Melissa Etheridge brings heart and soul to Cain Park

Photo by Paul Castro

By choosing one of her own songs for her wedding vows, Melissa Etheridge paid tribute to the two most important things in her life – family and music.

When Etheridge married partner, Linda Wallem, in 2014, she sang the heartfelt “Who Are You Waiting For” as part of the couple’s intimate outdoor ceremony held in Montecito, California. “She knew I would be singing something, but she had never heard the song until the wedding,” says 54-year-old Etheridge. “It was about getting through my last relationship and truly finding the love of my life.”

Etheridge, the Grammy and Academy award winner who visits Cain Park’s Evans Amphitheater June 24, talks with us about her latest album, her LGBT activism and her approach to wellness.

Q: Your 2014 album This is M.E. is the first record you’ve put out on your own MLE Music label. How did the process change from your previous albums?
A: It was an interesting decision. My record company [Island] was happy to have me on the label, but I said thank you very much and did my own record [company], which I now own. The biggest difference was that it allowed me to work with more producers ... people like Jerry Wonda [Fugees] and Jon Levine [Selena Gomez]. I’m so very critical of myself, and the beautiful thing is they helped me not to edit myself.

Q: You have been at the forefront of the LGBT movement. How have things changed for members of the LGBT community in the past few years?
A: My song “Monster” is about one of my favorite things – self-empowerment. It’s about not being afraid of your own differences. One of the great institutions of our land, the U.S. Supreme Court, said, Yeah, this is about equality. Once you get to that point, the burden is on those who want to limit those rights.

Q: You are a breast cancer survivor. How did that experience change your life?
A: I am cancer-free for 12 years now. I think people are finally realizing that you can’t do whatever you want with your body and just take a pill when you get sick. We need to find out about what makes our bodies strong and what breaks them down. Even something like drinking water instead of soda can make a difference.

By Barry Goodrich

Local Singer Emily Keener Hits a High Note on NBC's 'The Voice'

Local music fans may recognize Emily Keener from open mic nights at the Winchester, the Barking Spider or Brothers Lounge. But now, the 17-year-old Northeast Ohio native has made her way to your living room TV screen as a live show contestant on NBC’s popular singing competition, The Voice, starting April 11. Keener grew up listening to classic rock and her father sing and play the guitar in her Old Brooklyn home. At 11-years-old, Keener taught herself guitar and began to write songs. She released her first album, A Book of New Beginnings, at just 14 years old and released East of the Sun with popular local folk band the Womacks in 2015. Then a friend of a friend presented her with the opportunity to audition for the show and Keener nailed a four-chair turnaround with Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and chose Pharrell Williams as her coach. We caught up with Keener to chat about the show, her musical style and working with the biggest names in the music industry today.

Q: How did it feel getting Blake Shelton, Pharrell, Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine to turn around during your blind audition?

A: I was freaking out on the inside. I walked into it not even expecting one chair. I just wasn’t sure how to handle it in that moment. You kind of view them as figments of your imagination, they’re so untouchable that you can’t even fathom being a few feet in front of them, having them truly appreciate what you’re doing. There are no words to explain how that kind of approval feels.

Q: Why did you pick Pharrell, and how is he as a coach?

A: I love his mind and the way it works. He just has this deep understanding of music and an amazing ear that allows him to look deeper into an artist. He always makes sure every person feels like they matter; that’s the type of person I want to be working with. My favorite moment with him was after knockouts. He told me he wants me to stay true to myself no matter what anybody says [or] what happens in my life; he wants me to continue down the route I’m going down as a musician and person. That told me I have what it takes to keep going. I think I have a lot more to give.

Q: How do you differ from the other contestants?

A: Everybody on the show is so incredibly talented. The first few times I was coming into contact with these contestants I was extremely intimidated. I’m one of the youngest people left in this competition, so [they] have a lot of years and more experience on me. I spend a lot of time by myself practicing [and] I think I’ve gained a lot more confidence.

Q: How was it working with guest adviser Miley Cyrus?

A: Her knowledge [and] her talent is so intense and in your face. She is unapologetic, confident and fun. She knew all about Joni Mitchell too, [and] thought it’d be a great idea to start off with just me and the guitar making it more meaningful, softer and intimate. That small touch did so much for the performance and really made it. She was digging who I was as an artist. It was really cool to have that affirmation from her.

Catch Keener on The Voice during live shows Monday and Tuesday at 8p.m.

New Kids on the Block Return for The Main Event

Get ready for this summer's biggest block party as the New Kids on the Block return to The Q tonight. This time they're backed by the crazy, cool pop stars of the '90s TLC and Nelly for The Main Event, where each artist will perform their biggest career hits. A 360-degree, arena-spanning stage will bring the audience up close with the boy band as they perform old-school songs such as "Step by Step" and "My Favorite Girl" alongside newer hits including "Crash" and "10." Joey McIntyre and Jordan Knight will also be performing solo hits as they venture out on catwalks. With cannons of confetti and a quick change cam that reveals a sneak-peek between costume changes, this show is sure to heat things up. So we talked to Danny Wood about being back on the road and what keeps him motivated.

Q: What can guests expect?
A: It’s definitely a unique tour with a lot of nostalgia. It’s a girls’ night out basically. You can get together with your friends and get the babysitters and leave the husbands and the boyfriends behind and have a good time.

