Melissa Etheridge on coming out in Boston’s punk rock scene
The award-winning musician and activist explains how Boston helped her feel comfortable with her sexuality.
Decades before Massachusetts led the charge for legalizing gay marriage, Boston’s LGBT community was already having a huge impact on Melissa Etheridge.
During her brief stay in the city, the award-winning musician became comfortable opening up to others about her sexuality while hanging around Boston’s punk rock scene in the late 1970’s.
Etheridge, who performs in Lowell and Hyannis this weekend, says Boston was the “perfect place’’ for her to go after leaving her home state of Kansas, and the city’s “great gay and lesbian community’’ was a big part of that.
Check out what else the rock star and activist had to say about her time in Boston, why Mayor Marty Walsh is “uninformed’’ when it comes to marijuana policies, and more.
You spent some time in Boston while attending Berklee College of Music. What are some your favorite memories from that time?
That was a very, very special time for me because it was the place I went to right after high school. It was my first experience living outside of Kansas. I think Boston is a very special city and it was the perfect place for me to go. It was 1979 and the punk scene was happening there. There was a lot of music. There was a great gay and lesbian community that I came out in. That’s where I sort of let people know of my nature. It was just a wonderful time and I played five nights a week. I ended up playing at a restaurant called Ken’s by George that was across from the John Hancock. I only went to Berklee for about a semester and a half. It really wasn’t a good fit for me, but it’s a great school.
Did being a part of Boston’s music scene back then have any influence on you as a performer?
I was the girl from Kansas with the acoustic guitar who was listening to Fleetwood Mac and Bob Seger, Jackson Brown, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen—these kind of more classic rock n’ roll music. I was completely sheltered in Kansas from the punk scene. I had no idea what it was all about. And then when I got there, I was like, “Well, hello!” I remember the Brats, who I think came from there, The Rings. I mean The Cars ended up coming from Boston. I remember Ric Ocasek walking around my neighborhood, I lived in the Back Bay there. It was quite a music scene in the early ‘80s.
Since you dropped out, was it weird being honored as a commencement speaker at Berklee in 2006?
I always looked at as, “Oh someday they’ll honor me. No they won’t, you only went to school for a semester and a half!” Yet, I really think it’s a great school and it has become such an important school in the music industry, not just from the musician side, but from all sides and all the behind the scenes stuff. It is just a great place and as I look back, I think, God, I wish I had taken the time to take more guitar, I could have learned more. I could have been a better player, that sort of thing. I was completely honored when they did give me the doctorate and was very delighted. I gave the commencement speech and I said, “Okay now, you guys are going to go out into the world and you will succeed. So I want you, when you see me, to come up and tell me that you were in the graduating class of 2006 and saw my speech.’’ So far five people have come up and said that to me.
Melissa Etheridge addressed the Berklee College of Music Class of 2006 during commencement ceremonies in Boston on May 13, 2006.
You’re an outspoken advocate on the national scene. Was there any particular catalyst behind why use your platform as an artist to speak out on important issues?
My father always told me to just work hard and play fair and enjoy myself and be self-sufficient. So I kind of grew up with this feeling that being yourself is okay and is what will make you happy. I held on to that and as life has gone along, I’ve found that coming out about my sexuality was just the right thing to do. The thing that made sense. The thing that was a part of me and a part of my life, and as life handed me this or that, I’ve been able to walk through it and speak truthfully about it. Then I realized this makes me an activist, and I think we should all be activists. Wouldn’t it be a crazy place if we all spoke truthfully about exactly who we were and how we felt?
One issue you’ve spoken out about over the years is legalizing the use of medical marijuana. Is it crazy to see this issue catching fire across the country?
I do remember 10 years ago when I started talking about this, I felt that there was some fear involved. To see then, over the 10 years, to see this movement grow and really take shape in daily lives… I’d love to see where our society is going. We’re understanding that we’re coming to the end of this age where we think happiness is outside of us and that there’s something outside of us that can make us happy. As that dream is finally going away, we’re realizing that this Earth—actually what’s here and what’s inside of us and how we’re connected to it—has more to do with who we are and our happiness. That’s a long way of explaining that the cannabis movement is a symptom of this great change that we are coming to. I love seeing that people are taking this up and understanding that plant medicine has so much to offer and so much hope. Yes, I do think the prohibition of cannabis will be lifted eventually worldwide. I think it will be one of the biggest changes in human history.
Some critics, like Boston’s Mayor Marty Walsh, consider marijuana a dangerous gateway drug. How do you respond to people who still hold that viewpoint?
I have to understand that they are uninformed and all that needs to get out there is the information. Then, good people, smart people, hard-working people will understand and make up their minds. Politicians are just like everyone with the gay marriage–until everyone wasn’t [against it] then they’re, “We’re okay with it.’’ It’s kind of the same thing, so I wouldn’t look to our politicians right now for leadership on this.
Melissa Etheridge and Keith Lockhart (left) at Berklee Night at the Pops on June 12, 2014.
Is there any advice you wish someone had given you when you first started out?
I wish someone had told me to take my time. I don’t know if I would have, but I wished someone had said that it’s really in the journey. It’s not in the completion of the goal or the attaining of that certain thing. It’s in the journey. That’s where all the good stuff is, that’s the life. And just to stay in the journey is the way to win the game.
After touring for so long and accomplishing so much, how do you continue to challenge yourself creatively as an artist?
My challenge is to love what I do, love every bit and every moment that I’m on stage. The last five years, what that’s been for me is I’ve been challenging myself at guitar playing. I’ve really pushed myelf as a guitar player. That’s my thrill every night, how high can I fly on this trapeze tonight. That brings me joy that then the audience feels and it makes for a great experience that people want to come back and see. I enjoy it and it makes my journey fun. I’ve been going into the studio every couple of years, creating new music and loving it, putting it down and giving it for my fans. I’m a very happy performer, it’s working fine.
Melissa Etheridge performs at Boarding House Park in Lowell on Saturday and Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis on Sunday.
Boston Calling’s fall lineup:
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