Hello World of Friends!

HAPPY SUMMER!

Whoa. Okay. Well, here goes: After more than 15 years working with wonderful, BC-based, independent publishers like Harbour Publishing and Orca Book Publishers, I’m makin’ the leap to the bigs for the next book. My longtime agent Samantha Haywood has landed me a deal with Penguin Books. Yes, that Penguin. I’m trying something new. And still trying to process it.

My history with independents goes back further than books. My band the Smugglers only ever worked with independent labels like Mint Records in Canada and Lookout Records in the USA, and we were very happy. We never knew what is was like to be on a major label, because, truth be told, we never received the offer, or ever chased one. I’ll admit it: it would have been nice to be asked. Now, in the book world, I have been asked, so while this is a significant departure from my indie philosophy, we’ll see how it goes, eh?

All of this is for the book I have been feverishly researching and writing in every place possible: ferry line ups, airports, libraries, cafés, forests, and late, late, late into the night while my family sleeps around me in our family home. I even wrote on the banks of the Capilano River the other day (see below) while my family shopped at the nearby Park Royal Mall. Every minute counts as the deadline looms.

The most special period of writing I had recently (ever?) was a glorious seven day stretch at the Hollyhock Leadership Centre on Cortes Island. It was a true honour to be their writer-in-residence.

To be able to simply concentrate, all day, on writing, was a gift. To focus and organize my thoughts, to translate them into words, a privilege.  It helped that there was also a silent retreat going on while I was there. A lot less noisy at the hot tubs.

There were actually two other programs happening at Hollyhock while I was lone wolf writin’ it: that silent retreat and another called Aging and Saging (not sagging, as I originally misread in the program guide.) It was all about how to age gracefully, how to find spiritual growth in the second half of your life, and eldership as opposed to old age. It was actually really cool, though when I was invited to take part in one of their workshops, I couldn’t help but tell them that I’m more into agin’ and ragin’! Whoooo! (I did do a reading at one of their workshops and it was great.)

Thanks to everyone at Hollyhock for an incredible experience.

Oh, and here’s what the press release says in case you’re wondering what the book is about (and I do appreciate the use of a head shot from a dozen years ago in that above graphic.)

Deal News – Grant Lawrence’s WHALE TALE

“Radio host Grant Lawrence brings us WHALE TALE, the true story behind one of the most consequential cases in modern environmental history: The Pedder Bay 5. In the height of the orca capture era, five killer whales were taken, among them a white orca, considered the rarest ocean mammal ever caught alive. The capture instantly turned into an international spectacle, setting off a chain of events impacting everyone involved – orca and human – for the rest of their lives, and culminating in a mystery still not solved to this day. To Nick Garrison at Penguin Random House, by Samantha Haywood at Transatlantic Literary Agency.”

Big thanks to Emma Shuparski, Straitwatch, CETUS, Margaret Gallagher, and CBC’s North By Northwest. Without them, I wouldn’t have stumbled into this story or brought it forward.

My hope it that you might see WHALE TALE on bookshelves at some point in 2027.

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Desolation Sound Tour 2026

Anchors away, baby! The guitars are tuned, the stories are tweaked, and we are ready to BOAT across Desolation Sound and the Discovery Islands, B.C., to bring you our (mostly) boat-access only summer tour.

This year, beside my lovely wife Jill Barber and myself (we’re the mainstays), we welcome beloved Ontario singer-songwriter Danny Michel, along with the amazing Vancouver singer Desirée Dawson, and several special guest performers, including our daughter Grace Lawrence. I’ll be sharing local stories old and new, so we hope to see you there!

A couple of notes: this will be our first show at the brand new Lund Community Hall, the village’s first place to gather inside in decades … the Savary show will serve as a tribute to Rick Thaddeus, our long time Savary promoter who sadly died in the winter … and we’re excited to be bringing the show to Read Island, in the Discoveries, for the first time.

Tickets are on sale now!

Mon, July 6, Northside Community Centre, Lund (also with local guests Prashant Miranda and Tyler Bartfai)

Tue July 7, Dockside Kitchen, Refuge Cove, West Redonda Island (also with local guest Tyler Bartfai)

Wed July 8, Hacienda Pascalito’s, Savary Island

Thu July 9, Gorge Hall, Cortes Island

Fri July 10, Lamberts Beach Gazebo, Read Island

A big thanks to our tour presenters Hollyhock and the Lund Resort at Klah ah Men.

Tickets here!

Whoo hoo!! The Desolation Sound tour is back! Our special guest musicians this year are an all-star cast featuring Danny Michel, Desiree Dawson, and Jill Barber, with other special local guests at most shows. Tickets are on sale now, please check start times as they vary per show. Hope to see you out there! GRAB YOUR TICKETS HERE.

