At Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, SATURDAY, MARCH 7th, 8pm
by Super Fan, Lisa Morgan
You cannot truly appreciate the life-trail that Melissa Etheridge has blazed without stopping to consider the changes in our culture and the music industry over the last 27 years. In 1988, when the future Grammy Award Winning artist was just beginning to make some noise, things were very different for women, for the music industry and for gays, artist or otherwise.
On the music front, Rick Astley was “Never Gonna Give You Up”. Michael Jackson’s Bad hit five Billboard Hot 100 number one singles, the first album to do so. And only around 10 solo female artists were listed in the “Top 100 Albums”, with Madonna, Janet Jackson and Kate Bush making duplicate entries. CDs were the new big deal and the internet was a thing of the future.
That same year, the CDC mailed a brochure, Understanding AIDS, to every household in the U.S. Approximately 107 million brochures were mailed. And the World Health Organization organized the first World AIDS Day to raise awareness of the spreading pandemic. Many were in a state of panic, and the climate was unreasonably phobic toward homosexuals. As Melissa Etheridge stated in her interview with CV Weekly, “When there’s fear, a lot of crazy things happen.”
On to the scene, enters Melissa Etheridge, armed with an easy going demeanor, a big voice, and guitar skills that packed a wallop. Today, the owner of 2 Grammys out of 17 nominations, an Academy Award and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Etheridge is blazing yet another new trail. Her latest album, This is M.E., released this past September, is her first with an independent label. On this 12th collection of new material, Etheridge collaborates with music industry A-listers, Jerrod Bettis (Adele, One Republic, Eric Hutchinson, Gavin DeGraw), Jon Levine (Nelly Furtado, Selena Gomez), Jerry Wonda (Grammy Award- winning producer of the Fugees, Mary J. Blige, Akon) and Roccstar (Usher, Chris Brown). The songs are “right from the heart,” shares Etheridge, especially “Who Are You Waiting For”, the song she wrote and debuted at her recent wedding to Linda Wallem.
Etheridge will be bringing these new songs along with some fan favorites from her huge catalogue, to Fantasy Springs. This will be a “one-off” concert, as it isn’t part of a tour, but will act as the only precursor to her European tour. It will be simply her and her guitars and her soul gripping songs of heart and passion. Those who have witnessed these solo, acoustic concerts will attest to the fact that this is one artist who doesn’t need a band to back her up. Etheridge shines as musician, vocalist and entertainer.
Ever generous with fans and press (within reason), CV Weekly was honored to share a conversation with this ground breaking artist.
CVW: This will be your first album produced on an independent label. Why the change?
Etheridge: I changed management recently, and they came to me and said, “Hey, let me show you the numbers-how you can do this, and what it will mean.” When I looked at it, I saw that there were risks, but in the end, to own my own songs? People don’t quite understand that a major label owns the recording. If you want to put that song in a movie, you pay the record company, you don’t pay me. I own the song, but I don’t own that recording of it. So to actually make a record and own all the songs is a huge thing. Even though the money up front wasn’t the same as I get from a major label, it’s already been better than the last album.
CVW: You have played for a lot of different causes. What are the ones closest to your heart?
Etheridge: When I started out wanting to be a rock star, being an activist was not something I wanted to do at all. I just wanted to sing my music and be a rock star. And then life comes along. I started meeting people that were doing great work to change the world, volunteering so much of their time and energy, and I was very moved by that. In the last 25 years I’ve been very involved with the LGBT movement to get our rights and marriage rights. I have my own “Uprising of Love Coalition” that is involved in bringing funds to LGBT leaders around the world. People who don’t have the resources like we do here in America, are losing their jobs, being thrown in jail. I do these, because that’s my heart. I’m not involved in any breast cancer groups directly. I’m more involved in the healing aspects. There’s a cannabis dispensary that I give my money to. I put a lot of work into that, because I really believe in the health and wellness side of fighting cancer, and I believe cannabis is a big part of that.
