Melissa Etheridge spoke with host Jill Riley on her new album Rise, her upcoming tour with Wynonna Judd, and working with Shooter Jennings.

Listen to the full interview in the player above, and find a complete transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Jill Riley: You are listening to The Current. I'm Jill Riley, and I've got a very special guest on the line on The Current's Morning Show. An icon of music, Melissa Etheridge, is on The Current. Melissa Etheridge, hello. It is so great to meet you.

Melissa Etheridge: Oh, thank you so much. Hello.

Jill Riley: Well, we have a lot to talk about. I would love to hear about your work with Shooter Jennings producing. You've got an upcoming tour with two dates in Minnesota with the one and only Wynonna Judd. But before we talk about any of that, I just wanted to give you a congratulations on your Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination. How are you feeling about that?

Melissa Etheridge: Oh, that was fun. You know, those are the kind of things that you think, "oh, it doesn't matter. I'm good, I'm good." And then it happens. And I was actually very moved. There's something very nice about being recognized by your peers, being in the room with everybody else. It's kind of like, aw, it's just nice.

Jill Riley: You know, when I heard that you were nominated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I was thinking back to 1995 when you had the honor of inducting Janis Joplin. And I remember your performance of "Peace of My Heart." There are things like, I can't remember what I did with my car keys this morning, but there are these moments that — I remember watching that on TV, and this was such a formative time, because I was a teenager, and I loved and admired Janis Joplin, and so I think I have associated you with her for so long, because, there was something that really drew me to your voice in a similar way. Does this feel like a full circle moment for you?

Melissa Etheridge: Oh, yeah. When I was very young, I didn't quite understand Janis Joplin, when I was like 11, and I saw her on The Ed Sullivan Show, and I went, "what is that?" She kind of scared me a little bit. But then when I turned 21 I went, "Oh, I know what that is." And I remember thinking, "I want to have that passion on stage. I want to have that fire that she has," and when she would hit that, “ow!,” a little scream, it was like that, I want to do that. And she was such an inspiration to me that when they asked me to induct her, I was like, yes, and just wanted to do the whole thing. And now, being on this side of it, I hope that whoever we come up with to actually do the inducting might feel the same way, and that's just really fun.

Jill Riley: Now, so far, you've been nominated, does it go through your mind, "gosh, wouldn't it be great if so and so was the one to do the speech, or the induction?" Do you have a say in that if it happens? I don't really know how it works.

Melissa Etheridge: I don't either, so I don't know, but I'll know in a couple weeks, if it happens. But there's a woman who, when she was a young lady, I was at an awards little thing, and we happened to be in the same room together, like same green room, and she came up to me and she said, "I'm a big fan, and I just wanted to let you know, when I was 11 years old, my parents took me to a concert of yours in Pennsylvania," and she said "that's why I learned to play the guitar." And that young woman is named Taylor Swift. So I'm thinking maybe possibly I could reach out to her and hope she's not doing anything that night. You never know.

Jill Riley: Well, if Taylor Swift is busy, I will say that when I was a tween teenager, I think one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar was "Come to My Window," so...

Melissa Etheridge: You're available!

Jill Riley: If Taylor's not available, you can give me a call. You know, we'll see what the schedule says. Melissa Etheridge on the line, and we've been talking about Melissa Etheridge's nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I think this is a good spot to talk about your new album Rise, and this song "Bein' Alive." There are a couple of things that really draw me to this new song. One, it is a rocker, and two, it has such a — especially with the music video, it's such a great look back. I wonder if you could talk about the inspiration for "Bein' Alive."

Melissa Etheridge: Well, I knew that I wanted this album to send a couple messages, and one was that I'm still rocking. I mean, if you've been following me live, if you've come to any shows in the last 20 years, you know, oh, she's rocking. She's playing, and it's rocking. If you haven't, and you're kind of out there, you might think that I'm just older with an acoustic guitar, and it's like, no, I'm still rocking. And so I wanted it to — it starts the album. The first song is like "bomb, boom." And it's about, yeah, I've been through this, been through that, lots of loss, lots of ups and downs and ups again. And you know what, when I look back at it, God, I'm glad. I'm glad I got to experience the lows, got to experience the desire to be better. Got to reach the highs and then desire more. And it's fantastic. I love being alive. Life is full of loss, yes, but I wouldn't trade it for anything,

Jill Riley: "Bein' Alive," the new song that, like you said, is the song that kicks off the new album, Rise. And the music video, I love how there is this home video footage and then photos of you throughout the years. But the setting in the present is Norman's Rare Guitars. I wonder if you could talk about that place and why you chose to tape a music video there.

