Hello world of friends!

Happy spring! Hope this finds you nestled under a pink bouquet of “cherry blossoms that are as graceful as a Japanese poem” (a direct spring-time quote from my beloved Desolation Sound neighbour Angela). 

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Joel Plaskett wows at Stories and Songs Shows

The highlight of 2024 so far has been the series of my touring “Stories and Songs” shows that featured my ol’ pal Joel Plaskett from Halifax, who I have known since his days in his 1990s rock band Thrush Hermit. In a word he was fantastic, and the audiences loved him.

Joel and I have had many adventures stretching over decades (above is a shot of Thrush Hermit playing with the Smugglers in Halifax in 1999).

One time, years later in Halifax, I asked Joel to show me the REAL Ashtray Rock, which was the title of his successful, award-winning concept album of 2007 about young love and drunk teenagers. He agreed, and together we made our way through the woods behind the Clayton Park neighbourhood of Halifax until we found it… 

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but out here in BC, when you say “rock” – and you mean the mineral variety – it’s usually something BIG… like Siwash Rock off of Stanley Park, or Bromley Rock outside of Princeton, or Ripple Rock off of Campbell River, that was so big and hazardous to boats, that they had to blow it up. 

Ashtray Rock wasn’t that big at all… maybe about the size of your average lumpy loveseat… nor to my eye did it really resemble an ashtray, but there were some empty beer cans strewn about, which meant a new generation was still sneaking off to party there, which warmed my heart. And I love a good rock ‘n’ roll pilgrimage no matter what the size of the prize.

A few years after that, Joel and I crossed paths again, this time way up north at a cultural festival in Iqaluit, Nunavut, a first for both of us, where we were able to get out onto the open, windswept, treeless tundra. Now THAT was epic.

And so this year, Joel and I were able to complete our twenty-five-year trifecta of adventures from coast to coast to coast with fantastic shows in Sidney, Galiano Island, and Maple Ridge. Thank you very much if you were in attendance at these special shows, and thank you to Joel for making it happen, and to all the other excellent performers: Lindsay Bryan, Rob Nesbitt and Andrew Molloy, Ashleigh Ball, Imogen Moon, and my lovely wife Jill Barber, who pulled off a drop-dead stunning duet with Joel on his old favourite “Happen Now” in Maple Ridge.

New shows for 2024 are listed below… including three coming up this weekend with the incredible Lindi Ortega, Jay Malinowski, and Stephanie Cadman in Oliver, Lake Country, and Kamloops!

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Release date for new book: Adventures in Desolation Sound (for kids!)

Well, it’s official… ace illustrator Ginger Ngo and I have been working hard while putting the finishing touches on the illustrated children’s version of my first book Adventures in Solitude. 

It’s called Adventures in Desolation Sound and takes place when my sister and I were little kids, experiencing Desolation Sound for the first time, and meeting real-life legends like “Cougar” Nancy Crowther and Russell the Hermit. 

The book features plenty of beautiful illustrations of many of the flora and fauna of the Sound, both above and below the surface, as well as lots of hilarious interpretations of my sister and me navigating those early years in the wilderness.

I’m very proud of the “kid treatment” we’ve given the book, which will be released by my long-time publisher Harbour Publishing (celebrating 50 years this year!) on Saturday September 7, 2024. I’ll have information on signed pre-orders soon. 

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Jill Barber

My lovely wife Jill has already had a busy year, logging many touring miles. She performed all over the East Coast USA in January, as well as trips to the Juno Awards in Halifax, and the Folk Music Awards in St. John’s, Newfoundland, where she won the trophy for Producer of the Year for her acclaimed album Homemaker. 

This one is special because Homemaker was both a return to Jill’s original folk roots sound, and a record that she grappled with, eventually taking on the producer’s role, so that the sound in her head was the sound she was hearing on the record. And, well… here you go:

Jill shares this award with her friend, bassist, and engineer-turned-co-producer Erik Nielsen. 

Jill will be performing at several music festivals this summer – and we’ll collaborate on a couple of shows as well. Please check out the dates below.

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Blue Jay Valley debut 7” EP out now!

