By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Media Services
December 11, 2012
Naming her current CD “33 1/3” came easily for Shemekia Copeland. The title refers to her love of vinyl records, the number of revolutions an album makes per minute on a turntable and her age when the CD was released this past September. Having spent more than half her life in the music business, Copeland has performed with notable artists such as Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger and B.B. King, but says singing at the White House for President Obama and the first lady easily was one of her proudest moments. To get Copeland’s updated tour dates, visit her website.
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. I really love Maui. I’ve been there a few times. It’s the only place I’ve ever been bored to death, and by that I mean it’s the only place I was actually relaxing, which is what I want to do on vacation. A lot of people like to run around and sightsee and fill up every minute of their vacation day. But my husband and I run around for a living, so it’s a really nice treat to just lie on a beach and relax. To me, that’s what vacation is — just doing nothing. We want to just watch the world go by.
Q. Where, in your travels, have you found the most delicious food?
A. Hawaii has lots of great food. I eat a lot of fish and sushi when I’m there, and it’s just awesome. I’m a big sushi fan, and they have great sushi in New York. I would say the best places I’ve had sushi so far, though, have been in San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver.
Q. What would be your dream trip?
A. I really love the Pacific Northwest. So it would be to rent a houseboat and put it on Lake Shasta with a couple of my close friends and just enjoy being in that beautiful area.
Q. When you have just a few days off, where do you go?
A. When I can’t get to Hawaii, I like to go to Florida. There’s an area called Safety Harbor that’s so cool, laid-back and nice. I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s the perfect place to go for two or three days.
Q. What city have you rediscovered?
A. Paris. I’ve been traveling all of my life and have been to France a dozen times or more. The last time I went to France, I stayed in Paris a couple extra days and it was awesome! I had never really been able to see the city. I have to agree with what everyone says about the food in Paris — or in France in general. The food is amazing! You can’t order anything bad. You can try and hate it, but you won’t.
Q. Are you an adventurous eater?
A. Yes! I find that as I get older I like spicy food even more than when I was young. Your palate changes as you age. When I was much younger, my manager and his wife would take me to all these exotic restaurants, and I learned to eat different cuisines, like really good Indian food. Thank goodness they took me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been exposed to any other type of food besides Americanized Chinese food. At that time, I had no idea that one day I’d be in Turkey and France and visiting all these different countries. Eating food from different countries sort of prepared me for what was about to happen in my life — that I’d be traveling and experiencing different cultures.
Q. What are some of your favorite cities?
A. Chicago, Valencia (Spain), Portland and New York City.
Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. Thailand, Ireland, New Zealand.
Q. Have you ever felt you were in danger when you traveled?
A. You know, no. I never put myself in any kind of danger. I never go out for walks alone. I always go with someone. I was in Iraq and Kuwait in the middle of a war zone, and that was where I felt a little unsafe. But I was there to do shows for our wonderful, amazing troops who did everything to make us all feel as safe as possible. You can’t really do a whole lot of travel in Kuwait right now, but it was so beautiful there by the water.
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
A. I’m the queen of Carmex! I find that popping a baby aspirin before a long flight helps me travel better. I need lots of water on the plane, some Visine and a good book to read.
A. Do you travel light?
A. As far as chick singers go, I don’t bring a whole lot. I never travel with jeans. They’re too heavy. I don’t bring heavy shoes. I try to just bring light stuff. The one thing that may weigh my luggage down is the things fans give me. I always try to keep everything they’ve made for me. That’s important to me.
Q. What’s your hotel tip for fellow travelers?
A. Never take anything out of the mini bar. I have to be dying of thirst or hunger to do that, because it’s just too expensive. So, mini bars don’t exist to me. I find that I can almost always just go around to the corner store and get everything I want for a whole lot cheaper than what is in the mini bar.
© 2012 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
