ITS Home Edition: Melissa Etheridge

punk rock country. If you stream it, me and the cats will watch it, or or at least I'll watch it. The cats are a little more finicky than I am. But this week's guest, Melissa Etheridge, has taken things up a notch. After she broadcast more than fifty show was on Facebook, she basically launched her own network out of her garage. Some people make their garage into a home recording studio. She turned it into a home TV studio and on Etheridge TV, which is subscription driven, she does

cover songs one night, a talk show the next. She throws in a mix of home videos and classic old clips. Sometimes there are live concerts. Jordan talked with her about how she built all of this like build it literally by hand, no road crew, and also how she's been coping with things personally and professionally during these really challenging times.

And that's why we started the home edition of Inside the Studio to let you know how artists were coping with things right now, how it's impacting their lives and the way they make music. And and there really hasn't been a more personally moving episode than this one so far. So if you enjoy it, be her to listen to the I Heart Radio podcast that Jordan's hosts, which is called Rivals Music's Greatest Feuds, and which is available wherever you get your podcasts. Hello everyone, my name is Jordan

runt Out, But enough about me. My guest today is a bona fide music Icon's gone to the top of the charts with hits like come to My Window and I Want to Come Over. The grit and power of her vocals and the raw passion of her live performances saw her mentioned in the same breath as Janice Joplin, but rock stardom is just part of her story. In proudly answered questions about her sexuality with the title of

her breakthrough album, yes, I am. Since coming out, she's been a trailblazer for the LGBTQ community and a tireless social activist. She's also one of Rock's greatest survivors, overcoming cancer, divorce, and most recently, in the Lossopher Son Beckett to opioid addiction. Now she's using the personal tragedy to help others and make a difference. I'm so thrilled to welcome Melissa Ethridge. That's my pleasure. Thank you so much. It means the world to me. So many things I want to talk

to about me a huge fan. But the purpose of the show is the check in with artists and see how they've been coping with lockdown, which is obviously something that's impacted all of us, but you've been coping with so much more. If you're comfortable sharing, have you been doing? Thank you very much. Um, I'm I'm doing okay. I

gotta tell you. You know, when you know the pandemic and everything hit and realizing that there was going to be no you know, personal performance appearances, there's no audiences this year. You know that that was you know, that was a certain low and a certain depression, and then to lose the family members like, oh my god, I'm

I'm even deeper in this hole. And and it, um, it does challenge ones, uh you know, ones own you know, personal belie in in life and in getting through things and all the things I've ever been talking about in my life. So I am doing well. We have, We've been healing. Uh. You know this, um, this epidemic of opioid addiction. You know, I'm not the only I'm by far not the only one, unfortunately. So uh, it's it's something I of course now I'm very passionate about. And

and uh, but thank you. I'm We're doing We're doing fine. We're healing every day. So glad to hear that. I last year I had the honor of speaking to David Crosby and he said something that I'll never forget. He said, music is a healing force. It makes us better. What is it about music for you that that is such

a healing force? What does it give to you? I realized a long time ago the healing that I get from from singing and performing music is this in tense um, you know, taking the energy of music, this this creation of vibration that that then affects us emotionally and as much as it affects somebody else, oh boy, ten times it affects me when I'm singing, when I'm performing, when I'm Uh, it's a way of release, it's a it's a cleaning out of blowing out of of any you know,

stagnant emotions that that could you grow into, you know, something physical. So it's it's uh, it's absolutely saved me more than once. I've read that. You've read a lot about quantum physics, and it's such a great logical explanation of putting good vibrations out there, you know, I mean, it's it's so funny. Yeah, we've heard the term good vibrations, but if you really dig down into the science, there are indeed good vibrations. You know, there's we are a

vibrational universe. That that's how we're made. Strings, vibrant things vibrate into matter. You know, we're all vibrating. When you really start thinking about that, then you understand the importance of a good feeling, which is a good vibration. You you feel different when you think a good thought to to you know, music and the vibrations that music, uh cause, and and you know there's study after study of of how these vibrations affect us physically. I watched your heal

