Shemekia Copeland, Chicago's Alligator Records up for Grammys this weekend
Copeland and Alligator Records founder Bruce Iglauer sat down with CBS News Chicago before the awards ceremony.
Copeland has been nominated for Grammy Awards eight times — including three this year — but she has not won.
"I'm excited. I'm always excited," she said. "You know, just to make it into the top five is pretty cool."
Iglauer calls Copeland a great Grammy "bridesmaid." He signed Copeland to Alligator Records shortly after she turned 18.
"Shemekia just feels like it could be her time," Iglauer said, "and you know, she's so deserving, and she's made a whole series of wonderful records, and I'm just so excited for her."
It has been a great ride for both Copeland and Iglauer — the latter of whom started Alligator Records more than 50 years ago, in 1971, when he himself was 23.
He started the label with a small inheritance from his grandfather.
"I was operating out of a one-room apartment, sleeping on a mattress on the floor," Iglauer said, "and we've gotten a little better since then, but it's still lean and mean."
That is an understatement. Alligator has become one of the preeminent blues labels in the country. It has achieved 58 Grammy nominations and four wins — the first in 1982.
"When I started Alligator, for the first 10 years, all I recorded was Chicago artists," Iglauer said," and there was no need to look for other artists, because the talent pool here was so amazing and deep, and so few of the artists had been recorded, or recorded sufficiently."
Over the decades, the label expanded — working with some of the biggest names of the blues. That now includes the world-renowned Shemekia Copeland — daughter of legendary blues guitarist Johnny Copeland.
Shemekia Copeland was asked if there was any way to put into words what Iglauer and Alligator Records meant to her.
"Oh my gosh — everything, I mean, that's where I started my career, you know. It's like he saw me in a little club in New York, and after that, there was the start of a career," Copeland said. "He took a big chance on me, you know, some young girl out of New York City."
Fast-forward to today, and Copeland and Alligator are up for three Grammys — including Contemporary Album of the Year for Copeland's latest release. "Blame It on Eve."
A win would not only highlight their talent, but the proud Chicago roots that run through both Copeland and Iglauer's careers.
"Everything was in Chicago, and I said, 'Well, I need to have my behind in Chicago too!' and it was the best move I ever could have made. It really was," Copeland said, "and Chicago opened its arms to me and opened its heart to me, and made me one of their own, and so that's why Chicago will always be my home."
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