Melissa Ferrick balances work and play (and flies again)

When Melissa Ferrick played the Berklee Performance Center two years ago, the out singer/songwriter from Ipswich, Mass., had just released a new CD, Goodbye Youth, and told EDGE she was unhappy with the strain of her musical life on the road.

Since then, Ferrick, 40, has released another CD, Enough About Me, featuring ten new compositions. She dumped her booking agency and scaled back touring. In a recent interview, the unhappiness is gone: she's refreshed and looking forward to returning to Boston on November 14, 2010 to play the Wilbur Theatre, opening for singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco.

"Those punishing days of performing and traveling endlessly are over," she said. "A couple years ago, I was traveling all the time, doing 200 shows a year, and doing Pride events and other shows, too. I was basically on the road the entire year. That's all changed. I'm working with a new booking agency, The Agency Group in New York, and my performance schedule is typically Thursday-Friday-Saturday, which allows me time off during the first part of the week to write new material, to relax at my home, and to enjoy my life."

Fear of flying

She is also in a steady relationship with a woman she's been dating for some time, who will be joining her as she performs with other headliners on an all-lesbian cruise in the Caribbean next month. And she's getting ready to record a new batch of songs next spring.

"It's always a balancing act," she said of her life as a musician, "but this time it is balancing in my favor."

Ferrick has worked hard, she said, to exorcise personal demons that once had a stranglehold on her, namely alcohol and substance abuse, and a paralyzing fear of flying.

"I don't talk about my sobriety these days," she said. "It's part of my daily life. It's something I work on daily. It's a journey. It's something I talk about one-on-one with other people and with my family, but not in the press."

But she will talk about recovering from debilitating panic attacks that prevented her from traveling to gigs via airplanes. She sought the help of therapy to overcome this disability.

"I'm not afraid to fly at all now," she said, cheerfully. "And this makes my life as a musician so much easier. I can fly out to California and do some shows out there and then fly home and have time at home. It's wonderful. When I head off to join the queer cruise to the Caribbean, I will fly out from St. Maarten to Boston, and then I get on a bus for a ride to Canada where I join the Ani DiFranco tour."

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Watch this video of Melissa Ferrick performing "Pride":

Appearing with k.d.

Ferrick is frequently invited to be a guest artist at Pride events throughout the U.S. and in Canada and has long donated her talent to aid social action causes. Some years ago she recorded a version of "Right Here in My Hands," a rousing anthem about self-reliance, to help raise funds for Respond, a Somerville-based organization that works to prevent domestic violence. Last month she appeared at Rocca Kitchen and Bar in Boston's South End to videotape a segment for "It Gets Better," in support of the Trevor Project Saving Young Lives, a national campaign that works with LBGTQ youth for crisis intervention and suicide prevention.

She's also appeared onstage with "my mentor," as she calls her, gay singer k.d.lang, opening for lang in Boston two years ago at the Opera House.

"It was an incredible experience to perform on the same billing at k.d.lang," Ferrick said. "When a person with her tremendous range and talent appears on stage, there's no ego involved at all. It's just pure spirit, energy and talent. She seemed to float on stage."

She feels the same way about performing with Ani DiFranco, who she has toured with in previous years.

"I open up for Ani and then I appear at the end of the show with her during the encore," Ferrick says. "We travel together - I ride the bus like a rock star and get to eat well and it's always a thrill. Coming back to do a show in Boston - it's a hometown audience for me -- is always a heartfelt experience. It's a little unnerving to know that my parents are going to be in the audience, of course. But I've always wanted to play the Wilbur, and now I'll get the chance."

If Melissa Ferrick sounds borderline giddy, it's because she has put the demons behind her and she's drawing from her wellspring of talent more than ever before. Life on the road, she says, may still have its occasional bumps, but they're more manageable now. And, she adds gleefully, the rewards of performing, of living a musical life she has chosen and designed, are very sweet, indeed.

Melissa Ferrick will be performing with Ani DiFranco at the Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St., Boston, on November 14, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. For ticket information visit www.ticketmaster.com.