Me concert, a beautiful performance. How did you know it was time to get back out there and keep making music because I had a desire. I always feel better after a performance period, no matter what, I always feel better. So it's that release. And UM, my wife and I when uh, you know, when we lost our son, we stopped and we were doing uh these free concerts every day here in this office right here, and and we were,

you know, enjoying that. And then when that tragedy happened, we stopped and we just sort of said, okay, we let the wave go over us and go, okay, now now what does this mean? Where are we what are we doing? And we put together, uh we changed our garage into a into a real like because we we'd sit here in the office and go, I wish I had more cameras. Oh, I wish I had because we're both in I mean, she's in television and I'm in music.

We're both in entertainment, and we we just kept dreaming up, oh what if we could do this, what if we could do that? And then all of a sudden, we had time in front of us, and we said, let's do it. And every day we went out there, every single day, and it just healed us because we were building something, we were growing, we were moving forward and

and that really, really, really really helped us. And so there came a time when it was everything was up, we were, you know, ready to take on air and I and I told my people, I said, Okay, this is the time I want to I want to bring this back into my life. I miss performing it. It's just healing. I mean, it's just the studio looks incredible. It looks like you created like the filmore in your

garage or something. It looks gorgeous. I mean, you know, some people make banana bread during the pandemic, some people and playing puzzles. You made your TV station. How did this idea come about? Like what was the genesis of that? Oh? Well, wow, you got to go back about twenty years. Actually, my wife and I met because we wanted to do it. She I was auditioning for a she was doing a she had done the seventies show and she was going to do the eight show. And we met the auditioned

for that. But it didn't happen. But for twenty years we've been pitching the idea of a television show, and it was it was back when um reality shows were brand new and the idea of following a celebrity around was brand new, and we were sort of pitching it and everyone's like, I don't know, and then all of a sudden, the Osbournes were on, and then that took.

So then we started pitching an idea of a scripted reality sort of this, uh, you know our life, but you know, but scripted, And then of course then all the the Office and all those came out. We're okay, at least we're at the cutting edge here, and we know what we're thinking is not crazy, and so we the last few years we started thinking, there's a way

of taking everything that we have. There's a way of of taking our music and the experiences and the people and and all the things we want to say and reach and all the things we're passionate about and making entertainment out of it and making television and so uh, we we said, look, I really I want I want to I don't want to be beholden to someone else's platform, you know, I don't want to because we were doing it on Facebook, but that there's a there's a limitation

to that. And I said, there's gonna be a way that we can be in control of everything and just have a platform that can then reach people. And we found Maestro, which it's perfect. They're like, whatever you want to do, this is a platform. Here's what you can do, and and we just ran with it. And it's so funny because what we're doing out there, uh, we keep running into difficulties because no one's doing what we're doing.

We're we're doing a multi camera live multi camera shoot streaming and so we've got this we've plastered together uh at this point six different cameras that are all different of all different um varieties. Because you know, our budget, we don't we have no budget, so you know, so we we got a few here. Logitech was uh they sent us some of theirs. But but there's go straight into the camera and we're using a straight into the computer.

We're using a switcher, so we have two separate platforms that were filming from going into one platform going into the Maestro. So so every now and then we have like problems, We're like, what's this, and every's like, I don't know, we've never done this before, maybe you should do this. And and so it's fun because I get to do what I love. I've got my audio and

set up. I've got a Yamahawk quee uh one thousand or whatever the numbers are after that, and you know, which is like a live mixing recording board, and I've got that set up, and my sound man um over the phone was helping me learn exactly how to run that. Yeah, And so I've got and I had in my warehouse, I had a bunch of audio equipment just over the years that I've collected. So I went in and I got all that out and I, you know, so I've got all the old microphones and chords and XLR cables

and so I wired up the thing myself. My wife, you know, setting up the cameras, and we're just we're just like, well, what if we could do this, Well, let's find out how to do it, and we just we just keep going down this road and it's it's actually it can be very frustrating, but it's also very satisfying when we when we figure it out. Very satisfying was the expression. Chef, cook and bottle wash or something like that. That that is you You were doing everything sound, lights,

