by Jennifer Matos

Sheri Lynne and Melissa Etheridge: More than Just "Similar Features" PART 1

If you are a Melissa Etheridge fan, you are about to double your pleasure. Provincetown musician Sheri Lynne is most commonly known as “That chick who does Melissa covers.” However, Sheri Lynne is so much more than that.

Lynne learned how to play the guitar from her brother on a family relocation road trip from Oklahoma to Massachusetts, and has been playing music since she was four years old.

Sheri Lynne is cool, but accessible. She has an easy laugh and a casual way about her. She connects with her fans and knows her guitars. Although she is a consummate performer, she is still finding her style. This constant searching and creation as an artist is what makes Lynne a true gift and crowd pleaser as she is constantly evolving.

L-word.com caught up with this talented artist before she was set to leave for a show in Provincetown.

JM: What were the first songs you learned how to play?

SL: Oh, my God. We played John Denver I remember him [my brother] teaching me just some licks, like “Stairway to Heaven” licks and…it was a long time ago. (laughs)

JM: Wow. So you do Melissa Etheridge covers and sound exactly like her. When did you realize that this? Was this when you started singing or when was the first time you realized that there was a close similarity?

SL: Well I had my band “Sheri Lynne and Stillwater” here on the Cape for a long time I started in, I guess ’92 or ’93. And my guitar player, around about ’96, was getting a little bored, because we were doing a lot of just country music, because I happen to really like country music. We all liked country music, everybody in the band. But we were branching into kind of new areas and said “Hey, let’s try something new, you sound a lot like Melissa Etheridge, let’s do a Melissa Etheridge tribute show. I said “Sure, why not?” (laughs) So we started doing it in ’96. And it just kind of stuck, you know?

JM: What are the reactions from your fans when you play different venues?

SL: Towards the Melissa thing?

JM: Yeah.

SL: Oh, we get an awesome response. People are great. Melissa has a great set of fans. A lot of people have obviously gone to see her shows over the past decade or so. You know, I get a lot of her fans come to see my show and they’ll be like, “Oh, I’m going to see her in Virginia or I’m going to see her in New York next month or I’m going to…so it’s kind of like, you know, come warm up, sing along and then go and see the real thing. It’s fun, I get a lot of positive responses.

JM: Have you actually met her? Or, have you heard that…

SL: No, I have not. No.

JM: Have you heard if she’s heard about you?

SL: I have no idea.

JM: Wow. I was listening to some of the samples on your website.

SL: Yup.

JM: There is a distinct resemblance sound-wise, but I think you also have your own style, too because I can hear your style…

SL: The stuff you’re hearing on there is all my stuff.

JM: Now is this your first CD?

SL: That’s my first right now and only right now. So, we were supposed to go in last year and start recording but I didn’t get the tour together and I find writing to be very difficult. It takes a real concerted effort on my part, to get the tunes put together right. So, I’m not real prolific at it (laughs) I should say.

JM: So what are the themes in your music? What do you tend to write about?

SL: Oh, when I write, most of what I’ve experienced, things that are familiar to me, things that are personal and you adapt them to be something that most people can kind of relate to. Relationships, or you know, neighbors or friends that you had an experience about or with and things like that. That’s what goes through my head when I start to write, but I have like boxes and boxes full of one lines of songs (laughs) you know?

JM: Yeah, that’s how it starts, huh?

SL: Oh yeah, definitely. I wrote a song on my CD called “Compassion”, and I had taken a nap one day before I was headed out to a gig and I woke up and I had the whole song in my head, the chords, everything, the lyrics, the chorus the tag, everything.

JM: So you had the chords, too, in your head?

SL: Yeah! And I knew exactly how I wanted it to sound and I knew exactly where I wanted it to go from you know, from the verse to the chorus to the bridge…You know it’s weird because it’s like it came to me in a dream (laughs) And the guys showed up in the band to load up the gear for the gig and I’m like “Hey, I just wrote this. What do you think?”(laughs)

JM: That’s really impressive.

SL: Well for me, it’s really an all or nothing process, I guess. I either get one line or I get the whole thing, you know?

JM: Yeah. Wow, that’s amazing! About how long have you been playing the guitar?

SL: I started playing the guitar I guess when I was about 11 or 12. I started playing piano when I was 4. So I’ve been playing something as long as I can remember. But all my music theory comes from taking classical piano. And then I play guitar and I play bass, and I sing.
So it keeps me busy…(laughs)

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