With new album ‘Rise,’ Melissa Etheridge is letting the audience lean in

If you remember the rocking, rasping stylings of Melissa Etheridge from the 1980s and 1990s – songs like “I’m the Only One” and “Come to My Window” – then the singer/songwriter’s newest album “Rise” might throw you for a little bit of a loop.

The album – which marks Etheridge’s first new original material in seven years (she released an album full of older, up-until-then unreleased songs in 2021) – leans more into country and southern rock than Etheridge ever has before. She co-produced the album with Shooter Jennings, who has worked with the likes of Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker. 

Etheridge is no stranger to hardship – she came out as a lesbian in 1993 at a time when being publicly gay was not easy, and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. This new album deals with some difficult, personal subjects, and comes from a place of resilience. Etheridge wrote the title track after the L.A. fires in 2025, and wrote the song “Call You” for her son, Beckett Cypher, who died in 2020 from causes related to an opioid addiction. Despite all that pain, there’s more than enough joy baked into “Rise” as well – after all, you can’t have the dark without the light. 

Etheridge will take the stage on Aug. 7 at Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park as part of her tour with Wynonna Judd. Ahead of the show, Rough Draft Atlanta spoke with her about the new album. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

I was watching some interviews with you and you were talking about kind of getting started on this album “Rise.” I know the first song that you wrote was “Call You” for your late son. How did the rest of the album grow out of that place? 

Melissa Etheridge: Yeah, once I cleared the sorrow, the loss –  once I addressed it and stated, I’ve got to get over my guilt and shame, I need to keep living – then it became very clear, this was an album about living and about moving on, and enjoying life and looking back and seeing how far I’ve come. Looking around with a sense of humor and into my relationship, and into the so many things I’m grateful for. There’s a lot about just being a woman on this album, too. I feel it’s a strong piece of work about where I am right now. 

There’s one lyric that I really liked. I think it’s from “If You Ever Leave Me: ”Back in the ’80s. I was so full of it: rips in my shirt, spritz in my mullet.”

Etheridge: [Laughs] Yes!

I quite enjoyed that! And I think it’s interesting that you bring up this idea of evolution – what are the differences between Melissa Etheridge then and Melissa Etheridge now? 

Etheridge: Thank you for mentioning that, because I wrote that and was just kind of, you know, writing a song that day. I called my wife, and I said, “Oh my God, you have to listen to this.”  We laughed so hard, and I thought, “Oh, I’m not gonna put that on.” She goes: “You have to put it on. You have to have that.” It was fun to look back, and rhyme “mullet” and “full of it.” 

The whole song is a very sweet look at a long term relationship, and going, wow – I’m really glad I’m kind of done with that part of my life back there [laughs]. I’ve moved on, and things are great. 

I was listening to some of your older work, and then listening through this new album – and I think this comes with anyone’s voice as they age – but there’s a certain settledness to your vocals now that I found really interesting to listen to – a steadiness, I guess. From your perspective, musically and vocally, how do you think your style has evolved over these years? 

Etheridge: Yeah, very much. Thank you for seeing that. I have sung for so long, and I’ve been very pleased with how my voice has held up. I realize I don’t have to sing as high as I used to. I used to really push it to get it across. You know [starts singing in a growling tone] – “I’m the only one,” like that. I went, you know what? We can relax that a little bit. We’re not so intense right now. So this album is just a little more relaxed, and the vocals … I mean, there are still long notes and stuff, but I’m not trying to push the point across anymore. I’m trying to let the listener lean in to me.

I read that you recorded this album in the same studio as “Breakdown,” is that right? 

Etheridge: Yes!

What was that like, being back in that space? Do you think that affected the recording at all? 

Etheridge: It did very much. When I walked in. I was like [gasps], “Wow!” It wasn’t as I remembered. I remember thinking, “This is really weird.” Seeing it now and seeing it with the eyes that I remembered back in, you know, ‘97, ‘98 – it was very different. And my own mind was so different. I was so grateful to not be in that mindset I was in in my 30s. Sometimes, you just have so many doubts and fears and things. I was so happy to not be there anymore. It was a real celebration with the band that I had, with Shooter Jennings, just really loving it this time and really seeing it. 

I wanted to ask about Shooter. What was that collaboration like, co-producing this album together? 

Etheridge: He was perfect. I had been talking to a couple of producers … I mean, they were fine. I just thought – I really want someone who’s by my side, just as a little bit of a guide. I don’t like to produce by myself, because I like to have a sounding board when I’m performing, when I’m doing vocals. “Is the song done?” – questions like that, that sometimes I don’t know. He let everything happen. He was so supportive and only offered when he really felt something could make a difference, or if I asked him. The sound is what he and his engineer, David Spreng – they really brought it home with how it sounds. I really love the dynamics of the album. 

Yeah, it’s got more of a Southern, almost gospel-like kind of feel in some places. 

Etheridge: I told him and the band, I want it to be country rock. I want it to be that California rock. The Allman Brothers, The Eagles – that place where music lived. That’s what we were after, and I think we succeeded. 

I know you’ve been on tour for a minute now. What kinds of moments are coming up in the live performances that you find yourself loving each night, or does that change every night? How has the live performance of it all been? 

Etheridge: Oh, it’s been really exciting. I’ve been doing some shows by myself and some shows with Wynonna Judd. When I come out with Wynonna, I can spot the people that really haven’t seen me before that are there for her. I love winning them over. I love them going, “Oh, I remember this song, that’s fun!” And then they’re standing next to some crazy diehard female fan from the ‘90s, and I’m like, look at this! This is all getting along. This is great. So it’s been wonderful. There’s nothing like performing live and exchanging that energy with people. When they love a new song, that’s really great – when I can see they’re listening to it, and they hear it and appreciate it. That’s great. Then, when they go into whatever memory they have of an old song and love that, that’s what I’ve always wanted. 

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