Blues singer Shemekia Copeland references Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., the march on Selma and the Birmingham campaign in the first track from her latest album, “Done Come Too Far.”
“A small thing like a seat on the bus, changed life for the rest of us,” Copeland belts out amid heavy blues guitar, later declaring about King, “you can kill a man, but not a dream.”
The powerful opening track makes way for a roster of songs that cover subjects ranging from sexual abuse to school shootings. Heavy topics anchor the album with lighter tracks, such as the Zydeco-driven “Fried Catfish and Bibles” woven in.
Copeland will offer a sampling of her latest release, as well as hits from her decades as a touring blues musician when she plays the Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St., on Friday, Nov. 18.
Copeland will be joined by soul singer Sugaray Rayford, whose album, “Somebody Save Me,” won him the nod for B.B. King Entertainer of the Year and Soul Blues artist of the year at the Blues Music Foundation’s Blues Music Awards in 2020.
The show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $35-$62.50 through foxtucson.com.
The Fox Tucson Theatre opened its doors in the 1930's in downtown Tucson and has evolved and been restored to keep its legacy alive. Through its original 40 year run, the theater showed movies, shows and held community events. In 1974 the theater closed its doors and it wasn't until 2005 it opened them again. The restoration project was a community effort and the Fox theater continues its legacy today. Pascal Albright / Arizona Daily Star
