It’s a Ferron fest; for Ferron fans there’s probably no need to say anything more. For generations X, Y and Z, here’s the skinny: Ferron is an icon of women’s music — a folk-rock singer songwriter often compared to Bob Dylan for her intricate lyrics backed by guitar-driven melodies. Back in the day, Ferron gave the movement serious musical cred with her melancholy ballads, and at times caused controversy by including men in her band.

Girl on a Road picks up Ferron as she reunites with her band and hits the road after a ten-year absence. The film documents the kick-off Vancouver concert, celebrating Ferron in performance and in backstage interviews. She and her band members recall good times and bad, from Ferron’s first performance (“someone had slipped me a hash brownie”) to her brief and disastrous involvement with Warner Bros. Records: “I write to the broken, the wounded, the forgotten,” Ferron sums it up. “They didn’t know what to do with me.” In stories onstage and off, Ferron recalls her chaotic childhood and her need to write songs that reflected her lesbian experience.

Girl on a Road is, above all, a snapshot of a survivor. “This song I’m about to sing is thirty years old,” Ferron introduces one number. “I’m a musician, I’m not going to get a pension, but that song might.” Ferron: Girl on a Road is a rare chance to encounter a voice from the past — for, as Ferron sings, “when I find my shoes I’m gone.” — MONICA NOLAN