and command repeated listening.
Blame It On Eve was recorded in Nashville and produced by instrumentalist/songwriter Will Kimbrough. The songs tackle subjects as important as a woman’s right to choose and climate change but also leave space for Copeland to have fun and unwind. From the autobiographical, rocking blues boogie Tough Mother (featuring Luther Dickinson), to the anthemic Blame It On Eve’s good-humored but serious focus on reproductive self-determination to the happy hour of Wine O’Clock, Copeland is inspired throughout.
Famed multi-instrumentalist Jerry Douglas adds his dobro to the fascinating, true story of Tee Tot Payne, the obscure early 20th century Alabama musician who taught Hank Williams the blues, and sacred steel player DaShawn Hickman brings his magic to the feisty and uplifting Tell The Devil. Shemekia’s friend, roots-rocker Alejandro Escovedo, joins in on the anguished, celestial query Is There Anybody Up There?. On the sad lover’s tale Belle Sorciere, Copeland sings the chorus in French, with the haunting melody composed by Pascal Danae of the Paris-based band Delgres.
Copeland’s blistering, deep blues delivery of Down On Bended Knee—by her late father, the great bluesman Johnny Copeland—sets up the thought-provoking closer Heaven Help Us All, a song originally made famous first by Stevie Wonder and later by Ray Charles. Taken as a whole, the passionate, charismatic, joyous and at times confrontational Blame It On Eve is bound to become among the most celebrated releases of Copeland’s impressive, still-unfolding career.
With Blame It On Eve, Copeland embarks on what she calls “a vacation from all the heaviness.” Blame It On Eve contains plenty of Copeland’s trademark bold and courageous songs, but here Copeland is also looking to unplug from the weight of the world. “My last three records have dealt with breaking news,” she says. “This record is for people like me who want a break from the news.”
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