Melissa Etheridge's technical dexterity and songwriting chops can be heard on established classics like I’m The Only One, I Want to Come Over, Come to My Window, and Bring Me Some Water, as well as on her latest single, Bein' Alive, from her upcoming album, Rush. “I’m a slightly technically trained guitar player,” she tells Guitar World when asked about her roots and the evolution of her playing style. “I had the greatest guitar teacher in Leavenworth, Kansas, Don Raymond, and had my first lessons in 1972. He was an old blues and big band guy from Kansas City. He had his own band, and then, in the late ’60s, he was in a terrible factory accident that cut his fingers off at the knuckles.”Etheridge explains that Raymond was falling into a deep depression, when a guy from a music store suggested that teaching could be a viable second career option. He also had some keen students lined up, including a 10-year-old that would become the Melissa Etheridge.
