This summer at the 2011 Chicago Blues Festival, Shemekia Copeland became the new “Queen of the Blues” when Koko Taylor’s daughter, Cookie, officially gave her that honor.

Copeland, daughter of the late Texas blues guitarist Johnny Copeland, never expected that title. She said she never felt the need to try to be like someone else or follow in anyone else’s footsteps. But during a recent telephone interview from her home in Chicago, she shared how honored she felt with that recognition.

“I’ve never felt the need or had any pressure to do what I do,” Copeland said. “I just do me. And the best thing that Cookie said to me was that, ‘You’ve done Shemekia very very well.’ I was grateful for that. I have the utmost respect for all the artists who came before me, but I just sing because I want to.”

Copeland said she needs to be able to jump inside a song and become that song when she sings. She spoke of her music with humility and at a minimum. She said she writes songs, but she isn’t a songwriter.

“Everybody thinks they’re a songwriter, but they ain’t,” Copeland said. “Bob Dylan is a songwriter. John Hiatt is a songwriter. I like to perform for people, but I can’t always write those songs.”

And just as she lets go in her music, when Copeland loosened up on the phone and got on a roll, she had plenty to say.

Born in Harlem in 1979, Copeland grew up in the middle of the hip-hop era, but she was listening to the blues. She remembers being extremely nervous the first time she took the stage with her father. But then the music took over.

“My father was a great Texas blues guitarist,” Copeland said. “We’ve always been different. I think my music has always had an urban edge to it. That first time, I was really nervous. But I definitely got into it.”

Over the years, Copeland’s music has evolved. She says that’s because she has grown up from a teenager to a woman.

Copeland went on to share the influences of her first four albums.

“When I was young, I listened to a lot of hard-core blues,” she said. “That influenced my first album (“Turn the Heat Up”). With the second one (“Wicked”), I was listening to rock ‘n’ roll. I started listening to the (Rolling) Stones, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC. I thought, man, I love this stuff even though it wasn’t blues. My third one (“Talking to Strangers”) was with Dr. John. That was a lot of New Orleans funk. I wanted to do something different with my fourth one (“The Soul Truth”). I grew up listening to soul, and Steve Cropper produced that one.”

Copeland’s 2009 album, “Never Going Back,” finally sounds pure Shemekia. Strong without overpowering vocals, She shares her observations and experiences as she comes into her own voice. Confident, but without answers, Copeland has a lot to say.

“This last one was really great for me because I wanted to say that I had grown up. I have been part of the world,” Copeland said. “So many crazy things happened to me between ‘Soul Truth’ and ‘Never Going Back.’ Girl, I went through some stuff. I started thinking about social security, taxes, politics and whoa! — all that kind of stuff hit me like a ton of bricks.”

About the same time, Copeland performed for the U.S. military in Iraq and Kuwait.

“That was the hardest two weeks of my life,” Copeland said. “I have a much greater appreciation for what these young kids do. It shocked the hell out of me.”

“Never Going Back” was a serious reflection of her changed world outlook. “I talked about religion and politics because I felt like I could,” Copeland said. “When you’re 18 years old, no one wants to hear what you have to say. Now, not only do I have opinions, but I feel very comfortable with them.”

Copeland said she feels sad for young people today who will never know the smell of a new record or choose to receive music through a computer instead of hearing it live.

“I remember when MTV started,” Copeland said. “I was like, oh my gosh, this is like the end of our music. These kids are watching it on a box and the performer or artist isn’t a real person any more.”

But Copeland remains undaunted and undeterred. “I’ll go anywhere where they like me,” she said.

Judging from her relentless tour schedule, a lot of people in a lot of places like Shemekia Copeland just fine.

Go and do

WHO: Shemekia Copeland

WHAT: Aleigh Mills Concert Series

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23

WHERE: Center for Performing Arts at Kents Hill School, 1614 Kents Hill

TICKETS: $25, call 785-1635 or visit www.kentshill.org/concertseries

NOTE: Proceeds support Aleigh Mills scholarship

Blues artist Shemekia Copeland, daughter of Texas blues guitarist and singer Johnny Copeland, will perform in concert on Friday, Sept. 23, at the Center for Performing Arts at Kents Hill School.