by Jennifer Matos
Sheri Lynne and Melissa Etheridge: More than Just "Similar Features" PART 3
 JM: Definitely. I know that you played some John Denver and some licks on the “Stairway to Heaven” in the car on that long road trip, but who were your early influences as a musician?
SL: Oh, I’m a big Streisand fan.
JM: Oh really?
SL: Absolutely. I was a theatre major with a music minor, and Barbara Streisand, I think she has a phenomenal voice. When I was a kid she was in her heyday. I’m a big Julie Andrews fan. “The Sound of Music”. (laughs)
JM: (laughs)
SL: “Heart”. I used to love “Heart”. Probably a million that I could think of but I couldn’t think of one now.
JM: So I wanted to ask you some “L Word” questions since we’re also a fansite. Do you watch the show at all?
SL: Oh, absolutely.
JM: Do you have a favorite character?
SL: Yeah, my wife should be here for this part. (laughs) Uh, do I have a favorite character? Well, I really liked “Bette”, and they made her such a victim, that I kind of got over that. I hate what they did to her character, but I liked her initially, she was strong and intelligent and I liked that. And of course, “Shane”, and what’s her name? Carmen? Is that the girlfriend?
JM: Yeah, “Carmen”.
SL: I mean, I don’t think any of us would think that “Carmen” is not sexy. (laughs) One of my favorite personality-wise has got to be “Alice”. She’s just so light and funny and friendly and happy, I mean, except for “Dana” dying. You know what I mean? But her character is—and even when she was going through her crisis (laughs) she was still funny. Her break-up crisis she was still kind of funny.
JM: If you had to see yourself five years down the road, what would you hope you would be doing?
SL: Five years down the road? Well, I’ll always be playing music. I mean, where it’s going to evolve to at this point, I don’t know. I know I like to act still, I like to do a lot of things and be an entertainer side of a musician, as opposed to be a literal musician. I don’t know, I guess the sky’s the limit five years from now.
JM: So where can we get your CD?
SL: Online. You can order right from me.
JM: You have a show in PTown on the 29th?
SL: I have the big show in PTown coming upon the 29th and the 30th with the “Similar Features” show, and that’s a Saturday at 7:00 and a Sunday night at 10:30. So we catch the early birds and we catch the night owls. Two different nights. It’s the whole band, it’s the “Similar Features” band is going to be there, the entire band…Different age groups, it’s kind of neat. That’s the neat thing about doing the Melissa stuff, too, because she’s been in the public eye for so long now that it’s bridged the generation. So I have the 40 and 50-somethings and I have the 20-somethings that come to see the show, so it’s nice. You get a nice mix, you know?
JM: It was nice talking to you and I liked hearing how you are constantly evolving as a musician. It must be nice to kind of keep things new.
SL: Yeah, well I think part of that is trying to keep working because obviously unless you’re famous like Melissa, you kind of have to evolve. So in evolving, you constantly have to learn and grow and you know stretch your material and stretch your talents and your abilities. Yeah, you know, it’s constant evolution. Just to make sure you have a job. People’s music tastes change. Your audience ages out. And there’s a younger generation coming up. And you still have to keep working, so it does have to continually change. Constant. I love going to work when I’m doing this.
JM: And that’s important.
SL: I love my job!
And Sheri Lynne really does mean that. You can feel her energy when she talks about her music, her shows and especially her fans. A musician like Sheri Lynne is rare these days because her fans can always expect something fresh and new. Although Lynne and Etheridge share “Similar Features”, Sheri Lynne is very clearly her own woman and her own musician.
You can learn more about Sheri Lynne, enjoy her well-composed music and enthralling lyrics at her website www.sherilynne.com
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