Announced Tuesday, Shemekia Copeland will headline the first night of the 12th annual Fishers Blues Fest on Saturday, Aug. 31, and Bernard Allison will close out the festival on night two, headlining Sunday, Sept. 1.
The full lineup for both nights will be released in the coming weeks at npdamp.com/BluesFest.
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Shemekia Copeland is a Chicago-based blues singer and multi-Grammy award nominee.
Born and raised in Harlem in 1979, Copeland first stepped on stage at New York’s Cotton Club when she was 8. She released her Alligator Records debut Turn the Heat Up in 1998 when she was 18. She has performed thousands of gigs at clubs, festivals, and concert halls all over the world, and has appeared in films, on national television, NPR, and is the host of her own daily radio show on SiriusXM’s Bluesville.
Copeland has sung with Bonnie Raitt, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, Dr. John, James Cotton and many others, and has shared a bill with The Rolling Stones. She entertained U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait in 2008. In 2012, she performed with B.B. King, Mick Jagger, Buddy Guy, Trombone Shorty, Gary Clark, Jr. and others at the White House for President Barack Obama. She has showcased on PBS’s Austin City Limits, and in 2022, she performed at the United Nations General Assembly Hall to a worldwide audience of millions as part of International Jazz Day celebrations. Her newest release, Blame It On Eve, will be released Aug. 30.
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Bernard Allison is a blues guitarist and singer and the son of Chicago blues legend Luther Allison.
Learning guitar as a child, Allison made his stage debut at age 18 at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1983, joining Koko Taylor’s band shortly after and honing his skills under the mentorship of Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He continued collaborating heavily with his father until Luther’s death in 1997. His fourth album, Keepin’ the Blues Alive, is his most critically acclaimed in the U.S., and his latest release, Luther’s Blues, released in January of this year, celebrates the music of his father, filled with 20 new compositions of Luther Allison tunes. The song “Serious,” a Luther Allison favorite first released in 1987, is one Bernard performs every night.
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Fishers Blues Fest prides itself on being one of the most accessible blues festivals in the country. Admission is free, and no tickets are required. Free parking surrounds the venue, and the festival is an all-ages event. All are welcome.
Chairs blankets, and coolers are welcome with the exception of outside alcohol (Indiana Code 7.1-5-8-4). Vendors will be on site selling food, drinks, and alcohol.
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