Just the other night, a kind fan of my old band The Smugglers, posted this entire concert of ours on my Facebook page. I was shocked to see it. I don’t think I’ve seen a complete set on video by my old band in over a decade, and I can’t remember seeing any shows from this far back.

1996 was a big year for The Smugglers. We were signed to Mint Records in Canada and Lookout! Records in the States. We had just released our highest selling record Selling The Sizzle. We were touring constantly and playing only all ages shows in the States, because that’s where the Lookout! Records fans were.

On this specific tour, we had already been on the road for over a month, having played across Canada, and down into New York for the CMJ Music Marathon. Then we hooked up with the Queers to tour across the States which lead us to Kansas City, a place we had already played several times.

I can’t believe how incredibly fast we’re playing these songs, how snarly I am, and how completely nonchalant we are when the power goes out.

The Smugglers in this concert video are Dave Carswell (guitar far left), me, Nick Thomas (guitar right), Beez (bass), and Graham (drums). We had already been a band for eight years at this point.

Thanks very much to Kendra K for rocketing me back to a completely different chapter in my life, one that I happen to be writing about right now!

Hope you enjoy this warp-speed 30 minute blast from the 1990s… where were YOU in 1996?

Last year you may have caught a holiday special I did on CBC Radio 1 all about animal encounters in the wild. It was called The Wild Side and it aired on both the Victoria Day Long Weekend and the Labour Day Long Weekend.

I’m happy to announce that The Wild Side has been expanded to an entire summer series for 2012. Starting the last week of June and running to the last week of August, The Wild Side will air on Tuesday mornings at 11:30am immediately following Q, and then again on Friday evenings at 7:30pm immediately following As It Happens.

As always, I want to include YOU in the show.

Essentially, we’re looking for Canadian wilderness stories involving you: survival stories, animal encounters, mishaps, special experiences, or conquests, be there humourous, treacherous, deadly, happy, sad or otherwise. The wilderness can be forest, ocean, lake, desert, mountains, river, prairie, tundra, pretty much anywhere OUTSIDE of our cities and towns.

Did you see a moose running down Bay Street? That doesn’t count. Did you wake up to find a moose in your tent? That counts! Took a three hour hike which turned into three days? Got almost eaten alive by leeches when attempting to swim across a lake? Let me know your story by emailing me: grant.lawrence@cbc.ca, or you can post your story to the Wild Side facebook wall. All creatures great and small, all adventures great and small, all stories great and small, as long as it involves you and the wilderness, I want to hear about it.

You can also like the show on Facebook and follow the show on Twitter.

Thanks, and see you on the Wild Side this summer on CBC Radio 1!

Here’s my touring schedule for the summer, hope to see you somewhere!

Also, a special thanks to all those who packed all the venues for my Kootenay book tour this spring, I had an awesome time. Thanks to the Kootenay Library Federation for hosting me. I also just had a fun time at a sold out unique literary event on Cortes Island (oh so close to Desolation Sound) called Authors, Seafood and Ale. I hope to do a similar event in Lund BC soon!

Easter Weekend 2012 in Desolation Sound

I thought it would be a good time to check in with you this spring to keep you in the loop on what’s happening in my life with regards to my book Adventures in Solitude, my tour dates in the spring and summer of 2012, and my new writing projects.

Firstly, I’d like to thank you very much for your ongoing support. The reception I continue to receive towards Adventures in Solitude and my work on CBC Radio never ceases to surprise and inspire me. I truly appreciate the kind words and correspondence, and love meeting so many like-minded and friendly people.

I wrote Adventures in Solitude alone, and didn’t share it with anyone besides my wife until it was finished. I had no idea how it would ever be received, if at all, the height of my ambition being that it would one day be for sale in the BC Ferries gift shop. Suffice to say the book made it to the gift shop, and beyond. And thanks to those who have brought beer/moonshine/chocolate chip cookies/machetes to the readings, too!

I plan to one day write a sequel to Adventures in Solitude as the stories that continue to unfold in Desolation Sound still absolutely distract me, fascinate me, and freak me out. Already since the 2010 publication of the book, several interesting tales have surfaced. Some have been hilarious, some mysterious, and some tragic, like so many Desolation Sound stories before them. I’ll continue to collect them until I have enough for another book. In the meantime, the audiobook version of Adventures in Solitude will be out on Harbour Publishing hopefully in time for your road trips this summer. If your kid vomits on you, feel free to blame me if you must.

The pressing situation, as you may have heard, is that I signed a new two-book deal with Vancouver publisher Douglas and McIntyre. I have two book subjects on the go right now. One is a book about my 17 year “career” as an international touring musician on a wing, a prayer, a shoestring and a hangover, with my rock ‘n’ roll band The Smugglers. The other is a book about my lifelong love/hate relationship with the game of hockey, and my view from between the pipes as a frightened, gimpy, weak-kneed, amateur beer league goalie on a team that somehow managed to win a championship.

My question to you, dear reader, is, if either of those subjects catches your fancy, which book would you be interested in reading first?

I hope to see you at one of my stops this spring and summer! In the immediate future, I’ll on be a promotional book tour throughout southern BC next week where I’ll be doing readings, showing slides, telling new stories, showing my short movie from Desolation Sound, and signing any book you want signed. Spread the word if you can!

Mon Apr 23 – Hooked on Books, Penticton BC, 7pm
Tue Apr 24 – Grand Forks Library, Grand Forks BC, 6:30pm
Wed Apr 25 – Beaver Valley Library, Fruitvale BC, 7:30pm
Thu Apr 26 – Kaslo Library, Kaslo BC, 10am
Thu Apr 26 – Nelson Library, Nelson BC, 7:30pm
Fri Apr 27 – Fernie Library, Fernie BC, 7pm
Sat Apr 28 – Christ Church Trinity, Invermere BC, 1pm
Sun Apr 29 – Bookland, Kamloops BC, 1pm
Sat May 26 – Oysters, Authors and Ale, Cove Restaurant, Cortes Island BC
Sat Jun 2 – West Vancouver Community Day, West Vancouver BC
Fri Jun 8 – Tue Jun 12, Tracks on Tracks, CBC Radio 3 Canadian Rail Tour
Fri – Sun Jul 13 -15 – Vancouver Folk Festival, Jericho Park Beach, Vancouver BC
Fri – Sun Jul 20 -22 – Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival, Denman Island BC

PS. If you’re in the Northeastern or Midwest USA, my wife Jill Barber is on tour there right now! I have a living room full of drying, stinky goalie gear to prove it!

Jill Barber Spring/Summer Tour Dates

Thu Apr 19, World Café, Philadelphia PA
Fri Apr 20, U Street Music Hall, Washington DC
Sat Apr 21, Studio at Webster Hall, New York NY
Sun Apr 22, Hard Rock Café, Pittsburgh PA
Tue Apr 24, Schuba’s, Chicago IL
Sun Jun 3, Orangeville Jazz Fest, Orangeville ON
Fri Jun 15, Illuminaqua Fest, Welland ON
Sat Jun 30, Vancouver International Jazz Fest, Vancouver BC