Hello World of Friends! Hope this finds you well and happy in the blossom season. I’m finding that I’m valuing family time more and more, just as our family feels like it’s constantly going off in all directions. For instance: on one particular Saturday this April, four members of our extended family were all performing live shows in four separate venues across Canada: my lovely wife Jill Barber sang with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra at the Grand Theatre (more on that in a bit), and her very talented brother Matthew Barber happened to also be playing Kingston, Ontario, that very night, by sheer coincidence, across town at the Sesame Theatre.

Out here on the West Coast, our son Josh’s band Blue Jay Valley opened for our friends Said the Whale at a sold-out Hollywood Theatre, while across town I performed a mini-reunion with my band the Smugglers (three very fun songs) at a club called the American, where, fittingly, we played with our American friends and mentors the Young Fresh Fellows at their first Vancouver show in over thirty years. This was all on the same night! Not to be out done, our daughter Grace has founded a “play club” at her elementary school where she and her classmates will put on a production of “Alice In Wonderland” in a few weeks. Phew!  (And hey, the Smugglers are hoping to get booked onto Little Steven’s Underground Garage Cruise 2027 so if you’re reading this and have any insights, please get in touch, thanks!)

Speaking of shows, if you’re around the glorious Sunshine Coast next week, i hope you’ll consider taking in one of our four Grant Lawrence and Friends: Stories and Songs shows. For those reading from afar, the Sunshine Coast is an exceptionally beautiful area of the inner south coast of BC, famous for its ocean views and impossibly twisty roads, upon which generations of my family have thrown up, whilst trying to get to the ferry terminals that connect the upper and lower coasts. At the north end is Desolation Sound. Also exceptional is line up of musicians at these shows: my ol’ pal Jeremy Fisher from Ottawa, the sublime Desiree Dawson, and the excellent Louise Burns. They’ll play the tunes, I’ll share the stories, and I hope to see you there!  Here’s a great article on what to expect from the Powell River Peak. If you have friends who you think might be interested in these shows, please let them know!  Wed Apr 22, Pender Harbour School of Music Thu Apr 23, Pender Harbour School of Music (SOLD OUT) Fri Apr 24, Cranberry Hall, Powell River Sat Apr 25, Cranberry Hall, Powell River … and on the May Long Weekend, Jill and I will be taking part in the Word on the Lake Writers Festival in Salmon Arm, BC.

TICKETS

Okay, it’s official!! My next book will be about something I am deeply passionate about: orcas. And not just any orcas, friend! This book will be about the adventures of one of thee most unique orca pods in the recorded history of the West Coast! A pod with a storied legacy that dates back to the capture era, and includes an extremely rare white orca (that one above.) And like most of my stories, for me, this one all began in Desolation Sound.

The book will be roughly based on Whale Tale, my CBC Radio series and podcast from last year, but will dive much deeper than the limited time a podcast can allow.  It’s a wild story of heroes and villains, dirty deeds and divine (human) intervention, a marine empire built on the backs of captive whales, and a West Coast mystery that has lasted over 55 years. Best of all, this story has what I consider to be both a happy and hopeful ending. I look forward to sharing the book with you, and will let you know all of the publication details soon.

As mentioned, Jill has been performing her new show “Under Paris Skies” with symphony orchestras across the country. The kids and I journeyed back to our beloved Winnipeg to see the first show, and it was un spectacle formidable. It was also funny, heart-felt, emotional, soaring, and highly dramatic with non-stop costume changes – and I barely speak French! Tout le monde! Up in that Winnipeg balcony I was a blubbery mess. Jill has two more performances this spring: Thu Apr 30, First Performing Arts Centre, Ste. Catharines, Ont. (jazz trio show) Sat May 2, Conexus Arts Centre, Regina, Sask. (Under Paris Skies with the Regina Symphony Orchestra)

TICKETS

Well, the Vancouver Canucks had an absolute miserable meltdown of a season, but the last home game of the year was a little sweeter when our son Josh’s band Blue Jay Valley were invited to perform pre-game on Canucks Plaza at Rogers Arena in downtown Vancouver for “Fan Appreciation Night.” As thousands of fans gathered, they were treated to ear-blasts of BJV songs. And the Canucks won in overtime! Unlike the Canucks for most of the season, Blue Jay Valley continue to impress with their popularity and drive. The members are now an average age of 11 (Josh is the eldest at 12) and they have two vinyl records under their 24” belts, you can hear their music on streaming platforms, and there’s more exciting shows upcoming. Sun May 3, Lana Lou’s, Vancouver BC (w/ the Fangers, and the Ra Ras, both kid bands) Sat Sep 12, Barnside Harvest Festival, Ladner BC, 4:45pm Heritage Stage

Tickets

This summer we hope to continue the tradition of the Desolation Sound boat-access-only summer tour, but first I’ll have to see if I can hit my book deadline… to be continued… Happy spring, happy life, hope to see you at a show, and all the best from the West, Grant Lawrence