“I really appreciate Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton,” Melissa Etheridge tells Guitar World. “But I realized that I missed out on 10 years of sitting in my bedroom and playing a Fender Strat, so I don’t play like they do.”
Instead she cut her teeth in clubs after forgoing an education at Berklee. “I have my own style of playing,” she says. “I’m not the fastest. I don’t desire to do dweeddly-dweedly stuff all the time! I like to be melodic and to move people with the guitar.”
She’s achieved that through classic songs like I’m The Only One, I Want to Come Over, Bring Me Some Water, and Come to My Window. And she’s doing it again with her latest album, Rise. “I hadn’t done a completely new record since before the pandemic. I think making an album is such a beautiful art form.
Article continues below“I’ve always believed in the singer/songwriter way. You write about a moment in time through your own eyes – you look out, you look in, and you write songs. I’m looking forward to making more music and playing and creating ‘til I drop.”
Yeah. I play piano, but it comes from a whole different place sonically. I always try to include one piano song, so I’ve got More Love on this album. But everything else is guitar-driven.
So I went looking for an old ‘70s Guild 12-string, and I found one! It’s, like, too big for anyone to play, right? But it has this deep, amazing 12-string sound. I got one of those, and I got a Gibson – a big, huge, jumbo acoustic. It’s newer, and made of koa wood, which just sounds great. I ended up recording a lot of the guitar tracks with that.
Did you have any old standbys that you leaned on?
I have a Gibson Hummingbird from maybe ’72. It’s a tobacco sunburst. And I have my Ovation 12-string, that I also write on. I’ve got a guitar in every room, so if I’m struck by a song, I can grab one. And if I find myself feeling like I’m playing the same things, I can go pick up another guitar.
What was your experience of being bitten by the guitar bug?
When I was in my teen years I played in bands with older guys, who’d play around Kansas City. I had a Les Paul Custom from maybe ’78, and my Ovation 12-string that you could just plug in. These were kind of new sounds in the acoustic world.
From 18 to 28 I put my Les Paul down because I was just solo. I really just played my 12-string. I missed out on the growing years of electric guitar. It wasn’t until I went out on my first tour with my musicians, Kevin McCormick and John Shanks, around 1988, that it changed.
We would roll into, say, Portland, and go to the pawn shops. You could find a ’57 Les Paul for $200! I bought an old Rickenbacker, and I bought a Silvertone for like $75. The Silvertone was one of the ones with the case that was an amplifier. It was fun!
Is that what got you back into electric guitar?
Yeah. I started playing more electric once I got in with the band, and when I turned 30 in ’91, the guys bought me a Fender Jazzmaster with these monster P-90s. When I was 31 my manager gifted me a Paisley Fender Tele – they only made them in ’68 and ’69; I think mine is a ’69. I played that a bit, but now it’s a freaking museum piece!
I don’t relate to the meaning behind those songs. They’re all broken hearts and all that stuff, and I’m way done with that
Right at the end of the ‘90s the guitar-collecting thing went crazy. By the beginning of the 2000s I’d discovered Norm’s, and that’s when I bought a Hummingbird. I was like, “God, there’s so much I can do!” In 2010 I got really serious about guitar playing. I bought a Les Paul because I really am a Gibson girl.
I have a technique I derived because I have very small hands, I’m not able to do all the crazy stuff you fellows get to do with your big, large hands! I do a lot of work with the Bigsby on my Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman, which has the curved neck. I get a lot of tone out of that from that custom Bigsby, so I put it on a lot of my guitars.
But I still have my Les Paul, my Fenders, and a collection of 12-strings. Like, who knew that Hofner made a 12-string? I have a 12-string National Dobro, which they only made for a year – the guy made 14 of them. So I’ve got an incredible collection. It’s a problem!
A good problem!
Oh, definitely! My wife is very understanding! They’re on the walls and on stands in every room. It’s a very lovely home, and my family is fine with it!
Do you have the same passion for amps as you do for guitars?
I used to play through a Fender Princeton. They’re a very classic kind of rock sound, which I was looking for in the studio. On the road I played through Suhr amps for years because they’re so solid. But about seven years ago, my crew came to me, and said, “Hey, we wanna go digital.” They wanted to go to the Fractal.
I was like, “You know, there’s a fine line with that… I’ll try it and we’ll see.” I used the Axe-FX for a while and I was like, “This is okay!” My guitar tech, Jesse Beltz, worked with Suhr. So we have Suhr heads.
