Shemekia Copeland has a distinctive voice.

The Washington Post called her, “the greatest blues singer of her generation,” and the Chicago Tribune called her, “the greatest blues vocalist working today. There’s no mistaking the majesty of her instrument, nor the ferocity of her delivery.”

That voice will be on display Oct. 4 when Copeland headlines the 7 17 Credit Union Blues, Brews & BBQ Festival at Warren Community Amphitheatre.

But she also has a distinctive voice in the subject matter of her songs. Copeland sings about topics ranging from a woman’s right to choose to immigration on her latest album, “Blame It on Eve,” and makes those songs sound intensely personal. Others are overtly autobiographical, such as “Cadillac Blue,” about her interracial marriage. It’s a less comedic take on the same topic she addressed on her last album with the song “Fell in Love with a Honky.”

But scanning the credits on “Blame It on Eve” and 2022’s “Done Come Too Far,” it’s surprising to discover that Copeland isn’t credited as a songwriter on any of those tracks.

Many were written by Will Kimbrough, who produced Copeland’s last three albums, and her longtime manager John Hahn.

“I like to think of songs like dresses,” Copeland said during a telephone interview. “These songs are tailor made to me. You know, we’re all very like minded. I’ve known John since I was 8 years old, and we speak every day. So everything happens very organically. We’re very much family. They have a knack for putting my words, my life and everything that I want to say to pen and to paper. And it’s a beautiful thing, so I’m fortunate in that respect.”

Oftentimes, Copeland will see something she said in one of her conversations with Hahn show up as a lyric in one of the songs she’s given. And just because they’re tailor made for her, that doesn’t mean Copeland doesn’t ask for alterations.

“That happens all the time,” she said. “That’s the best part about working together, in the sense that if there’s something that needs to get changed, we change it. Everything’s a work in progress, working to make it better.”

It’s also about finding the right balance. They are topical songs, but “Blame It on Eve” also includes humorous songs like “Wine O’Clock” and historical songs like “Tee Tot Payne,” the story of the African American bluesman who was a seminal influence on country music legend Hank Williams.

“I love to do historical songs and a lot of people don’t know about Tee Tot Payne,” she said.

Playing dobro on that track and “Cadillac Blue” is Leavittsburg native Jerry Douglas, who has recorded with Copeland before.

When told she’d be playing a couple of miles from where Douglas grew up, Copeland said, “Jerry is such a sweetie pie, and he’s so talented. That’s the great thing about working in Nashville, you just call people up and say, ‘Hey, are you available?’ And he’s always been available for us.”

“Blame It On Eve,” released last year, won album of the year at the Blues Music Awards and was named blues album of the year in DownBeat’s 73rd Critics Poll, but blues records don’t sell like Taylor Swift albums do, and time is money in the studio, so most of the creative decisions are made before recording starts.

Copeland, the daughter of blues guitarist Johnny Copeland, has been making albums since “Turn the Heat Up” in 1998.

At a time when many veteran artists have decided the economic return doesn’t justify the cost and effort of releasing new music, Copeland never has been more productive.

She’s released a new album every other year since 2018, a more prolific pace than in the 2000s, when CDs were big sellers.

“I feel like blues music especially, in order for it to evolve and grow, you have to evolve and grow as an artist,” she said.

“And for me, it’s all about content, you know. These records are very topical to time. Everything that I’ve been doing is relative to what’s happening in the world. I like to think of them as, if somebody put one of my records in a time capsule and listened to it, they’d say, ‘Oh, that’s what was happening then.’

“Making a record is like making a piece of art. We take a whole lot of time to really think these out and put them together. It’s not just, ‘OK, we’re going to put some songs together and make a record.’ No, we’re making little pieces of art. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

That said, she might not be able to continue that two-year cycle with her next release.

“Honestly, I’m not in a hurry to make music right now,” Copeland said. “There’s so much going on in the world. I like to be on topic, and right now, I’m not really sure, so I’m taking my time to see what’s going to happen.”

If you go …

WHAT: 7 17 Credit Union Blues, Brews & BBQ Festival with Shemekia Copeland, King Solomon Hicks, Aaron McCoy and Friends, Norman Nardini, Jazz in the Park Allstars, Sacksville Rhythm & Blues, Backstreet Blues Band, Damian Knapp and the Warren Community Gospel Choir

WHEN: Noon to 10 p.m. Oct. 4 with gates open at 11 a.m.

WHERE: Warren Community Amphitheatre, 321 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren

HOW MUCH: $10 with tickets available in advance at www.717cu.com/blues