All ‘RISE’: Melissa Etheridge to release new album in March

Melissa Etheridge will RISE and shine early next year.

RISE, her first studio release in five years, will arrive March 27. Described as “her most personal project to date,” it features a duet with country superstar Chris Stapleton, “The Other Side of Blue,” and a tribute to her late son, Beckett Cypher, titled “Call You.”

New single “Matches” is out now, along with a lyric video. Melissa says it’s her favorite song on the album, and it’s about what first got her interested in music: watching Johnny Cash perform at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1970.

“I was 8, and a huge Johnny Cash fan. His music really lit my fingers and made me so excited,” she says in a statement. “When I say ‘Mama, let me play with the matches,’  I really wanted to play that music.”

Melissa has also announced her upcoming THE RISE TOUR, which launches March 26 in Detroit. It’s scheduled to wrap up May 9 in North Carolina. Tickets are on sale now at MelissaEtheridge.com.

You can look for Melissa to appear on Talk Shop Live on March 12 to promote the album, which is available for preorder now.