Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge performs at Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe on May 9
From a press release:
Iconic Grammy and Oscar-winning singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge has announced the release of her new album, “The Medicine Show,” out April 12 via Concord Records.
Reunited with celebrated producer John Shanks (Keith Urban, Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson), she sounds as rousing as ever, bringing a new level of artistry to her 15th studio recording. Known for her passionate and dynamic live performances, Etheridge will embark on a U.S. tour in support of the album, kicking off March 29 in Florida.
The Medicine Show Tour will stop at Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe on Thursday, May 9 at 8 p.m.
Tickets, which are $46.50 for regular reserved seating and $56.50 for premium reserved seating, go on sale this Friday, Feb. 15 at 10 a.m. at all Ticketmaster outlets, the Penn’s Peak box office (325 Maury Rd., Jim Thorpe), and Roadies Restaurant and Bar (325 Maury Rd., Jim Thorpe). Penn’s Peak box office and Roadies Restaurant ticket sales are walk-up only; no phone orders.
One download of “The Medicine Show” album is included with every pair of tickets purchased for this show. Fans will receive an e-mail with more details about this offer approximately seven days after their purchase.
Melissa Etheridge is one of rock music’s great female icons. Her critically acclaimed eponymous debut album was certified double platinum. Her popularity was built around such memorable songs as “Bring Me Some Water,” “No Souvenirs,” and “Ain’t It Heavy” for which she won her first Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal. She hit her commercial and artistic stride with her fourth album, “Yes I Am,” featuring the massive hits “I’m the Only One” and “Come to My Window,” a searing song of longing that brought her a second Grammy. The six-times-platinum album spent more than two and a half years on the album chart.
Etheridge is also an Oscar winner for Best Original Song in 2007. In 2011, she made her Broadway debut as St. Jimmy in Green Day’s rock opera “American Idiot,” where she replaced Billie Joe Armstrong for one week, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Her latest album, “The Medicine Show,” deals with universal themes of renewal, reconciliation, reckoning, compassion and, most profoundly, healing. Through the songs, she processed the deep fears and hurting she saw in the nation on collective and personal levels: “Shaking” is about national anxiety, “Here Comes the Pain” personalizes the opioid crisis, and the unifying “Human Chain” offers hope for healing, along with the rocking, anthemic “Love Will Live.” More highlights include the album closer “Last Hello,” drawing on the incredible strengths and courage shown by the survivors of the Parkland school shootings, and the infectious “Wild and Lonely” and “Faded By Design,” exploring themes of her past with a new perspective.
“Calling the album ‘The Medicine Show’ puts straight up, front and center, that this is about health, wellness, cannabis, this new thought, new paradigm, however you want to talk about it, however you want to understand it. It influences every song on the album. We’re not afraid of this anymore. We’ve come a long way,” Etheridge said.
For the recording, producer John Shanks teamed Etheridge with drummer Victor Indrizzo, bassist Chris Chaney, and keyboardist Max Hart. The sessions were done largely live in studio, capturing the raw emotion of the material, the performances rocking with bold colors. Shanks extended the arrangements on many of the songs with his guitar, and for the ballad “I Know You Know,” he brought in electronic strings orchestrated by David Campbell, whose hundreds of acclaimed credits include work last year with Barbra Streisand and Paul McCartney, as well as past works for Adele, Garth Brooks, Beyoncé, Billy Joel, Maroon 5, and Beck.
Since the release of her unforgettable self-titled 1988 debut, Etheridge’s incredible career to date includes sales of over 25 million albums, five platinum and three multi-platinum records, 15 Grammy Award nominations and two wins, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and an Academy Award for “I Need to Wake Up” from the climate change documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” Her last release, “Memphis Rock and Soul,” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Blues Chart.
Over the years, Etheridge has also selflessly dedicated herself as an activist for human rights, LGBTQ issues, breast cancer awareness, and alternative medical approaches.
