Melissa Etheridge has been a staple of rock radio since releasing her self-titled debut album in 1988, an LP which spawned two Top 10 singles — “Bring Me Some Water” and “Similar Features.” The LP led to her first Grammy nomination, with the former track scoring a nod for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
Since then, Etheridge has released a staggering 16 albums, including this year’s "Rise," which she co-produced with singer-songwriter Shooter Jennings. She’s currently on a co-headlining tour with Wynonna, one which finds the twosome playing Williamsburg Live on Thursday.
Etheridge spoke with WHRO freelance writer Will Harris about her new album — including her collaboration with Chris Stapleton — while also offering anecdotes about guest-starring on the TV show "Ellen," failing to keep her cool when she first met Bruce Springsteen, and more.
The interview has been edited for time and clarity.
Will Harris: I've really been enjoying listening to "Rise," and given that I'm a fan of Shooter Jennings' solo work, I'm particularly curious about the experience of working with him as a producer.
Melissa Etheridge: What a cool dude. He's a perfect example of a guy who loves music, who has made his own music, who kind of rolled around in that world and realized that he didn't like touring and that sort of stuff, but really loved making music. He let me come in with my road band, and we just made the music right there, and he made the best sound of that music. It's completely live. I don't ever want to make an album without him now! [Laughs.] It was a really great experience.
Harris: I think my favorite track on "Rise" is the title track. What went into the process of writing that?
Etheridge: In January of '25, in S:uthern California, we had the Palisades fire, and it was just awful. We had to evacuate our house, and it really affected us. Fortunately, we were OK, but then I went back out on tour a couple of weeks later and was really sort of feeling that, and feeling how the last few years I had had loss, I had had this feeling of having to rise up. And I knew my city, Los Angeles, would rise back up, and I really started loving that word, the meaning of "rise." You know, I've lived long enough to see that life comes in waves. It comes and goes. So I just started with:
"You're gonna fall to the Earth sometimes
You're gonna taste the dirt sometimes
And you're gonna rise."
And I have to tell you, I've played it live now a few times and the reaction has been astounding.
Harris: I read somewhere that the only person you really wanted to work with on this album was Chris Stapleton, and you managed to have that happen on "Other Side of Blue."
Etheridge: Yeah! I was very, very fortunate. When I first heard him, when he first came on the scene 10 years ago or whatever, I was just, like, "Wow, that's a guy from my own heart." He's got that blues in him, the gospel, rock, country ... and it comes out in his voice. And we got together one day, and that song came out, and ... it's just one of my favorite things I've ever done. I'm really, really grateful.
Harris: Given your appreciation of country music, are you enjoying the opportunity to work with Wynonna on this tour?
Etheridge: Oh, I'm loving that, yeah! I'm hoping we can do a little something together. We've both talked about it. We want to present something with the both of us for the fans. But it's just great. I think our fan groups, they meet somewhere in a lovely middle, so they're gonna love this tour.
Harris: What's your usual writing process? The last couple of albums have predominantly been filled with solo-composed material.
Etheridge: Yeah, and my overall career, I'd say that 95% of everything I've done has been just me writing by myself. I go in a room with my guitar and a notebook, and I take the many inspirations that I've been going through. And then I'd create! And every song on this album, except "Other Side of Blue," was created that way.
Harris: Speaking of writing, I'm also curious how you enjoyed the experience of writing your memoir, "Talking to My Angels."
Etheridge: It really helped me sort of put my past into words, to tell that story the way that I wanted to, and then close the book and say, "There it is, and if you want to know anything, it's in the book."
Harris: What do you remember about the experience of guesting on "Ellen?"
Etheridge: Ah! Well, Ellen has been a friend of mine since 1988. You know, the very beginning. We connected way back then and have been through all of the ups and downs. So I was very happy for her. She'd come a long way to make her show so very successful, and then ... I mean, I had known forever that she was gay. I'd seen all of her relationships. And it was something to see her to be able to be herself on such a large, international scale. I was really proud of her.
Harris: How was it for you to be fully out?
Etheridge: That was the best thing I ever did. I did that in 1993, and, absolutely, to be unburdened by trying to be something for other people ... I recommend it for anybody who's in the closet. Or you're gonna get sick. That's just what I'm saying.
Harris: How do you enjoy the touring lifestyle the older you get?
Etheridge: The traveling is ... not easy. But it gets better. The rest ... I love it. I love it! I've got such a great crew and band now, and we've got it so refined. We're so good at it that we can just manage anything as it comes, and it's great. I love my bus driver. He's the greatest bus driver in the world. And ... I'm very happy. It's part of my life!
Harris: I'll close with a pair of stock questions. Do you remember the first person you either met or worked with, where you had to fight to keep from going full fangirl?
Etheridge: Bruce Springsteen. It was, like, "Oh, be cool, be cool..." So I go... [Calmly.] "Hey, Bruce." [Explodes.] "Omigod, I'm such a big fan of yours, you have no idea!" [Laughs.] Yeah, it's not easy...
Harris: Where did you meet him?
Etheridge: I met him at the Grammys. I also met him... [Hesitates.] I wonder if that was... I think before that I met him at a restaurant in Beverly Hills. Dan Tana's. He recognized me, because I was looking at him like, "Oh, my God, that's..." But he's always been just a gentleman. He's a wonderful man.
Harris: And the other stock question: What would you say has been the most proper rock 'n' roll moment that you've had in your career? And it can be positive or negative.
Etheridge: Yeah, there's been all kinds! But here's one negative that turned into a positive. It's after 9/11, right after, and it's in New York City. They're doing the Concert for New York. Everybody's there. It's huge. They've got a main stage and then they've got a little side stage, and while they're changing the main stage, people are over here playing the side stage.
So I didn't have my band, I just came with my guitar, and I'm doing a little solo thing over there while they're changing over. And they're changing over to the Who, who's going to play after me. So I'm singing, I'm kind of at the beginning of "Come to My Window," and I'm singing, and my microphone just cuts out. Someone has unplugged my microphone and plugged in Roger Daltrey's microphone! [Laughs.]
And this is live. And it's on television and everything ... and there's no microphone! But I'm still playing the song. And I'll be damned if that whole audience that was filled with firefighters and policemen, they sang that song for me until the microphone came back on for me. They all sang, "Come to my windowwwwwww!" It was huge, it was loud ... And finally, after a few choruses, it came back on, and I was, like, "phew!" But you've gotta go through those moments. You've just got to hold on. And I did, and it became this super memorable moment for me.
Read more about Williamsburg Live at whro.org.