building the set physically. That's incredible. I mean we learned things about lights. When it got to the lighting point, we just looked at each other and went, wow, I really appreciate the crews that we have had, you know, the my lighting director her her whole you know, camera crew that she used to have. And we were like, we have a real appreciation for these artisans and and we started going, oh, we had no idea. It's like,

do we use five wats or two underdwats? You know, I have no idea, and we had to We just kept We went to the home deep o and just just got every kind of lightbulb there was, just to see what looks good on camera. We really studied how to light it. That that was probably the most intense. I mean, the camera parts pretty intense, but the you know, the lighting is a big deal. That is amazing. And there's so much to the programs you do. I mean

there's there's the chat shows, there's obviously the concerts. There's watching some of the throwback videos that you have, which are so cooled. They've been in any treasures that you found in those videos. I tell you, I could stay up all night watching those old videos, just because you know, you you live your life and you do things, and

you're moving on, and year by year goes by. Pretty soon you look back and go, oh, my god, it was thirty years ago I did this, and I look, I can look back now and think, oh, I used to think, you know anything from you know, I'm too fat too, you know, which is just a just a devastating thought that so many of us have to you know, Oh that song wasn't very good to you know. I

just really want to get out of this. I want to, you know, achieve my goals and and being on the other side of it now and and going back and we're we're this week, last week, and this week we're playing a video from uh, the last club date, the last bar. You know, I played in this women's bar in Pasadena and also went on Long Beach, but I played there for over four years every week and it was the last big and this guy came in and

filmed it. It's a you know, really poor lighting vhs, but you know, you get it and the sound and sometimes it goes off, but it's it's I just watch it and go, oh my god, if I had no idea what I was back then, and and it's it's it really gets to my heart. And it's fun sharing that with the fans. It's like, you know, it's really really cool. They seem to enjoy it. Well, would you tell that person in that video now, I'd say, stop worrying,

chill It's about the journey. It is not about getting somewhere that because there's no there there, there's no place where all of a sudden everyone's gathered in a room and said, well, you made it. You know that that doesn't exist. It absolutely doesn't exist. Because even when you do reach the point of oh I got that Grammy nomination,

that's not what fills you up. What fills you up is the journey to it and through it and then beyond it and and dreaming more dreams and all I want this and I hope I can do this, and and keeping those dreams in front of you and then enjoying every step of the way. That's what I would say. I'd say, just chill out. It's it's about the journey. You're you're You're gonna be fine. Some of my my favorite parts of the show is watching you and your daughter Bailey sing together. It was like they saw a

version of gently we row recently. Uh do you make a lot of music together on the house A fair amount. I wouldn't say a lot. She she's actually working from home here and she she works you know, in a bank and from New York City and she she's able to go online and work here and so, uh, you know, we don't do a lot, but um. Over the years, It's funny people ask me about my kids. They're like, you know, what do they want to go into, you know, the music business? And I say, none of them have

the like that burning desire dream to do. They all have their own burning desires. And I think that they've grown up on the inside of it and they've seen how much work it is, and you know, and and they don't have this sort of dream like I did of being oh famous and you know, making music and that that that's and my daughter said, people people will will tell her, oh, you you play the guitar really well, She's like, no, I don't. If you knew my family.

If you knew my family, you would know that I'm the worst guitar player in my family. That's where she comes from. So to answer your question, yeah, we make some music, but it's not like all the time at all. Well, speaking of making music, your most recent album, The Medicine Show, came out a little over a year ago. What are you working now now musically that you're you're really proud of?