I think health is the main issue of our generation. We’re making our life pretty great, and our life spans are getting longer. We can’t fool ourselves anymore, and think we can eat processed food and survive. We just can’t.
CVW: Your performance with Joss Stone doing a Janice Joplin Tribute on the Grammys was powerful. You were bold, bald and powerful…a cancer survivor. What was that moment like for you?
Etheridge: That experience is definitely one of the most powerful ones. It reached the world. A week does not go by that someone doesn’t mention that.
CVW: Darn. I thought I was unique.
Etheridge: No bless your heart. I realize the scope of that performance, and I’m grateful. I’ve performed for Presidents, I’ve performed with rock stars. Bruce Springsteen was probably one of my favorite moments on stage. I’ve done so much, and I’m incredibly grateful.
CVW: How are your kids? Any of them showing signs of pursuing a music career?
Etheridge: Oh my kids! You know I’ve always had an open music policy in my house. The piano was to be banged on and played, guitars…well, certain guitars were to be banged on and played. They all know how to play. My older kids know how to play and are talented. They don’t have the crazy dream that I did, which is really what you have to have to get into the business – that thing that, even if it’s crazy, you have to do it, whether anybody wants you to or not. They don’t have that for music, but they have that for other things. My daughter is graduating this year and has been accepted into Columbia, off to study foreign politics and service. She is super smarty pants, and I’m just so proud of her. My son is in competitive snowboarding. As long as they’re following their dreams, that’s all I want for my kids. You hold your breath and yell: “Go solar! Fly!”
CVW: You have been through all the changes in the music industry, and remain relevant. Any advice for younger, budding artists who are crazy enough to pursue the music business, “whether anybody likes it or not?”
Etheridge: I would say the good news is… people love music. Music is a part of everyone’s life. It’s something that is part of our human experience, and it’s a wonderful gift in this life. To be able to sing, play and create it is also a gift. If you approach it from the viewpoint that “this is a great gift and I love doing it and I would do it for who loves it and because I love it,” then everything else that happens after that is really going to be ok. You have to let go of the other stuff and play in the moment. Just play for everyone who loves it, in that moment. Let go of results in the future. Music, especially now a days, has got to be played in the now. I look back 25 years ago and I think, “Ah man, I wish I would have just relaxed a little bit and just enjoyed what was happening.” I didn’t, because I was looking to the future.
CVW: What insights do you have about how things have evolved for women and for gays over the years?
Etheridge: I feel there is a worldwide balancing and a worldwide change. We are coming into the understanding that there is a spectrum of male and female energy that goes from one side to the other. You could line up boy girl/boy girl in that spectrum. Each of us has that male and female side of us, and it is our own journey to figure out how it balances out. When we can stop being afraid of anyone else’s journey, when we can understand that we are all different, and that is the thing that makes us the same, we begin to see that our diversity makes us strong. When we can really start standing on that strength, maybe one day, we can look at each other and not see the differences, but be judged by the contents of our character. That is the future that we are looking toward, and as long as we are, then we’ll get there.
CVW: How about in the music industry specifically?
Etheridge: There is a lot of fear, and when there’s fear a lot of crazy things happen. They’re only afraid because it’s changing, and they are afraid of losing their own relevance. What’s eventually going to happen is there is just going to be a beautiful releasing and understating that it’s not about being male or female. We don’t have to limit things. It happens every generation. The old guard goes away and the new comes in. I think we’re in the middle of watching it happen right now.
To follow Melissa Etheridge and purchase her music go to www.melissaetheridge.com
To purchase tickets for her performance THIS SATURDAY, March 7th @ 8PM at Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino, go to www.fantasyspringsresort.com
Fantasy Springs Resort Casino • 84-245 Indio Springs Pkwy. Indio, CA 92203-3499 • 800-827-2946 or (760) 342-5000
