Melissa Etheridge brings her holiday show to Sarasota

Melissa Etheridge didn’t write any of the songs on her latest album. Still, she said, creating the album full of classic R&B songs involved a lot of self-discovery.

The album’s called “MEmphis Rock and Soul,” the first two letters upper-cased to play on her own initials. Among the tracks are the Staple Singers’ “Respect Yourself,” Johnnie Taylor’s “Who’s Making Love,” Sam and Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Coming” and Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now).”

In re-making those songs, she said, she gained an even deeper appreciation for the genius of the singers and composers, and a deeper understanding of how that music had affected her own.

“ ‘Bring Me Some Water,’ ” she said, “is my attempt to make people feel the way that Otis Redding made me feel.”

Etheridge actually went to Memphis to make the album. All the album’s songs were recoded on the legendary Stax label, and though the Stax studio is long gone, a sense of place was essential to the album, she said.

“Memphis was where rock ’n’ roll was born,” she said. “Country music and the blues collided there and created something new.”

It was “Bring Me Some Water” that brought Etheridge her first fame nearly 30 years ago. She’s been a star ever since, with 17 albums, two Grammy Awards and a Oscar among her credits. Her fourth album, “Yes I Am,” stayed on the Billboard charts for more than two-and-a-half years.

She’ll be in Sarasota on Sunday for a concert at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. (She’ll also be at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg on Dec. 1.)

“MEmphis Rock and Soul” came out in October, and she toured the country with concerts that focused on songs from that album. But for her two local shows she’s playing a lot of Christmas music, with a three-piece band that’s billed as the Holiday Trio.

Although it’s a holiday concert, Etheridge fans, and fans of Memphis soul music, who might have a bah-humbug attitude about Christmas will still get their fill. At its heart, Etheridge said, the holiday concert is still a Melissa Etheridge show. So besides Etheridge’s take on Christmas classics, the show is likely to include a smattering of those old Stax songs, plus such hits as “Come to My Window,” “I’m the Only One,” the Grammy-winning singles “Ain’t It heavy” and “The Angels,” and maybe the Oscar-winning “I Need to Wake Up,’ from the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”

“We’re going to hear the hits,” Etheridge said. “People who like my concerts will like the holiday concert.”

Details: 7 p.m. Nov. 27, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. $66, $76, $91. 941-953-3368, vanwezel.org.

This story was originally published November 23, 2016 at 12:40 PM with the headline "Melissa Etheridge brings her holiday show to Sarasota."