Shemekia Copeland To Appear On NPR's "Weekend Edition Saturday" On 10/10

SHEMEKIA COPELAND TO APPEAR ON NPR'S WEEKEND EDITION SATURDAY

Host Scott Simon Talks To Copeland About Outskirts Of Love 

NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday will air an interview and performance with singer Shemekia Copeland on October 10. Host Scott Simon talks to Copeland about her new CD, Outskirts Of Love, and her life as "a fresh, gripping roots music performer." (Wall Street Journal)

MOJO magazine says, "It is Copeland’s thrilling voice, part Koko Taylor, part Mavis Staples and capable of incredible expression, that makes Outskirts Of Love so super-special. Spectacular, stirring, sanctified and sassy…at the crossroads where funk meets blues rock. Her band, led by producer Oliver Wood, and featuring guests Billy F Gibbons, Robert Randolph, Alvin Youngblood Hart and Will Kimbrough, is faultless throughout."

Copeland’s return to Alligator Records with Outskirts Of Love (she recorded four albums for the label from 1998 through 2006) finds her at her most charismatic. She mixes freshly written material with thrilling reinventions of songs originally recorded by Solomon Burke, ZZ Top, Jesse Winchester, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jesse Mae Hemphill and her father, the late Johnny Clyde Copeland. The result is Copeland’s most musically adventurous album of her still-evolving career.

With a voice that is alternately sultry, assertive and roaring, Copeland’s wide-open vision of contemporary blues, Americana, roots and soul music showcases the evolution of a passionate artist with a modern musical and lyrical approach. Whether she’s belting out a raucous blues-rocker, firing up a blistering soul-shouter, bringing the spirit to a gospel-fueled R&B rave-up or digging deep down into a subtle, country-tinged ballad, Shemekia Copeland sounds like no one else.

Copeland has performed thousands of gigs at clubs, festivals and concert halls all over the world and has appeared on national television, NPR, and in newspapers, films and magazines. She is a mainstay on countless commercial and non-commercial radio stations. She's sung with Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, James Cotton and many others. She opened for The Rolling Stones and entertained U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait. Jeff Beck calls her “f*cking amazing.” Santana says, “She’s incandescent…a diamond.” In 2012, she performed at the White House for President and Mrs. Obama. Afterward, Jagger (with whom she sang) sent her a bottle of champagne.

With Outskirts Of Love and a packed tour schedule, Copeland has her eyes fixed firmly on the future as she continues to break new musical ground. "I want to keep growing, to be innovative," she says. “I’m a lifer, singing about things that are important to me, using my music to help people. My dad always said ‘we’re all connected.’ I’m an old soul marching to the beat of my own drum,” she continues, “and right now I’m making the most exciting music of my career.”

NPR Music's First Listen To Premiere Shemekia Copeland's OUTSKIRTS OF LOVE

NPR MUSIC'S FIRST LISTEN TO PREMIERE SHEMEKIA COPELAND'S OUTSKIRTS OF LOVE Album Is #1 Most Added Triple A Record On FMQB Chart NPR Music's influential First Listen will host the premiere of singer Shemekia Copeland's Outskirts Of Love, beginning Thursday, September 3 and running through the CD's September 11 release date. Initial radio response has been stellar -- the album was the #1 Most Added Triple A Record for the week of August 24 on the FMQB chart. MOJO magazine says, "It is Copeland’s thrilling voice, part Koko Taylor, part Mavis Staples and capable of incredible expression, that makes Outskirts Of Love so super-special. Spectacular, stirring, sanctified and sassy…at the crossroads where funk meets blues rock. Her band, led by producer Oliver Wood, and featuring guests Billy F Gibbons, Robert Randolph, Alvin Youngblood Hart and Will Kimbrough, is faultless throughout." Copeland’s return to Alligator Records with Outskirts Of Love (she recorded four albums for the label from 1998 through 2006) finds her at her most charismatic. She mixes freshly written material with thrilling reinventions of songs originally recorded by Solomon Burke, ZZ Top, Jesse Winchester, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jesse Mae Hemphill and her father, the late Johnny Clyde Copeland. The result is Copeland’s most musically adventurous album of her still-evolving career. With a voice that is alternately sultry, assertive and roaring, Copeland’s wide-open vision of contemporary blues, Americana, roots and soul music showcases the evolution of a passionate artist with a modern musical and lyrical approach. Whether she’s belting out a raucous blues-rocker, firing up a blistering soul-shouter, bringing the spirit to a gospel-fueled R&B rave-up or digging deep down into a subtle, country-tinged ballad, Shemekia Copeland sounds like no one else. Copeland has performed thousands of gigs at clubs, festivals and concert halls all over the world and has appeared on national television, NPR, and in newspapers, films and magazines. She is a mainstay on countless commercial and non-commercial radio stations. She's sung with Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, James Cotton and many others. She opened for The Rolling Stones and entertained U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait. Jeff Beck calls her “f*cking amazing.” Santana says, “She’s incandescent…a diamond.” In 2012, she performed at the White House for President and Mrs. Obama. Afterward, Jagger (with whom she sang) sent her a bottle of champagne. With Outskirts Of Love and a packed tour schedule, Copeland has her eyes fixed firmly on the future as she continues to break new musical ground. "I want to keep growing, to be innovative," she says. “I’m a lifer, singing about things that are important to me, using my music to help people. My dad always said ‘we’re all connected.’ I’m an old soul marching to the beat of my own drum,” she continues, “and right now I’m making the most exciting music of my career.” ### www.ALLIGATOR.com

