Melissa Etheridge pencils in more shows

Just a few weeks ahead of the mid-June launch of her upcoming summer tour, singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge is still adding shows to her calendar.

Since last check, Etheridge has filled about a dozen gaps in her schedule, which begins with a June 17 show in Las Vegas and will run through the end of August. Among the new additions to the route are stops in the San Diego area, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Detroit, Atlanta, Indianapolis and Washington, DC, as well as a second night in Montreal and a new stop in Ottawa, Ontario. Details are included below.

The summer trek supports Etheridge's October 2005 release, "Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled."

Fans will be able to catch some new music from Etheridge on the forthcoming children's DVD "Brother Bear 2." She contributed three new original songs to the direct-to-video Disney flick, which hits stores Aug. 29, according to her website.

Etheridge recently hit the stage in a different capacity than the one she's used to when she gave the commencement address at the May 13 graduation ceremony for students of Boston's Berklee College of Music. While on hand, Etheridge--as well as Aretha Franklin, saxophonist Andy McGhee and Grammy-award winning producer/engineer Elliot Scheiner--received an Honorary Doctor of Music degree.

Last month, Etheridge announced via her website that her partner Tammy is pregnant with twins. The couple used an anonymous donor from a bank, according to Etheridge, who has two children--both genetically fathered by David Crosby--from her previous relationship with Julie Cypher.

In 2004, Etheridge underwent two cancer surgeries, during which a tumor and some lymph nodes were removed from her breast. She announced in August of last year that she was "totally cancer free."