Events

[ROCK] Talking with singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge, you get a clear sense that maintaining a certain level of freedom is her paramount concern across the board of life. It’s still the guiding force in her career, nearly 30 years on from her self-titled debut, and it’s definitely at the heart of her feelings about the impending presidential election.  

“What we’re seeing is the culmination of the internet, the media, and our now-instant political process,” she said, over the phone from Los Angeles. “Nothing is hidden. It’s the true underbelly of America and the fear of otherness that’s the basis for all these issues causing us to take to the streets. America is an experiment started over 200 years ago—it’s beautiful for both its diversity and the strength of that diversity. But this is what happens when we judge rather than embrace, and it’s given rise to a frightening, judgmental megalomaniac—now we’re in a very dangerous situation. We need to look at what leadership truly means and see that really, we’re no longer leading. Our strength now is in diversity and freedom, and that’s freedom from and to.” 

An activist that’s been able to use her pop star status as a platform over the years, Etheridge has never been one to mince words. Signed to Island Records by industry visionary (and reggae pioneer) Chris Blackwell in the late 1980s, she commanded the sort of respect from a major label that many of her peers have only dreamt about. Along the way, she’s maintained an admirable level of transparency—coming out of the closet, battling breast cancer, getting married and starting a family—without becoming tabloid fodder.

“Chris was the artist’s friend, and I’m not sure that really happens anymore,” she said. “He saw me as an artist, not as a gay performer. It was always about getting behind music that he liked. When I came out, he was supportive and just said, ‘Well then, here we go’. He never saw a problem letting me do what was right for me and was happy to challenge anyone that suggested otherwise.”

Blackwell officially left Island in 1998, but Etheridge stuck it out until 2012’s 4th Street Feeling, opting to put her most recent album, This Is M.E. out on her own. She says she yearned to grow, to expand her sound and experiment creatively. Apparently, Island had become less idealistic compared to her experience with Blackwell at the helm. But no sooner had she settled into the idea of being an indie artist than Concord Music came knocking with an offer she couldn’t refuse: an album of re-imagined Stax Records soul classics that will be out in October.

“It’s Otis Redding, Sam and Dave… if you like my voice and that classic-soul-heartbreak sound, this is a great record for you, and I loved every second of making it,” she said. “It’s a one record deal that was presented to me, since Concord has Stax, and they agreed to put it out on that label, it’s an honor. I went down to Memphis and  recorded with the Hi Rhythm Section and dove into that sound, the feel of that city.”

Heading out on the road this summer for a co-headlining bill with iconic rock goddess Pat Benatar, which stops at Artpark on Tuesday, July 26, Etheridge says she might perform a song or two from the new record, but that she’ll tour this fall with a horn section and backup vocalists to really do the vintage material justice. Meanwhile, she sees the summer shows—which some might consider an odd pairing—as a fun opportunity.

“Package tours can be good and bad,” she said. “It’s what you put into it and expect to get out. We’re helping each other out since, while I’m sure there’s crossover between our audiences, maybe we both walk away with some new fans. It’s just great rock and roll, really.”