Alright, be honest; who out there hasn’t imagined that fateful moment when the envelope is opened, your name is called, and you bound onstage to accept your Oscar?
Be you teacher, tradie, or two-time Grammy Award-winning artist, it’s a fun fantasy, and for most of us that’s where the dream ends. But with the dust from this year’s Academy Awards still settling, Melissa Etheridge remains amazed at her 2007 win for Best Original Song. As her This Is M.E. tour unfolds across the country, she ponders the shape of her blues rock past.
“When I was growing up in Kansas, I always watched the Academy Awards. They were it, the epitome of awards. I’d have these dreams of standing there, thanking the Academy, that beautiful, iconic moment. I knew that they only had the one original song category, and boy, did I want to win that. I’ve always wanted to connect my work with film and television, but there just weren’t that many opportunities. So when Al Gore asked me to do [‘I Need To Wake Up’, from An Inconvenient Truth], he just said if I could write a song for his ‘slide show’. I was really only expecting it would be shown in high schools and that would be it. So when I realised it was becoming this very large thing, it was amazing to have this experience of getting nominated, to then sitting there having John Travolta say your name. And there it is! Getting up you just think, ‘Holy cow. There’s Robert De Niro, there’s Meryl Streep. There they are, and here I am, and this is crazy!’”
It was an unexpected accolade for the respected musician, but then, that is really what fuels her fire – following unfamiliar paths, and always searching for new means of expression. Etheridge has worked across various benefit organisations, is a famous proponent of gay rights and environmental issues, and in 2002 released her autobiography, though by her own admission a second volume is now warranted – since then Etheridge has survived a serious breast cancer diagnosis, married her partner Linda Wallem, had children, and released nine more albums.
“Well, that is the key. To keep that energy going. Success is not about reaching some place, because then it’s game over and there’s nothing left to do but die. Success to me is to keep evolving, to keep creating, keeping thinking differently, keep questioning. Keep reaching for something that makes you better or different. There’s also nothing like children to completely spin your world around. I mean, I was a gay rock star! Back when I was much younger, it wasn’t a possibility really. In that world I just couldn’t comprehend a gay family, or gay marriage, back then in my 20s. Then as my life progressed and I saw that I was able to have this, it totally changes. I learned more about myself by having children, and I’m so grateful for that. It’s the moving forward that makes the music interesting.”
Etheridge cut her teeth in the music world early. After picking up a guitar at eight, her teenage years were spent playing in country music groups, before the bar circuits of first Boston and then LA beckoned. Though it would take until 1983 to find mainstream success, her seminal years playing to rowdy audiences and slowly developing a fan base are never far from her thoughts these decades later.
“Especially when I do my solo show. I’ll sometimes sit down at my piano and it always makes me feel like I’m back in a piano bar again. But if it wasn’t for those club days, I wouldn’t be the kind of performer I am now; I wouldn’t feel so comfortable doing it. I’m so grateful for that. But you know, I’m also grateful that there aren’t people smashing pool cues over each other’s head in the crowd now, too. You could always look straight out and see everybody there. But I still absolutely think about those days, and what they were like.”
At 54, Etheridge is today a widely respected figure in the music industry. As her recent audiences have attested, the people drawn to her concerts are from every walk of life; from those who grew up with her music fresh in their ears, to those who have discovered her as a voice of strength from the past. She has inspired countless artists, and while the musical landscape that encourages emerging musicians has changed drastically in the last decade, Etheridge still has faith in the power of song.
“I would never say [a music career] is easy, because it’s not, and it takes a lot of tenacity and willpower to be heard,” she says. “I think the thing that does make me happy is that music is more important than ever. Music defines people – they seek music as the soundtrack to their life and as an identity. And I think that’s wonderful. The great thing about this new generation is that everything is at their fingertips, and they’re not just searching for whatever is popular right now. They go and look for music. I have young people at my shows who have found me, turned others onto me, and that’s pretty cool. That they regard music that might not be contemporary as something that still moves them – that’s why I think it’s a good time in the music industry.”
Melissa Etheridge plays the Enmore Theatre, supported by Irish Mythen, Wednesday March 23 and Thursday March 24; and is also appearing at Bluesfest 2016, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, Thursday March 24 – Monday March 28.