Yes, that’s right, our 10-year-old son Josh Lawrence and his kid rock band Blue Jay Valley have their very own 7” vinyl record out, a four song EP of all-original rock songs written by the members, who are 9 and 10 years old. Their record release party was a sold-out smash in East Vancouver, and they have another all ages outdoor show planned for June. If you’re around East Van you should come! And bring the kids! In the meantime, you can check out the Blue Jay Valley bandcamp page if you’d like to listen to or order the record on sky blue vinyl. They ROCK.

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Shows! Shows! Shows!

Grant Lawrence and Friends: an evening of stories and songs

THIS SUMMER:

Mon July 22, Laughing Oyster, Okeover BC, w/ Sarah Jane Scouten, Jill Barber, and Ashleigh Ball

Wed July 24, Hacienda Pascalito, Savary Island BC, w/ Sarah Jane Scouten, Jill Barber, and Ashleigh Ball

Thu July 25, Refuge Cove Dockside Gallery, Refuge Cove BC, w/ Sarah Jane Scouten, Jill Barber, and Ashleigh Ball

Sun Aug 18, Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts, Sechelt BC (Harbour Publishing 50th anniversary celebration)

Sat Aug 24, Opera House, Gravenhurst, Ontario w/ Jill and Matthew Barber, Clerel, Hannah Georgas, Miranda Mulholland

Sat Aug 31, Barbers at the Base, Sergeants’ Mess Hall, Picton, Ontario (Jill Barber, Matthew Barber, Grant Lawrence)

(More shows to be announced coming up in Langley, Sechelt, Powell River, and West Vancouver in the fall of 2024 and spring of 2025).

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Jill Barber

Sun June 16, Francos de Montreal

Sun, Mon June 23, 24, Toronto International Jazz Festival

Fri Aug 2, Kaslo Jazz Festival, Kaslo BC

Sun Aug 18, Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts, Sechelt BC

Sat Aug 24, Opera House, Gravenhurst, Ontario (w/ Grant Lawrence)

Sat Aug 31, Barbers at the Base, Sergeants’ Mess Hall, Picton, Ontario (Jill Barber, Matthew Barber, Grant Lawrence)

Tickets to all shows.

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Dirty Windshields Audiobook

And one more thing… If you need something to listen to while doing the dishes or driving to work, at long last, I have FINALLY finished my audiobook-podcast for my rock ‘n’ roll memoir Dirty Windshields – the best and the worst of the Smugglers tour diaries. This turned out to be a rather epic and time-consuming project that took, uh… years, because… it’s not just an audiobook. I took it upon myself to mix in much of the Smugglers catalogue throughout the stories, in chronological order, plus music from friends’ bands, which makes this a deeper and more contextualised listen that takes you through the indie rock glory years of the 80s, 90s and 2000s, as if you were actually there. Or maybe you were. The project turned out to be an amazing way to reconnect with Smugglers fans and friends from around the world… all three of them … (just kidding) … and I hope you get a chance to listen to it as well. (Above is a picture of the Smugglers being interviewed in a fountain in Auckland, New Zealand.)

More listening:

A couple of respected pals recently interviewed me on their respective podcasts, where I talk about anything and everything.

Terry David Mulligan’s Mulligan Stew (the legendary media personality and I talk about me going over to his house to pick up free promo records when I was a teenager… the Stories and Songs show… Desolation Sound… books and more.)

Salad Days with Dave Ullrich (great to connect with the former Inbreds drummer about our meeting in the heady 1990s Canadian music scene and all that followed… including some never-told early Smugglers stories).

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So… what are you up to these days? Will our paths cross somewhere?

Happy spring, happy life, and I hope to see you soon.

All the best from the west,

Grant Lawrence

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www.grantlawrence.ca

www.instagram.com/grantlawrencecbc

www.twitter.com/grantlawrence

Hello world of friends!

Happy holidays! Hope this finds you somewhere comfortable with someone or something that you love. 

It was a busy fall season, as the travelling “Stories and Songs” cavalcade continued to tour to nice places like Fanny Bay and Denman Island. Many people ask why I tend to bring the show to mostly small towns, islands, and –ahem– resorts. 

I spent so much of my life in a touring rock band, playing many a disreputable downtown dump painted black with no windows, reeking of cigarettes, urinal pucks, and stale beer, that nowadays, if I’m going to be on the road, I’d like the destination, the gig, to be somewhere that I actually want to go to. Not that I would trade any of those rock ‘n’ roll days for anything, but let’s just say that, these days, I prefer Savary Island over CBGBs. 