Can you say, oh, well, yeah, I've got a project coming up that's really exciting if we um, you know, I come from Leavenworth, Kansas, which you know when I say Leavenworth, most people go, oh, prisons. And that's the that's the truth is that there within my hometown there's within twenty mile radius there's five prisons. And I have all and and I when I was in when I was twelve and thirteen, I used to go with this little variety show that we had in town and we

would go perform in the prisons. So I've been in there. And I am also now very passionate about cannabis. Uh, you know, justice reform around cannabis, and have a cannabis line and and um, I'm working with the Last Prisoner Project, which is working to get you know, non violent offenders. There's forty thousand prisoners locked away for cannabis while you know, people are making millions of dollars selling cannabis. So it's just it just doesn't make sense and it's just disheartening.

So with all of that thrown together, UM, I'm going to do a concert in one of the prisons in Leavenworth. And Um, it's just at the beginning stages right now, but I'm starting to right because I want to write a project about about justice, about these times, and so I'm in the writing phase of it, and and it's it's hard to you know, imagine the end, but I know it's it's you know, it's going to be. I'm I'm really excited about it. I'm really excited about the project.

Oh that's so cool. It almost sounds like what's the John Lennon song John Sinclair about the the many they locked up for having two joints on them or something in ninety Yeah, Johnson Claire is exactly. Yeah. Oh wow, that's incredible. I can't can't wait to hear. Oh. I mean now, I mean, do you sit down? I'm sorry it was a boring question. Do you sit down every day?

Like some people approach exercise and say I'm gonna go right today or is it more why when you feel inspired and and have something in your head that you want to get down, Well, it sort of depends on where I'm at in the process. Like right now, I'm in I'm in the conceptual process. I now it's about ideas and and and grabbing inspiration as it goes along, because inspiration is the most important part, because it's about being in spirit. It's it's it's becoming in the spirit

of this project I want to do. And so I'll see something or hear something, or feel something or think something that, oh, right, this this is the field that I'm looking for there, and I just start gathering these pieces together, either in my mind or my notebooks or in my you know, my iPhone or wherever I'm collecting the the information or the music of the rhythm of

the thought. I collect them, and then probably in in a few weeks, I will start giving myself Okay, from this time to this time, from you know, ten to let's say, one o'clock. Uh, you know, this is time. I'm going to come in here and I'm going to you know, start forming. You know, I'm gonna pick up a guitar and start forming songs and forming li orcs and forming ideas, and then it's more like an everyday thing. But um, but I'm not one to if it's not coming.

If I'm sitting in here for thirty minutes and it just feels like torture. Music should never feel like torture, So I'm I'm going to go do something else. So I it's it's providing my inspiration a time and a place to form. But if it's not happening. No, do you tend to get your inspiration from looking outward or looking inward? Oh? Both used to be looking outward, And then as I've gotten older and matured and you know,

experienced life, now it's now it's about inward. Yeah, but they both sort of affect one affects the other, and you it's mostly about how how one affects the other. How you know, what I'm feeling inside can affect what's happening outside, And how you know, do I let what happens outside change me inside? You know? That's that sort of thing. I was sitting here and I was thinking of you, your music and your life and the world.

That kept coming into my mind was survivor. You know, you've been through so much, and people are really hurting right now. There's the virus rampant, social injustice, political divisions, there's a lot of fear out there. What would you say to people right now who really are scared? I would say, if you could really pull back and look at where we are as a human race, if we could really take a moment to go general, go go up and look and see that we are further along

than we've ever been in our in our existence. We are, we are closer, we are better than we've ever been. And it's that's one of the reasons that you see these these injustices, these things that that you know make as stop and go wait, amant, We're not that. You know, when you see a policeman's need, you know, kill someone, you're like, wait a minute, that's not That's not who I am, and that's not where what I want to be,

that's not the world I want to be in. And because there's such a fierce response to that, that's what moves us forward. So just know that the way you feel right now is causing all of us to want better, and that's what moves us as a society. That's what I truly believe we're going to move because it has felt like we've been pulled back these last four years, that we are going to feel a momentum forward. And all you have to do is keep believing that we

get better. We do. We recognize what we don't like, we recognize what we don't want, and we most of all recognize that we are all diverse, that we are never all going to agree. We cannot and we don't want to. That's not what this This life is about.

