Linda Eder possesses one of the greatest contemporary solo voices of our time. This Minnesota farm girl has captivated audiences across the country with a versatile style and repertoire. Since the debut of her self-titled first album, Linda has recorded and produced nine solo albums, a blend of standards, pop hits and original songs showcasing her extravagant vocal gifts. With nine solo CDs and five cast recordings to her credit, Eder continues to expand her range, and is currently finishing work on her tenth and most ambitious album to date.

As Eder takes the stage at McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert on Friday, April 3, fans will see another side to the songstress as this year she begins the tour for her new CD The Other Side of Me. It features a brand new band with guitars, fiddle, plenty of grooves and vocal harmonies, and even has Eder playing her own guitar.

While the concert has been sold out for months, Eder took a break from spending time with her son and horses on her farm an hour outside of New York City to chat with the Gay & Lesbian Times.

GLT: Your latest CD is a departure from your previous work. Your latest CD The Other Side of Me, is a departure from the style you are known for. How did you begin singing ballads and Broadway?

I always loved melodies and beautiful voices. Even as a kid I loved opera. That’s how I got led into the whole Broadway and standards thing. I love that music and I was very happy that happened, but I was leaving a part of me behind – a part of myself which was country-pop. I don’t go around listening to Streisand and Garland anymore.

GLT: Is this really the other side of you?

LE: Yes. In making my new album I had an idea to do music that was sort of natural to me as a kid – without all the influences of Judy Garland, Barbara Streisand. I played guitar as a kid. I taught myself to play and I would write. Everything I wrote was very country-pop and I enjoyed that. I let it all go when I started. All these years later to be able to make a record is amazing. It’s pretty natural to me. People might be surprised, but when you hear it you realize it’s not un-natural to me.

GLT: What do you find yourself listening to these days?

I’m very much a farm girl. I love that kind of music. It’s the kind of music that I’ve listened to for the last 15 years. Once in a while sure I’ll enjoy the other stuff, but if I’m just driving down the road, it’s Faith Hill and Sheryl Crow.

GLT: What took you so long to come around and go back to those roots?

LE: I was sort of influenced by Frank Wildhorn. We were together for 17 years. He’s a writer so he would write what he liked. Obviously I like that type of music as well but it was putting aside my own thing. After we broke up, that’s when I started doing what I want to do.

GLT: Now that you and Frank are divorced, is there still a working relationship?

LE: We haven’t worked together since we broke up. I know we have projects that we talk about. We knew that when we came back together to do a reunion concert that it would be an event. That’s in the future. We talk about it, and we have producers dying for us to do it. It will happen.

GLT: You’ve noted Judy Garland specifically as one of your greatest influences. Why is that?

LE: Watching her sing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ made me want to do the same thing. That’s what created the passion I have for music and made me want to perform. I didn’t necessarily want to sing her style, I just wanted to sing. She’s definitely the reason I got into it.

GLT: Do you think that’s the reason why you have such a gay following?

LE: I get asked that a lot and I always say that I’m glad that I do, because if I didn’t then I’d be doing something wrong.

GLT: How often are you bi-coastal?

Linda Eder: Well I’m not exactly bi-coastal in all senses. I have, however, just been pretty much throughout the country around the year for 20 years, mostly on the weekends if I can.

GLT: What has kept you from performing more in-stage productions?

LE: I left Jekyll and got pregnant with Jake right after. I soon realized that trying to be a mom and do Broadway at the same time would be really hard because it consumes your life. Having been in a show and seeing what that’s like, especially when you’re a lead you have much more responsibility. You have to do television in the morning, press, it really does consume you and to try to be a mom at the same time it’s very difficult. There are lots of people that do it but I’ve chosen to be here in New York to be with Jake during the week.

GLT: How old is your son now?

LE: He’ll be 10 in August and they start getting much more independent at that age I think.

GLT: Does that mean we will be seeing more of you on stage performing?

LE: It’ll be a little easier with him growing up. There’s another project that’s been presented to me and I’m a little interested.

GLT: Something special usually appears on stage with you. Can you elaborate on the quarter for readers?

It started years ago back at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven Connecticut. There was this quarter on the lip of the stage, right in the center during rehearsal. I thought I should pick it up, but forgot about it. I came out during the second half of the show, which is when we usually tell people what’s going on, and when I went to pick it up it was nailed down. People were laughing. It was supposed to be there to mark the center stage but I didn’t know because I was new to theater. Quarters started following me every concert I went to since. So I would see some quarters on the stage and we would collect them. After a while we had a little stash, and we thought we should put it towards something. We decided to give to an animal shelter called Pets Alive here in New York. The minute we did that, people started being very generous.

GLT: How much have you donated to the shelter since then?

LE: We’ve donated more than $30,000 since 1998.

GLT: So are animals something near and dear to your heart?

LE: Oh yeah. Big animal lover here. Especially horses and dogs.

GLT: How many do you have?

LE: I have four horses and three German Shepherds.

GLT: There are several rumors behind why ‘Bring on the Men’ was cut from ‘Jekyll.’ What is your take on this wonderful hit being cut?

LE: It was a big mistake. The different director wanted to put his stamp on the show and was looking to places where he could do it. I rolled over and was too willing to let them make that choice. Looking back I shouldn’t have. I should have played the diva once in my life and said ‘No. This is the wrong way to go. This is a great song.’ But you know, you live you learn.

GLT: You ran undefeated on ‘Star Search’ for 13 weeks. Tell us a little more about that.

LE: I had been singing professionally for six and a half years before I did ‘Star Search’ so I had developed a little bit of a following. But really ‘Star Search’ is what kicked it all off because it has such a national fan base.

GLT: Any advice for those on ‘American Idol’?

LE: It’s a wonderful way to get yourself exposed, but I don’t know how they do it. It was hard enough to be singing for a competition where the judges could just give you numbers. I really don’t know what I would say [to the Idol judges]. I think ultimately they are being damaged in some way. It’s brutal and it’s done for entertainment. I can only begin to imagine the effect that this is having on the psyche of very young people. It’s hard for some young people to feel positive about themselves. You have to be made of stone to not have it affect you in some way.

GLT: So what’s next? Can fans expect more of this other side?

LE: Yes. It’s amazing to be able to go back to the beginning at this point in my career and to have a record label accept it. We’re starting work on the next record already and we put together a whole new band for it. You need guitars, fiddles and beech tree sounds. It’s a lot of fun.