Q: Will there be any onstage collaborations?
A: It’s very difficult when you’re putting a tour together this size, and everyone’s rehearsing in different parts of the country. We were only in the same spot in Vegas right before the first show. Everyone’s got families, and Nelly goes on way before we do, so it’s not an easy thing to put together.

Q: What do you enjoy most about these shows and how is it different than performing back in the '80s and '90s?
A: For me, personally, it’s being able to share it with my family. I have my daughters out here on the road with me. They’re 16 and 17 and they’re enjoying the road and going to the shows. My dad’s out on the road with me too, and he’s 73 years old. He’s having a blast. That’s the part that’s most enjoyable for me. You definitely have a great appreciation for being able to have a second chance at doing this again and to be able to be playing all these arenas.

Devil's Advocate

Dan Miraldi has come a long way since recording his first album, Thirsty, in a living-room-turned recording-studio in 2009. The Cleveland singer-songwriter has graduated to laying down tracks at Undertow & Loud Studios with Grammy nominee Chris Grainger (Wilco, Switchfoot) in Nashville for his upcoming EP, Devil At Our Heels. “I feel like I’ve improved as a singer and as an arranger," Miraldi says. " I’ve had different opportunities to work with various producers and recording engineers, and each time, we learn new tricks."

Dan Miraldi and the Albino Winos will play a release show at 9 p.m. Sept. 7 at Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Devil at Our Heels will be available online Sept. 10. “I would describe it as a pop-rock album that embraces a lot of music of the past, everything from the Beatles to early punk ... but is footed in the present,” says Miraldi of his new EP. Miraldi talks to us about what inspired the new EP, growing as a songwriter and his favorite local bands.

Cleveland Magazine: What inspired Devil At Our Heels?
Dan Miraldi: I wanted to have an EP that connected with last year’s Sugar and Adrenaline, and I wanted to somehow draw upon some of the motifs that you would hear in that record. The song “Lovebomb!” comes from a few years back. I was having a bad day, I had done poorly on a test and was just in a particularly bad mood, and I felt the need to write a song to cheer myself up. I tried to summon the most happy-sounding melody I could think of. That’s what made “Lovebomb!”

CM: How does Devil At Our Heels differ from your previous recordings?
DM: I think the track that has the greatest differentiation is the second song, “Girl, You Made Your Mark.” Where as the darkness might just have been in the lyrical references, this time you actually get some of that in the instrumentation. My overall goal was to make something that showed growth. The song “Devil at Our Heels” is a work of fiction because I’ve never really been running from the law. I’ve pulled from personal experiences, but I’ve also found ways to write from different perspectives — to now be able to write songs about outlaws instead of just writing songs about girls.

CM: What are some of your favorite bands in Cleveland?
DM: Offhand, I’m a big fan of Thaddeus Anna Greene and also the Modern Electric. I think Brent Kirby is very talented, and Attack Cat. And Oldboy — they’re playing with us [at Mahall’s], and they’re a great band. There is a lot of great music out there.

Watch Dan Miraldi and the Albino Winos' just-released, official music video for "Untame," the first single off  Devil At Our Heels. 

For more about Miraldi's music, read our article "New Directions" about his Rock N Roll Band! EP and our review of his last full-length album, Sugar and Adrenaline. 

From Talent Show to the Rock Hall: Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings Plays Summer Series Wednesday

In 2008, Dylan Baldi was one of many students playing an instrument in Westlake’s talent show, The Green and White Revue. The program included a blank page for autographs, an idea that seemed laughable.

From the catwalk hanging over the audience of Westlake High School’s Performing Arts Center, I shined the massive spotlight on Irish dancers, baton twirlers and cute four-foot-tall elementary school pianists who punched the ivory keys as if they were those of a typewriter. What were the chances that any of them would produce a signature that someone might actually look back on?

No one knew that just a year later, Baldi would drop out of Case Western to begin writing songs. Or that his band, Cloud Nothings, would become one of the country’s fastest growing indie bands, featured in the New York Times and Rolling Stone and touring the United States and Europe. Or that, this Wednesday, Baldi, will play in front of the temple of musical greats: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Cloud Nothings just returned to the United States after playing two shows in Japan, performing in Osaka and in Tokyo before a crowd of 2,000.

“They actually know who we are, which doesn’t make any sense to me,” Baldi says. “It was pretty weird to go over there and play for that many people.”

Cloud Nothings’ live set relies heavily on their newest album, Attack on Memory, recorded in Chicago and released this Jan. 24. Baldi describes it as more complex than his previous record.

“Every time I sit down to write a song, I want to do something new with it that I haven’t tried yet,” he says. He hopes to keep moving farther away from his start, determined that experimenting with sound will push his music to a better level. Cloud Nothings’ edgy, alternative style is certainly a product of evolution from where he started as a little kid: piano lessons and the saxophone.

Now music is Baldi’s full time job. His songs, once written solo, are now truly a collaboration. “I write the words and the melody and my guitar part, but whatever [the other band members are] playing, they figure it out on their own for the most part.”

Attack on Memory recently made MTV’s "Best Albums of 2012 (So Far)" list. An autograph no longer seems far-fetched.

Cloud Nothings will kick off the Rock Hall’s Summer in the City Series this Wednesday at 7 p.m. with Herzog, another Cleveland indie rock band. The free concert will take place in the plaza outside the museum, or inside in the event of rain.