I finally did do a holiday version of the show in my adopted hometown of East Vancouver at the beautiful Historic Theatre at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre which may become a yearly event… we’ll see. Thanks to all who came and to all of the performers: Luke Wallace, Jill Barber, Dan Mangan, Charlie Demers, and Dawn Pemberton. And the kids!

New shows for 2024 are listed below.

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Adventures in Solitude kids book (!!)

It seems like Adventures in Solitude, my first book that came out in 2010, keeps on keepin’ on with many different… tentacles… shall we say.

• There was this amazing spread in Cottage Life Magazine featuring beautiful photography by Grant Harder.

• There are my many spin-off audiobooks and podcasts: deep-dives into real-life characters like Russell the Hermit, the Cougar Lady, Handy Candy and others.

• And every once in a while, someone will contact me about turning the book into a movie or a TV show… the latest being a Hollywood director-type, who envisioned Liam Neeson in the role of Russell the Hermit… but the treatment he sent me was so far from what actually happened that it alarmed me… In his fictional version of the story, Russell and I went on the run and robbed banks or something… I’m more attracted to the weirdness of what really happened.

So… the latest incarnation of Adventures in Solitude will be a children’s picture book version, focussed on the time my sister and I – suburban TV nerds, both – were coming to terms with having a remote family cabin in the wilderness of Desolation Sound. 

The book is being illustrated by the awesome Ginger Ngo, a friend and collaborator for many years. This is our first book together and I’m honoured to be working with her. 

“Adventures in Desolation Sound” (for kids!) will be released in the fall of 2024 on Harbour Publishing.

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Bev Shaw

Speaking of books, English author Neil Gaiman apparently once said: “a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it has a bookstore, it knows it’s not foolin’ a soul.”

Thanks to a woman named Bev Shaw, the town of Sechelt, BC on the Sunshine Coast has been very fortunate to have the same independent bookstore for over 35 years, having weathered every threat to come along from Kindle, Kobo, Amazon, etc… but Bev’s energy and passion kept all that at bay with her loyal customer base and her incredible support of authors like me.

Bev was there for me from Day One, literally at every event I have done on the lower Sunshine Coast, hauling in the boxes, setting up the table, and selling the books with zeal. We became trusted friends.

Very sadly, Bev Shaw passed away in November of this year. Over 400 people attended her memorial in Sechelt. Her sudden departure from this world is still shocking, and she will be deeply missed. But the good news is this: her family is keeping the bookstore open. So when you visit Sechelt next, make sure you stop into Talewind Books on Trail Avenue, and pay respects to the legacy of Bev Shaw.

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Rock in the Family

Looks like we have another performer in the family. Our ten-year-old son Josh has formed his own rock band called Blue Jay Valley. They have written their own original songs, and have recorded them (with the help from one of the dads). They also played a sold out Halloween show with more all ages concerts planned for 2024. You can listen to their first song, “No School”, that Josh mostly wrote, including chords and lyrics, on the Blue Jay Valley bandcamp page.

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Shows

Last minute stocking stuffer alert? Give the gift of a live show in BC? I’m thrilled to be doing Stories and Songs shows in 2024 with an incredible line up of musicians, including my old friend from Halifax… Joel Plaskett!!

Fri Jan 26, Tir-Na-NOg Theatre, Bowen Island, w/ the Luckies (Shari Ulrich, Jeanne Tolmie, Hilary Grist), Hayden Roth, Wylie and John Stiver, Jill Barber. SOLD OUT

Sat Jan 27, Tir-Na-NOg Theatre, Bowen Island, w/ the Luckies (Shari Ulrich, Jeanne Tolmie, Hilary Grist), Hayden Roth, Wylie and John Stiver, Jill Barber. SOLD OUT

Sat Jan 27, Tir-Na-NOg Theatre, Bowen Island, w/ the Luckies (Shari Ulrich, Jeanne Tolmie, Hilary Grist), Hayden Roth, Wylie and John Stiver, Jill Barber. MATINEE – tickets available.

