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Grammy Award-winner Melissa Etheridge returns to Zeiterion Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, June 29, at 8 p.m. with her M.E. Solo tour. A limited run in an intimate setting, Melissa will play acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica and piano will perform songs from her latest album, This is M.E. The M.E. Solo tour will feature both new tunes and classics like “Come to My Window” and “I Want to Come Over,” all intertwined with personal anecdotes. Etheridge’s many accolades include two Grammy Awards and 17 nominations, an Academy Award (“I Need to Wake Up” from the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth) and a star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. Tickets from $55 to $75 are available at www.zeiterion.org, 508-994-2900 or at the Zeiterion box office, 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford.
“I haven’t been this excited about making music and creating in ages,” Etheridge says about her new album, This is M.E. She continued, “I enjoy doing a solo show, and diving into my catalogue of songs brings a new freshness to my older material. It is such an intimate experience with the audience, and it is truly one of my favorite ways to perform.” Of her solo tour, the New York Times raved, “Ms. Etheridge gave each big chorus the additional heft of her voice, still a raspy and incandescent howl.”
With this album, her 12th collection of new material, she is not alone as a songwriter. She teamed with Jerrod Bettis (Adele, One Republic), Jon Levine (Nelly Furtado, Selena Gomez), Jerry Wonda (Grammy Award-winning producer of the Fugees, Mary J. Blige) and Roccstar (Usher, Chris Brown), among others. These collaborations were a new route for the artist, and recording the new album proved an inspiring, electrifying experience for her. The powerful lyrics and incomparable voice, the indelible melodies, the blazing guitars could be from no one else. “Who Are You Waiting For” closes the album on the most intimate, emotional, personal, lump-in-the-throat note of her entire career. It’s the song she wrote for and debuted at her wedding to Linda Wallem.
This is M.E. album marks the debut of her independent label and also ushers in a very active stretch for Etheridge. In addition to her steady touring, both with her band and as a solo act, she continued her noted activism speaking to the United Nations on LGBT rights as human rights, sang her own “Uprising of Love” and John Lennon’s “Imagine” as part of this year’s New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square and performed at the opening ceremonies of the WorldPride week in Toronto.
Tickets for Melissa Etheridge’s M.E. Solo Tour on June 29 are available for purchase at www.zeiterion.org, by calling 508-994-2900, or in person at the box office at 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford, MA. Box Office Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and two hours before each performance.
