Hello World of Friends!

My new book DIRTY WINDSHIELDS has been out for about a month, reviews are coming in, and more launch dates are planned. I’m getting a lot of questions regarding the book, which I’ll try to answer right now.

1. WHERE CAN I FIND THE BOOK?

Dirty Windshields is readily available across Canada at most independent bookstores and the Indigo/Chapters chain. The book will be available for retail in the USA in September.

2. CAN I STILL ORDER A SIGNED COPY?

Yes, personally signed copies of DIRTY WINDSHIELDS can be ordered here and shipped to anywhere in the world!

3. ARE THE SMUGGLERS PLAYING MY TOWN?

DIRTY WINDSHIELDS is about my long-defunct rock ‘n’ roll band the Smugglers, so we’ve reunited to play very select reunion shows. Because we are very old now, we’re not touring.

You can catch us on Friday June 16 at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, and Saturday June 17 at Club Saw in Ottawa.

Both shows are DIRTY WINDSHIELDS book launches, with lots of opening bands, poster exhibits both nights, as well as book readings and signings. Should be a wild weekend!

No further performances are planned, but I’ll be doing book events for Dirty Windshields throughout the summer and fall and those are almost as much fun as the full-throttle Smugglers shows.

Check out the dates here, and hope to see you around this summer! Also, the Commodore show in Vancouver was over the top! If you were there, thanks for being a part of the action!

Reviews of DIRTY WINDSHIELDS:

“Rhythm, wanderlust and a three-chord dream.” – Globe and Mail, Toronto

“Dirty Windshields is the rarest of things: A largely evidence-based musical memoir.” – Montreal Gazette

“Dirty Windshields is easily one of the best rock memoirs I’ve ever read.” – Nexus, Victoria

“A wild adventure… Dirty Windshields is the rare kind of music memoir that manages to transcend immediate fanbases and appeal to music lovers of all stripes.” – Exclaim, Toronto

TICKETS HERE.

Hello!

There are a few tickets for the Smugglers reunion / “Dirty Windshields” book launch still available at Red Cat Records or here!

Weekend overview:

FRIDAY: On the evening of Friday May 12, we’ll be having a “welcome party” at 8pm for the bands and out-of-town guests at What’s Up? Hot Dog!, at 2481 East Hastings Street. I’ll be doing a reading from Dirty Windshields, there will be a special guest DJ Bobby Martinez from Oakland California, punk rock trivia, ticket giveaways, and a very special appearance by Larry Livermore, co-founder of Lookout Records, reading from his book How To Ru(i)n A Record Label! Readings at roughly 8:30pm. Space is extremely limited.

SATURDAY: The East Van Baseball League will host two special games between the Black Sox vs. the Mount Pleasant Murder (1pm) and the Isotopes vs. The Chinatown Cobras for your enjoyment at Strathcona Park. Members of the Muffs and Chixdiggit will be throwing out the first pitch and singing the anthem for the 1pm game!

The event at the Commodore on Saturday May 13 is an early show! Doors will open at 7pm, and the set times will be as follow:

7:30pm – Grant Lawrence reading
8:00pm – Needles//Pins
8:45pm – Chixdiggit
9:30pm – The Muffs
10:30pm – The Smugglers
11:30pm – book signing

Books will be on sale and I’ll be at the signing table at the beginning and end of the night. The Commodore serves a full dinner menu, and there is a pretty healthy happy hour at the adjoining street-level bar the Bottleneck.

SUNDAY: On Sunday May 14, there will be a “send off brunch” at the Regal Beagle in Kitsilano. This will mainly be a CBC Radio 3 listener group, but you are more than welcome to join. (The previously schedule Tomahawk BBQ in North Vancouver hosted by Nardwuar is cancelled due to Mother’s Day brunch insanity).

Transit:

Taxis, Sky Train, Canada Line and city buses are your best bet, since Vancouver is the biggest major city in North America still without Uber. Sorry! We do have rapid transit from our airport to downtown, however (The Canada Line) which drops you off within two blocks of the Commodore.

Drug warning:

My barber insisted to warn you that if you’re coming in from out of town and like to dabble in recreational drugs, be very careful when doing so in Vancouver, or completely avoid doing so in Vancouver, due to the deadly fentanyl epidemic. Please be safe and have fun!

Any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

See you in the front row,

The Smugglers