Variety and about difference. And if we relax in the diversity, relax in the knowing that, Okay, everyone's different, we look different, we love different, we want differently, and to allow the freedom in that, that's the that's the challenge for our leaders. So so we can we are still moving forward, no matter how you feel, no matter what the news is telling you, we are moving forward through this. We are getting better. That's a beautiful way to look at it.

And it makes me think of the story you told about the head of your first record label, who I won't name, who said, yeah, it's finally be gay, just don't weave a flag, which is crazy. And now you're a pride parades. Yeah, nobody, nobody had come out. They didn't know, they didn't know what happened. They before then it was people lost their jobs, you know, lost everything.

So you know, so so it was that just that fear, and all you gotta do is just stand up to the fear and go you know what, I I'm not afraid of that. If people aren't gonna listen to me because I'm gay, well that's that's their loss, you know. And if you can move through it like that, then that changes. I've discovered that every time I did that, every time I you know, she said well, this is my truth and I'm gonna speak and I'm gonna just tell you where I'm at. That it unburdened me, and

it put the choice on the other person. And then okay, if you if that bugs you, okay, go ahead, go away, you know, and that way other it just opens up everything. Speak truth as a hell of a mother. The year you came out publicly was the year you released Yes I Am. That must have been such a validating my to have that be the breakthrough, that title. You know, it was funny, the this was just right. It was

definitely before social media. But it was just as the Internet was coming out, So everything took a whole lot longer back then. You know, this was six years ago, twenty seven years ago, and um, and so this process of coming up, whereas today it would be oh she came out, boom, everyone would know in a day, it took like over a year for it to really start

to take hold. And then this album Who, which I had, I've I felt yes when I wrote Yes I Am the song and had nothing to do with being well, all my songs have to do with being gay, but but you know I wasn't speaking about it in the song, and um, you know it's a love song. It's a it's a sort of passionate, possessive love song. And um. Yet then realizing oh, that's such a positive statement. Yes I am, Yes, I am, And then and then realizing,

oh I came out. Oh that's gonna mean a whole lot of things if I say yes I am, so I uh, you know, I cheekily put it out, but also you know it it served its purpose. It was when it was a fine album. I'm very happy with that album. Yes, yes it is. You know I never thought of that yes I am. It's such a positive statement. It reminds me of like a John and Yoko kind of thing, just declaration of whatever it is you are.

Yet you can continue comparing me to John Lennon all then, and haven't even gotten a chance to thank you fifteen years later for your incredible Janis Joplin should be performance too, So while we're at it, thank you. What is making music taught you about yourself? Well, it's given me the opportunity to to be creative, to uh express my emotions in a way that I wouldn't allow myself to do personally. You know, I came from Kansas, a very repressed Midwestern

sort of upbringing. We didn't you know, you don't cause any trouble, You don't get angry. You just you know, be good girl, and you know, do your job and work hard and go home. And being able to express my emotions, especially especially the dark, you know, passionate ones, it taught me that, you know, I'm more than what I was raised with, you know what I was, I'm more than what I was raised to be. Wow, that's

a beautiful thing to learn about oneself. My my last questions, the question I always like to end on on this show. What's the first thing you want to do in this pandemic is over? You know, if you could snap your fingers and if everything to be back to normal, their trips, You want to take people, you want to hug. I just well, I want to hug everyone. I've always been a hugger. And this is I don't think it's healthy for us. We are we as human beings are made

to interact with other people. The healthiest human beings are the ones that have relationships. And so this this isolation is I mean, I believe it. It was part of what contributed to my son's death. You know, this, this sort of isolation, this that you're alone, and and um also yes, I want to I want to hug everyone I love. I want to hug strangers. I want to and I cannot wait to step on stage to an audience.

I just there's there's nothing like it. It's it's something that that only a few people know, and it is just that community that you know, that ritual of singing and dancing and moving all together. I just I really want to get back to that. As a fan, I want to say I can't wait to see you back there Amen, come on, let's do it. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Inside the Studio Home Edition, a

production of I heart Radio. For more episodes of Inside the Studio and other shows from I heart Radio, check out the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.