Shemeika Copeland is one of the funniest and most brutally honest women working in the lovely industry we call rhythm and blues. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing her before and she lays it all out there — just like her father, legendary Texas-bred blues singer, Johnny Copeland, used to do. That’s partly why (aside from her incredible voice) I’m so attracted to her music. In the spirit of real female blues legends such as Koko Taylor, Etta James, and all the way back to Bessie Smith, Shemeika Copeland can make you laugh one minute and cry the next — and she does so by singing about what’s really ailing people. Stuff they don’t even want to talk about. When I got her latest album, Never Going Back, in the mail recently, one of the tracks that caught my ear the most is the song below. It’s called “Dirty Water” and between the roadhouse guitars and powerful singing, before the song is over, she’s giving listeners holy water to ingest instead.

Dirty Water by Shemeika Copeland

Copeland brings her contemporary blues sound to Jazz Alley on July 7th and 8th. Tickets are still available for both shows and are $23.50. If you’re not really familiar with Copeland, or even if you are, check out “Dirty Water” and it should help you determine if this is a show worth watching.