'Nothing like the real thing': Melissa Etheridge is back on tour and coming to NJ, NY

Alex Biese, Asbury Park Press
·4 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

The first time Melissa Etheridge visited Red Bank, she had a famous friend acting as her guide.

“I actually got to visit (Bruce) Springsteen and he took me around Red Bank years ago," Etheridge said. "And I just love that whole area, it’s just wonderful.”

When Etheridge returns to Red Bank to play the Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center for the Arts on Monday, June 13, it will be a date 2½ years in the making.

Ethridge's Monmouth County return was originally announced in November of 2019, with the star set to play Asbury Park's historic Paramount Theatre as the headlining act of the Asbury Park Music and Film Festival on April 23, 2020. The festival was canceled due to COVID-19, and the show was moved to October 2020 before the shuttering of the Paramount caused the change of venue.

Melissa Etheridge plays the Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank on June 13.
Melissa Etheridge plays the Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank on June 13.

In addition to Red Bank, Ethridge has area shows coming up in Morristown, New York City, and Tarrytown, Geneva and Schenectady, New York.

During the height of the pandemic, Etheridge stayed busy with her "EtheridgeTV" livestreamed solo jam sessions from her garage, but she said she's happy to be back on the road.

'Nothing like the real thing'

“There’s nothing like the real thing, like people right there in front of you and the exchange of music, the exchange of that energy," she said. "And I can tell you, the people in the audience, we all missed this — and I think we have a new understanding of how much (live) music means to us."

Etheridge is on the road in support of "One Way Out," an album focused on previously-unreleased songs she wrote in the late-1980s and the early-'90s.

The songs pre-date Etheridge's Grammys, her Oscar (for the song "I Need to Wake Up" from Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth"), massive 1993 hits such as "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window," but they certainly are consistent with her well-loved classics.

Melissa Etheridge is on the road in support of "One Way Out," an album focused on previously-unreleased songs she wrote in the late-1980s and the early-'90s.
Melissa Etheridge is on the road in support of "One Way Out," an album focused on previously-unreleased songs she wrote in the late-1980s and the early-'90s.

“These songs fit right in with all of my material because they came from a time when I was writing a lot of stuff — when I didn’t have children, I didn’t have a marriage," Etheridge said. "I was just me, this crazy musician/writer that was out there in the world, and I wrote a lot."

One Way Out

She explained why the songs went unheard for decades until the release of "One Way Out" last September.

“It wasn’t because they weren’t any good, it was because they were, at the time, a bit revealing of me," said Etheridge. "I wasn’t out yet (and with) some of them I was like, ‘Oh, that sounds so gay.’ But they’re all very innocent now, of course. And there were a couple that were very feminist. And so I shied away from them — and then when I went back and listened I went, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to share these with my fans.’ ”

Etheridge came out in January 1993, and the songs that she was hesitant to release sound incredibly contemporary in their intimate, raw and revealing nature. "I'm No Angel Myself" is a heartfelt rock 'n' roll confessional ballad, and "As Cool As You Try" is a steadfast ode to self-actualization and the freedom for people to define themselves on their own terms.

“I love that it’s something that spoke very truthful to me back then and that it still rings true today," Etheridge said, "that if you’re looking around trying to be something that everybody else likes, you’re just going to end up in knots. And just being yourself, being truthful to yourself, pleasing yourself first (is) so important in your own mental health nowadays.”

What does Etheridge wish she could say to the younger version of herself?

“I’d have said, ‘Oh, just chill out, hon. There’s so much more coming, you have no idea,' " she said. "And just being open, being honest, being truthful, speaking my truth is going to be the best thing that ever happened to me, so just sit back and relax.”

Melissa Etheridge plays 8 p.m. Monday, June 13, at the Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center for the Arts, 99 Monmouth St., Red Bank, $35 to $99, with VIP packages also available, 732-842-9000, thebasie.org.

Other area engagements include One Woman Band performances Monday, May 30, through Friday, June 3, at City Winery, 25 11th Ave., New York City; Friday, June 10, at the St. George Theatre, 35 Hyatt Street, Staten Island, New York; Sunday, June 12, at the Tarrytown Music Hall, 13 Main St., Tarrytown, New York; Tuesday, June 14, at the Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown; Thursday, June 16, at the Smith Center for the Arts, 82 Seneca St., Geneva, New York; and FridayJune 17 at the Rivers Resort and Casino, 1 Rush St., Schenectady, New York. Visit melissaetheridge.com for tickets and more information.

Alex Biese has been writing about art, entertainment, culture and news on a local and national level for more than 15 years.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Melissa Etheridge tour 2022 at Count Basie Red Bank NJ, New York