Melissa Etheridge: Well, it's incredibly iconic to the musicians here in Los Angeles. Norm [Harris] pretty much started the vintage guitar industry in the 80s, and if you were looking for a vintage guitar in the 80s, 90s, you would go to Norm's. Bonnie Raitt, when I was making my first album, I had a really heavy Les Paul Custom. And she goes, "girl, that guitar is too heavy for you. You need to get a Strat." And she goes, "Let's go to Norm's." And I was like, okay. And so we went out, and it was at a different place then in the 80s, but I traded in my Les Paul for a Fender. And then years go by, and it's just — I fall in love with guitars. I have a guitar problem, like many people. And I go to Norm's, and he's received much of my income, and he's just incredible. And his collection is museum quality, and it's really something. And he's just a great guy, and it's a place that musicians like to hang out and stuff. And so I said, “Hey, I'm making a video.” He goes, “You can use this place for free.” I'm like, well, that's exactly, that's wonderful. So we did.

Jill Riley: That's a bonus for all the money that you've spent there.

Melissa Etheridge: Yes. I got to film a video there for free. If you spend over [mumbles] you can film a video there.

Jill Riley: Yeah. On the line with Melissa Etheridge, on The Current. There's a familiar character in that music video, and it's somebody that you worked with on the record. I wonder if you could talk about co-producing with Shooter Jennings.

Melissa Etheridge: Everybody needs know about Shooter. Shooter is amazing. He's Waylon Jennings' son. He has been producing a lot in the Americana, Country, Outlaw Country space. And looking at the landscape of the music business in the last couple years, I thought, okay, I want to make a record that is undeniably my record, Melissa Etheridge record. I wanted to sound live, because I think that's what drew people to my first few albums. Was just the live rock sound. And I looked around and I kept coming up every time I'd say, “Oh, I like that album,” I'd look and it was Shooter Jennings. And so I talked with a few producers, and Shooter was in Los Angeles, which was a big thing for me, because everybody else is in Nashville, but I'm in LA and so we recorded at Sunset Sound, that's his studio, which is historic, and the sound is amazing. And just meeting him, the first time I met him, the first 15 minutes, I was like, "oh, I love this guy. I can spend weeks with this guy. I can sit by him and trust him with the music." He was incredible. And his engineer, David Spreng, the two of them have such a great sense of music and how to get it down. And he was just incredible, so incredible.

Jill Riley: Melissa Etheridge is on the line. The new album, by the way, is called Rise. It is out now, and we've been talking about the song "Bein' Alive." Before we hear the song, Melissa, I would love to talk about your tour. I know last summer you played at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand with Indigo Girls. That was a pretty exciting show, and you're going to be sharing the stage and on tour with, I would say, a pretty iconic artist, Wynonna Judd. How are you feeling about the upcoming tour?

Melissa Etheridge: I have never toured with Wy, as we call her, Wynonna. And she is such an icon in country, and yet she's got that little rock edge to her that I really appreciate. I think our audiences really meet, have a nice crossover. I'm just looking forward to just exciting the audiences, playing all the hits that they love, and I'm hoping we'll, I'm pretty sure we'll do something together. She's open that way, so we haven't figured it out yet, but we're going to do something.

Jill Riley: There are two stops in Minnesota: The Ledge Amphitheater in Waite Park on July 5, and then you'll be up in northern Minnesota, The Heart of the Iron Range the next day on July 6. So yeah, we're looking forward to having you back in our neck of the woods. And I wonder if there's anything in particular about playing in Minnesota or coming through Minnesota after all these years, do you have any connection with the state of Minnesota? Is there anything that kind of comes to mind?

Melissa Etheridge: There's a couple things. I mean, I grew up in Kansas, so we were just right below you for a long time. And just the shows that I've done in Minnesota have been very special, especially this year you guys have proven how special Minnesota is. And my wife is a Golden Gopher. She went to the U. So she has fond memories of Minneapolis and Minnesota, and you guys love your rock and roll. You've always held the torch for that. And I just always look forward to rocking you.

Jill Riley: Excellent. Melissa Etheridge. New album is called Rise, and again, couple dates in Minnesota, The Ledge Amphitheater in Waite Park on July 5, which I haven't been to that venue yet. It is about a little over an hour away from the Twin Cities, but I've heard that it is just a really good spot. So you know, looking forward to those summertime outdoor shows. By the way for upcoming concerts, you can check out more information at thecurrent.org/giglist. Melissa Etheridge, excellent to meet you. Good luck on the road. Congratulations on the new record.

Melissa Etheridge: Thank you so very much.

Credits

Guests – Melissa Etheridge
Host – Jill Riley
Producer – Nilufer Arsala
Digital Producer - Natalia Toledo

External Link

Melissa Etheridge – Official Website