Thu Mar 7, Mary Winspear Centre, Sidney, w/ Joel Plaskett, Ashleigh Ball, Lindsay Bryan, Rob and Andrew from BUM

Fri Mar 8, Community Hall, Galiano Island, w/ Joel Plaskett, Ashleigh Ball, Imogen Moon

Sat Mar 9, ACT Theatre, Maple Ridge, w/ Joel Plaskett, Ashleigh Ball, Jill Barber

Fri Apr 26, Venables Theatre, Oliver, w/ Jay Malinowski, Lindi Ortega, Stephanie Cadman

Sat Apr 27, Creekside Theatre, Lake Country, w/ Jay Malinowski, Lindi Ortega, Stephanie Cadman

Sun Apr 28, The Effie Arts Collective, Kamloops, w/ Jay Malinowski, Lindi Ortega, Stephanie Cadman

… summer shows coming up on Savary Island and Powell River …

Tickets to all shows.—

Jill Barber

After a successful series of concerts in the Pacific Northwest USA, my lovely and talented wife Jill now takes her show to the Eastern Seaboard USA in January. Tell your American friends or ex-pat Canadians!

Sat Jan 13, Poisson Rouge, New York City

Sun Jan 14, Club Passim, Boston

Wed Jan 17, Jammin’ Java, Vienna, Virginia (Washington DC)

Thu Jan 18, City Winery, Pittsburgh

Fri Jan 19, Stage of Herr, Harrisburg, PA

Sat Jan 20, New Spire Art Centre, Frederick, Maryland

Sun Jan 21, City Winery, Philadelphia

Tickets to all shows.
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Happy Holidays, happy life, and hope to see you soon.

All the best from the west,

Grant Lawrence

Hello world of friends!

Happy fall and Happy Thanksgiving! Hope this finds you well as we transition into the autumnal stage of the year, my wife’s favourite… low sun illuminating wine-coloured leaves, pulling on our favourite Pollen sweaters as storms kicking up with more and more frequency. This weekend, Lawrence and Barber family members are gathering to celebrate family and the season in places as far flung as Lac Echo, Quebec, Wellington, Ontario, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Desolation Sound, BC. 

I invite you to snuggle in for all the latest happening from my world and beyond.

Back in the spring and summer, we completed another fun run of my touring show, “Grant Lawrence and Friends: an evening of stories and songs.” Thanks to ALL the friendly folks who came to the BC shows in Port Moody, Gibsons, West Vancouver, Penticton, Salmon Arm, and Savary Island, and on the rather fascinating Texada Island.

At each show I always meet amazing audience members, and two particular highlights from the spring shows were these:

• At the Port Moody show, Misty Cherry, daughter of Bernard “The German” Krieger, (the latter who I have written and broadcasted about extensively) was at the show with a group of friends. At one point, I invited her to join me on stage where she presented me with a small cloth bag filled with Bernard’s ashes. She asked that her father’s remains be spread in the waters of Desolation Sound, near the cabin he built that still stands. It was a very moving moment, and I am rarely at a loss for words, but I was for certain then and there. Thank you, Misty.
  
• At the Salmon Arm show, we were honoured with the presence of Audrey Stremick, formally Syms, the girlfriend of Russell “The Hermit” Letawsky, who accompanied Russell on his infamous trek across the Coast Mountains in Sept. 1977 that led him to Desolation Sound. Audrey also came up on stage, delighting the audience with her version of the events. Then she proceeded to bring the house down when she pulled out her ukulele to perform “House Of The Rising Sun” to the tune of “Amazing Grace.” Thank you, Audrey!

And a big cheers of appreciation to the incredibly talented musicians who compliment my stories with their songs at the shows: Jay Malinowski, Ashleigh Ball, Said the Whale, Suzie Ungerleider, Hayden Roth, Dustin Bentall, Danny Michel, Luke Wallace, Evan Symons, Docs ‘n Socs, and Jill Barber.

I’m working on another run of fall shows, the dates for which you can check out below – you never know who might show up! 

If you live in East Van, who know someone who does, please let them know about my first-ever show in my adopted urban hometown… a holiday show at the Historic Theatre at the East Van Cultural Centre. 

And if you have a cool theatre or venue in your town that you think would be suitable for this show, please get in touch.

Cabin Life

After the spring tour, we lived at the cabin in Desolation Sound for a good stretch of the summer, hosting the annual Okeover Open Crokinole Tournament, the Full Moon Float, and Ladies Whiskey Night (I’m not invited to that one), and collecting many more stories and wonderful memories. 

