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Shemekia Copeland hits the road with a new batch of Handy awards
Shemekia Copeland , who dominated Thursday night's (5/22) W.C. Handy Blues Awards by taking home three trophies, will continue her busy tour schedule at least through the fall.
The 24-year-old singer's itinerary--which supports her 2002 album "Talking to Strangers"--includes a mix of festival dates and headlining shows.
"Talking to Strangers," which was produced by Dr. John, took home this year's Handy award in the Blues Album of the Year category, marking the second straight year that Copeland has won the award, (Last year, she won for her 2001 release, "Wicked.) She also was honored in the Contemporary Female Artist of the Year and Contemporary Blues Album of the Year categories.
Taking home two awards apiece at the Handys--which took place at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis--were blues veterans Charlie Musselwhite (Contemporary Male Artist of the Year and Blues Instrumentalist (Harmonica) and Solomon Burke (Soul Blues Album of the Year and Soul Male Artist of the Year).
Copeland--the daughter of the late Texas blues-guitar legend Johnny Clyde Copeland--has won seven Handy awards over the course of her career, according to Alligator Records. She recorded her 1998 debut album, "Turn the Heat Up," when she was just 18 years old.
In her record-company biography, Copeland said that her style is still evolving.
"I listen to Aretha Franklin, Katie Webster, Trudy Lynn, Etta James, Howard Tate, India.Arie, Angelique Kidjo," she said. "But I don't try to copy them. I just take little things from each one and add them to my style. But for as long as I live, my father's music will live through me."
