POLYGRAM

Pain fuses to creativity
for Etheridge

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By Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.com

Few, if any, performers start an interview by saying, "Ask anything you want. Nothing is taboo."

Enter two-time Grammy Award winner Melissa Etheridge, on the phone from Ottawa. She'll be making her Hawaii debut next Friday at the Blaisdell Arena.

"You may look back at this interview and think you were too open," I tell her.

"I don't think so," she says, laughing. "I'll probably look back and wish I had been more open."

And that openness is how Etheridge announced at 1993's presidential inauguration gala that she is gay.

"What movie stars did you have a crush on as a teenager?" I ask.

"Definitely Anne Bancroft," Etheridge, 40, says. "I'm really into strong women. I also liked Kate Jackson way more than Farah Fawcett.

"That made it pretty clear I was queer."

Honesty permeates Etheridge's latest CD, "Skin," which begins with the provocative song "Lover, Please" and lyrics:

POLYGRAM Melissa Etheridge says sher found tremendous power within herself after the split of a 12-year relationship with filmmaker Julie Cypher.

"A shot in the dark / I woke up to find / You had broke all the rules / And you changed your mind / Didn't I love you good? / Didn't I love you right? / And where are you goin' / dressed to kill tonight? / Oh, this is going to hurt like hell."

"To put it mildly, I wrote that song when I was going through a major emotional low ebb, the worst of my life, really," she says. "My break up with (filmmaker) Julie (Cypher) was very, very painful." They have two children thanks to musician David Crosby's genetic contribution.

But the pain of leaving a 12-year relationship produced outstanding music. The L.A.-based singer-songwriter sold more than 25 million albums worldwide over that time period. She's best known for hits like "Bring Me Some Water," "I'm the Only One," "I Want to Come Over" and "Come to My Window."

"What doesn't kill you doesn't kill you," Etheridge says. "I'm stronger than I thought, and I have more power than I thought. I like myself more than I ever have."

HEARTBREAK AND DESPAIR have been writing inspirations throughout Etheridge's career.

"I write well when I'm going through a difficult period," she says. "I hate to think it's the only way for me to write good music."

After the much publicized breakup, Etheridge reverted to her ways as a teenager growing up in Leavenworth, Kan., when she would retreat to the basement to write songs. This time, she simply closed all the doors in her Brentwood home to compose. "I had 10 songs in a couple weeks and went right into the studio to record," she said.

Like the energy she puts into her concerts, Etheridge held nothing back in her lyrics.

"It's called artistic license," she says. "If Eminem can do it ... so can I."

Etheridge is now "very involved" in another relationship. "I'm crazy in love and writing about that ... creating some of the most exciting, fun and sexy rockin' songs I've ever done," she said.

A single from "Skin" pretty much spells it out: "I Wanna Be in Love." "In front of total strangers / Won't you kiss me / Flowers for no reason / But you miss me / Oh, I wanna be in love ..."

Why the title?

"When I looked at what I had written, I realized that I had used the word prominently in four songs ('The Prison,' 'Walking on Water,' 'Please Forgive Me' and 'It's Only Me')," she says. "I was using that metaphor differently each time: shedding old skin, sensuality of skin and wanting to be touched, growing new skin. It was all about what I was going through."

Her willingness to expose her emotions to audiences is something she enjoys.

"Performances are very healing for me," she says. "I ache to be performing because it's such a safe, healing place.

Melissa Etheridge Where: Blaisdell Arena When: 7:30 p.m. July 19 Tickets: $45 and $55 available at the Blaisdell box office and Ticket Plus outlets including Foodland and Sack 'N Save, the University of Hawaii Campus Center, MWR Kunia and other military outlets. Call: 526-4400 or go online at www.ticketplushawaii.com. Also: 7 p.m. July 20 at Maui Arts & Cultural Center. For more information, call the box office at (808)242-7469.

"My shows are big celebrations about discovery, getting it out and expressing it, then leaving it behind. It's the only way I know how to perform."

AS A CHILD, the stage is where Etheridge felt most comfortable expressing herself.

"It was OK to sing angry or sad, and then I started to realize people like to see that, and for me it felt good," she said. "It does seem strange that my safe place is on stage, where most people are scared to death to be."

She received her first guitar at age 8, wrote her first song at 10 and by 12 was playing in a country band in Leavenworth. At 17 she had her first romantic relationship with a woman.

"Leavenworth wasn't the best place for an aspiring musician or the easiest place to be a lesbian," she says. So after graduating from high school, she headed to Boston to study at the Berklee College of Music. Etheridge dropped out after a year and moved to Los Angeles in 1982.

Her break came four years later, when Island Records founder Chris Blackwell caught her show and signed her to the label. Her self-titled debut album went platinum. The follow-up, "Brave and Crazy," also went platinum, while her third effort, 1992's "Never Enough," contained "Ain't It Heavy," the track that earned her a Grammy for Best Female Rock Performance. Her fourth album, "Yes I Am," boasted three top 10 hits, including "Come to My Window," which won a second Grammy.

Being gay hasn't affected her career, and she believes society is realizing that "spending time hating people for loving is useless.

"All the energy I don't have to spend hiding is so worth it. I would rather live a peaceful life in obscurity than a successful life in secret."

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