Dale Watson performs on NPR's Mountain Stage

Dale Watson   Austin's king of honky-tonk performs on NPR's Mountain Stage New episode out on April 3, click here for local listings and airtimes  Watson's new album, Call Me Insane, out June 9 on Red House/Ameripolitan Records         Austin, TX: Dale Watson, keeper of the true country music flame, will be featured on the next episode of NPR's Mountain Stage. The episode will premiere on Friday, April 3; click here for stations and airtimes. Watson will be previewing new songs from his upcoming release Call Me Insane, a new studio album recorded in Austin with veteran producer Lloyd Maines (Robert Earl Keen, Jerry Jeff Walker, etc.) The album will be released on June 9 in North America via Red House/Ameripolitan Records on CD, digital, and vinyl. Dubbed "the silver pompadoured, baritone beltin', Lone Star beer drinkin', honky-tonk hellraiser" by The Austin Chronicle, Watson  recently sat in with Jimmy Kimmel’s house band as a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC) from SXSW. He also emceed the first ever SXSW “Ameripolitan” showcase featuring the best of Honky-tonk, Outlaw Country, Rockabilly and Texas Swing music.    Album highlights include “Jonesin’ For Jones,” a love song to the music of the legendary George Jones, “A Day At A Time,” about “getting by by barely getting by;” “Call Me Insane,” the album’s moody title track; “Bug Ya For Love,” a fun warning to all the single ladies, and “Mamas Don’t Let Your Cowboys Grow Up To Be Babies.” (Yes, it is an answer song to the Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson hit.) “Crocodile Tears” is a barstool weeper that sounds like an instant classic and “Burden Of The Cross,” a reference to the tragic death of Watson's fiance in a car crash, show's his serious side.   Call Me Insane was recorded in Austin by Watson and his ace touring band, “His Lone Stars”: Don Pawlak (pedal steel), Mike Bernal (drums & percussion), and Chris Crepps (upright bass & background vocals). Dale plays electric guitar throughout and Lloyd Maines added acoustic guitar. They were joined in the studio by Danny Levin on piano and the Honky Tonk Horns: Jon Blondell (trombone), Joey Colarusso (saxophone), and Ricky White (trumpet).     Since the release of El Rancho Azul in 2013, Watson’s profile has risen considerably via appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS), Austin City Limits and The Sun Sessions (PBS) and as a guest on NPR’s Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me and American Routes. A veteran touring artist and consummate entertainer, he is on the road more than 300 days a year. He also put his money where his heart is and took over ownership of two struggling Texas honky-tonks, the Little Longhorn Saloon in Austin (home of Chicken $#!+ Bingo) and The Big T Roadhouse in St. Hedwigs (outside San Antonio).  If not on the road, he and His Lone Stars perform at one of them each Sunday.   Dale has flown the flag for classic honky-tonk for over two decades. He’s christened his brand of American roots music "Ameripolitan” to differentiate it from current crop of Nashville-based pop country. The Alabama-born, Texas-raised Watson may be the hardest working entertainer today and is rapidly approaching legendary status.  He is a country music maverick, a true outlaw who stands alongside Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and George Strait as one of the finest country singers and songwriters from the Lone Star State. www.DaleWatson.com www.facebook.com/Official-Dale-Watson www.twitter.com/TheDaleWatson www.Ameripolitan.com www.twitter.com/ameripolitan RECENT KIND WORDS: “I’m one of Dale’s biggest fans.  - Willie Nelson   “Country music’s a crazy, gold-diggin’ whore, and Dale Watson wants a divorce.”   - The Austin Chronicle  “Graced with a deep, fluid George Jones-ish voice, Watson was mesmerizing, whether making fun of The Voice’s faux-country judge on ‘Old Fart (Song For Blake)”’or simmering through a train-chugging original such as ‘My Baby Makes Me Gravy.’”  - The Philadelphia Inquirer  “Nothing else is Dale Watson. In he strode in a long black Cash-worthy coat with long leather cuffs and a tux shirt.  His white hair was ship’s prow, or perhaps a mighty iceberg. And his Telecaster guitar, festooned with silver coins of every size and denomination, glinted in the footlights.  All through, Dale’s banter was loose and wry.  His guitar tone was just platonically perfect.”   - Music City Roots   “To call Dale Watson’s music country is like calling Ray Charles’ music soul ... both have an air of authenticity that transcends genres and demands that they be put into a class of one.  Ray Charles is gone, but you can see Dale Watson…" - The Troy Record  "...he proved that he is the real deal, and when it comes to tradition, sometimes you can't get too much of a good thing."    - Country Standard Time    "This songwriter prides himself on crafting authentic, old-school country music, which he does so quite masterfully. Watson definitely nails the old-school country star persona." - No Country For New Nashville  " He’s spent the past two decades proving there are still powerful tales to be told from the honky-tonk pulpit, and he's brought that message to the faithful.”  - The Nashville Scene For Dale’s full tour schedule, please visit www.dalewatson.com or www.redhouserecords.com.

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