What is most astounding these days is that large cetaceans that continue to arrive in Desolation Sound in record numbers on an almost daily basis – orcas, dolphins, porpoises, and humpback whales seem to be everywhere, even right up close to our dock on several occasions, and it’s an incredible thing.

On a somewhat sad note, it looks like Big Buck$, our trusty oceanic chariot of many decades, that has driven over three generations of our family up and down the inlets, has taken her last charge across the Sound. We loved this made-in-North-Vancouver Hourston speedboat, but it dates back to 1985, pre-Expo, and had an entire life as a Horseshoe Bay pleasure rental boat before her many faithful years with our family in Desolation Sound. A huge thanks to our Hernando Island friend Gaye Leggat, who was the first person to refer to Big Buck$ as “vintage” instead of the more common description “what a piece of crap.” 

Now we’re trying to figure out what to do with Big Buck$. She’s currently for sale… any ideas?

Dirty Windshields Audiobook returns!

After about a year-and-a-half break to get some other things done, I have finally resumed the weekly audiobook chapters of “Dirty Windshields: the best and the worst of the Smugglers tour diaries.” 

Big thanks to Smugglers fan Sacramento Sandra, who I met up with this summer at the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas (where there is a Smugglers boot on display), for urging me to pick it back up again.

I’m into Part 3 now, during which I read aloud all the international touring stories, chronicling my band’s misadventures in Japan, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and beyond. The podcast is free, and you can listen to the weekly chapters here.

Wha…?! Twenty years of the Flying Vees!

When I was growing up, I was never a sporty kid, never signed up for teams, didn’t like gym, but I did enjoy playing street hockey and pick-up baseball games – but wouldn’t dare play organized sports. I was too intimidated. As an adult, I wanted to overcome that feeling. I have always loved hockey, so twenty years ago my friends and I formed a hockey team called the Flying Vees (I write about all of this stuff in my second book “The Lonely End of the Rink”). 

The Vees’ roster was filled mostly with musicians and artists who could skate (luckily my parents forced me to learn how to skate as a kid). Somehow, someway, this September, we skated onto the ice for our twentieth season as a team. 

Along the way, we’ve won our fair share of championships, something I never thought possible as a scrawny kid. I tried to retire my goalie skates at the end of last season, but my teammates convinced me to keep playing… because, as my pal and teammate Pat “This is That” Kelly reasoned, “why quit something when you’re having fun? That’s like announcing, ‘I’m going to read ONE more book and then… that’s it! No more books!”

I guess he has a point… in the body works, and you can still get out there and have fun, it’s a gift.

Fall Tour:

Sun Oct 15, Whistler Writers Festival, Lost Lake Walk, with authors Yvonne Blomer, Justene Dion-Glowa, Rabbi Paul Plotkin. 9am start from the Chateau Fairmont. SOLD OUT!

Fri Oct 20, Community Hall, Fanny Bay, with musicians Jay Malinowski, Stephanie Cadman, Sarah Jane Scouten. SOLD OUT!

Sat Oct 21, Community Hall, Denman Island, with musicians Jay Malinowski, Stephanie Cadman, Sarah Jane Scouten. 

Thu Dec 7, The Cultch Historic Theatre, East Vancouver, with musicians Jill Barber, Dawn Pemberton, Luke Wallace, and comedian Charlie Demers. SOLD OUT!

Tickets to all shows here.

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Jill Barber

As usual, my lovely wife has her own busy fall schedule, including shows in Alberta and, after living in BC for 15 years and counting, her first-ever shows in Washington and Oregon! Please help spread the word to our Cascadian neighbours.

Jill’s Fall Tour

Thu Nov 2, Festival Place, Sherwood Park, AB 

Fri Nov 3, Communitea Cafe, Canmore, AB  

Sat Nov 4, The Grand Theatre, Calgary, AB 

Fri Nov 17, Silver Moon, Bend, OR 

Sun Nov 19, Jack London Revue, Portland, OR 

Tue Nov 21, The Triple Door, Seattle, WA 

Wed Nov 22, Sun Mountain Lodge, Winthrop, WA

Tickets for all shows here.

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Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Life, and hope to see you soon.

All the best from the West,

Grant Lawrence
Desolation Sound, BC

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ROCK ON!