Tony
did much of his early practicing, in the closet. The story goes
like this...
“Tony Copeland” a jazz guitarist born and raised in
the small port town of Portsmouth, Virginia, began playing music
at an early age, after his parents Floyd, a retired Longshoreman
and Velma a retired city worker, purchased two guitars, one
for him and one for his older brother “Reneal”. While
his father was hard at work, his mother kept him and his seven
siblings in church, filled with a host of good musicians. This
is where the young musicians including Tony honed their skills
by watching and imitating the older guitar, bass and piano and
drum players.seven siblings in church, filled with a host of
good musicians. This is where the young musicians including
Tony honed their skills by watching and imitating the older
guitar, bass and piano and drum players.
Tony
did much of his early practicing, in the closet. The story goes
like this...his father sang bass vocals in a local quartet,
“The Golden Tones” who eventually disbanded. Floyd
the father brought the musical instruments (guitar, bass, amplifier
and microphone) home and put them away in the closet. Tony would
sneak in while his father was away and practice on these instruments
in the dark. Too short to turn on the light, and afraid that
he would be exposed by the other siblings, was the reason for
this unusual practice behavior. Tony is a graduate of Manor
High School. While working at a London Fog coat factory, he
attended Commonwealth College and Rice Aviation where he studied
to become a certified Airframe repairman. This effort was halted
after the sudden and tragic death of his youngest brother “Gary”.
He simply retired his efforts as a musician. After a rough bout
of depression, he slowly began to re-focus on his music career.
He joined a local group “The Virginia Aires” as bass
player and later joined and toured with a Sonlite Records recording
act, “The Scotts”.
Even
though he shared his talent, experience and expertise with other,
Tony was always studying everything he could about the business
of music. After the Scotts, he relocated up north to Rhode Island
and continued to play bass and guitar with various groups. In
2000 he relocated to Mobile Alabama where he composed, produced
and recorded his first CD single entitled “Life is Worth
Living” with the financial help from his friend Morris
Parsons and Mary Hobdy. In 2001 he relocated to Houston Texas
where he released his next project entitled “Thank You
Jesus”. His next single entitled “The Right Way”
was released 2007.
In 2000
he relocated to Mobile Alabama where he composed, produced and
recorded his first CD single entitled “Life is Worth Living”
with the financial help from his friend Morris Parsons and Mary
Hobdy. In 2001 he relocated to Houston Texas where he released
his next project entitled “Thank You Jesus”. His next
single entitled “The Right Way” was released 2007.
Tony
taught himself to play by listening to other great musicians
and artist such as, Stanley Clarke, Fourplay, Johnnie “Guitar”
Watson, Ernie Isley, George Duke, Ron Smith formerly of Maze
featuring Frankie Beverly, Earl Kluh etc…
He
is an independent artist on his own label, Danay Records as
well as owner and director of Danay Music Publishing Co. (ASCAP)
Even though Tony performs and understands various styles of
music such as, Reggae, Funk, R&B, and Gospel, he truly loves
the art of improvisation. His commitment to the jazz audience
is what keeps him hard at work, in hope of producing great and
inspiring music for them all.
So in
summary when you hear or see Tony Copeland live, you'll get
a mixture of the 70's funk, the 80's R&B, and the 90's jazz
sound, put together to come up with a current unique sound as
never heard before. "It's got that positive vibe"
“Audrey
Tia” was actually composed by accident. Here’s the
story... Tony was experimenting with some new production techniques
using a particular piece of recording gear. He composed a drum
beat, derived around the way he felt that day, which was “A
far away island somewhere” while sipping on some sort of
colada. The beat gave birth to the piano melody, which gave
birth to the chord structure, which gave birth to the bass pattern,
which gave birth to the strings and horns which paved the way
for his guitar lines. Now all he needed a title. So he used
the name of two sisters that he knew, whose names were respectfully,
“Audrey” and "Carolyn" whose nickname was
“Tia”. It had a definite ring to it…a name fit
for a Caribbean queen if you will. This music will actually
take you there without a ship. Just sit back and listen to guitar
line octaves and the Carlos Santana style riffs within
the song. This tune is definitely one of the highlights of the
project. A great party song for any festive occasion!.
Contact
info:
Tony Copeland
PO Box 740061
Houston TX 77274
TEL: 832-396-1905
http://www.teejaydeesproductions@yahoo.com
Viewing Locations:
http://www.myspace.com/tonycopeland7
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tonycopeland
http://www.musicianpromote.com/Tony_Copeland/
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