If there’s one word to describe singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge, it would be persistent.

From humble and hardscrabble beginnings as a performer in dive bars and back rooms throughout the Midwest in the late 1970s and early 1980s to international acclaim just a decade later, Etheridge has remained a beacon of creativity and purpose throughout the decades — where now words like “legend” and “icon” tend to precede her name in the bright lights of show business. 

Situated in the heart of downtown Sylva, Blue Ridge Bootleg Roastery is the newest home for coffee drinkers, country music lovers and those looking for a place to work or catch up with a friend. 

At the core of any great singer-songwriter lies this inherent trait of stage presence, one where an entire room, no matter the size, is pulled in by this lyrical tractor beam — all eyes, emotions and energies aimed in one direction at a single voice.