Even though the amplifiers aren’t running through the actual cabinet, I can get that amp sound and my sound guys still have control, so we have consistency at every show. And there’s enough liveliness that I can feel in the venues; but I can also jump in and play belly-up in small clubs whenever I want.
So you’re fully converted to digital?
I am a classic amp girl, but I can’t take them on the road. It’s just too hard and too much to ask of my crew. I’m very pleased with the sound I’m getting – and I’ve got a whole new pedalboard! I can pick chorus, reverb, gain for each song, I want to pick it for the venue we’re in. I don’t like presets; that’s just the way I play on stage.
Looking at your new record, Rise, which songs best demonstrate the player you are today?
I do most of my guitar work on stage; it’s where I’m really comfortable. But there are a lot of acoustic moments on Rise. We got some really beautiful sounds from the 12-string Guild and Gibsons. I did pull out my Les Paul Custom, and there’s a really fun solo I had a great time playing on To Be a Woman.
You can play wrong notes, but if you play out of time, you’re done!
When you look back on some of the songs that made you famous, like Come to My Window, and I’m the Only One, do you still relate?
I don’t relate to the meaning behind them. They’re all broken hearts and all that stuff, and I’m way done with that, thank God! But man, when I get up on stage and start The Only One, I look out and everyone’s in their memories, or just moving, you know? I’m like, “Yeah, this song is powerful.”
And when I play Come to My Window, and everyone stands up, holding their hearts in their hands, hugging or whatever they’re doing, I’m like, “This is music. I love it!” Even though I don’t relate to them lyrically anymore, I relate to the audience in that moment.
What’s the key to keeping those songs from getting stale?
Let’s take Come to My Window, which is over 30 years old. I’m putting a tour together and I just reworked the intro. I created a different moment. I play the song intact, but it’s about how I surround it, where I put it in the show, and how I treat it that makes it different – and keeps me interested in it. I’m still gonna sing it; but to find a new love for it, I rework it.
I was working on them last night. I’m gonna go from I Want to Come Over into I’m the Only One, and I’ve never done that before; I usually separate the two. But I look for moments.
Can you track the evolution of your playing style?
I’m a slightly technically-trained guitar player. I had the greatest teacher in Leavenworth, Kansas, Don Raymond, and I had my first lessons in 1972. He was an old blues and big band guy from Kansas City. In the late ‘60s he was in a terrible factory accident that cut his fingers off at the knuckles.
The guy from the music store saw he was falling into a deep depression, so he asked Don, “Why don’t you teach?” He was kind of grouchy, and he played left-handed; and here I was, this 10-year-old girl taking lessons from him. He always said, “No, she’s too young! She’s gonna stop playing when her fingers bleed.” I was like, “No I’m not!”
I kept playing, and man, he taught me the best thing. He had a little footstool and he’d sit there, tap his foot and say, “I don’t care what notes you play, just never go out of time.” He taught me the importance of time and rhythm. Man, you can play wrong notes, but if you play out of time, you’re done!
Every drummer I’ve ever played with says, “You have great time.” I’m like, “Yeah. You know Don Raymond? That’s who taught me!”
I’m probably one of the best acoustic guitar players. I’ve been working on being a really good electric player too
What did you learn at Berklee?
I went for a few months – literally! I was in the guitar classes and I caught a little bit of it. But man, I didn’t wanna go to school, so I started playing in restaurants and lounges for a living, and playing solo.
I’d kinda missed 10 years of just scales and things, but I was developing an acoustic style that was very unique and rhythmic. I’m probably one of the best acoustic guitar players, but I’ve been working for the last 15 to 20 years on being a really good electric player too.
What’s your best piece of advice for new players?
The first thing I would say is that there will be a period when your fingers will bleed. Your fingers will hurt. That’s when you have to decide whether you want to do this or not. If you can play through it and work up your calluses, it gets enjoyable. It’s like life – you just gotta move through it.
What are you most excited about beyond the new record and the tour?
I’m just excited right where I am. I’ve been in this business for 40 years, and I’ve realized that the best thing is to play music for people. That’s it. I’ve come to love every situation where I can play music for people.
I love playing little clubs. I love playing massive festivals. I just love people who love music. I’m so thrilled that it’s still something people wanna come and see, and I can make a living at it.
- Rise is out now. Catch Etheridge on tour.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
