Delta blues legend David “Honeyboy” Edwards and his manager, Earwig CEO Michael Frank, recognized early on Les Copeland’s ability to play, on a very high level, acoustic and electric blues, jazz, folk and Americana from many eras, as well as original tunes and an eclectic mix of covers.
In 2010, Earwig released Les’ first album, Don’t Let The Devil In. Now comes his second album, To Be In Your Company, with the title cut being Les’s tribute to Honeyboy, his teacher, guru, working partner and traveling companion of 15 years. The remaining songs showcase Les’ talent as a fine, quirky songwriter who offers here, “songs about people I’ve known or know. Some of these people I love very much, some not so much. I write songs with a mixture of humor and sarcasm.”
One of British Columbia’s finest blues artists, Les Copeland has always played guitar. Primarily self-taught, his unique sound has developed out of a rich mixture of influences including blues, jazz, Spanish flamenco, pop and classical. The call of the blues beckoned him when he was just eleven. Capitol Records was giving away a free copy of Delta blues great, Mississippi Fred McDowell’s latest recording, London Calling, to anyone that sent in a coupon. The lean sound of f one of the tracks, “Red Cross Store,” set destiny in motion and Les on a lifetime journey down the road to the blues.
From down home Deltas to uptown Chicago blues, Les can improvise anything. He started his career as a country blues guy with a bottleneck on one finger. By adding material by jazz guitarists Wes Montgomery and rock ’n’ roller Chuck Berry to his repertoire, he developed great versatility and chops that might have sent his idol, Robert Johnson, back to the crossroads for another meeting with the devil!
