Hello World of Friends!

Happy blustery days of November. Hope you’re staying cosy and warm wherever this may find you. 

Wrapping up another season in the Sound

November 2025 in Desolation Sound. Photo by Matt Dixon.

As each year passes, it always seems harder to close up the cabin for another season. Not so much physically but emotionally. Anytime of the year can be beautiful in Desolation Sound, as was proven when we closed up recently over four tranquil days in mid November. So you think, well, why not keep it open all year? But then a wicked southeasterly gale churns up the inlet into a black and white froth to answer your question for you. 

On our recent November closing weekend, true to Russell the Hermit’s old Desolation Sound adage of “there is always something to see,” there was: flocks in the thousands of “winter ducks” (as my dad calls them – scoters, goldeneyes, harlequins, and buffleheads) enjoying the sheltered salt waters of the inlets… massive seal lions barking and cavorting on rocky outcrops gorging on the last of the salmon… colourful mushrooms sprouting like miniature villages in the mossy banks… and dolphins showing off outrageously acrobatic moves to mostly themselves, the ducks, and the rare boat that might pass by, if at all….

November dolphins in Desolation Sound. Photo by Jas Kryver.

As we motored our boat Cliffhanger away from the cabin for the last time in 2025, off for other adventures far away from Desolation Sound, I ceremoniously poured the final sip of my beer into the dark green ocean. I consider it a tradition, a token of thanks, a gift to the sea, whereas my wife Jill still refers to the gesture “the biggest hoser move” she has ever seen.

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House of Vinyl

Do you own a record player? Yes! Great! No? Well, ask for one for Christmas because the Barber-Lawrences have the start of your collection right here. Yes, this is something I never would have predicted: three of our family members are releasing vinyl albums this fall:

• My lovely non-hoser wife Jill has (finally) released her first-ever Christmas album, entitled A Holly Jolly Jill Barber Christmas, a mix of saucy originals and steamy holiday classics. You can order your own copy on jack pine evergreen vinyl in time for Xmas from Outside Music.

• Our 12-year-old son Josh’s rock band Blue Jay Valley has released a six-song 12” vinyl EP called Breakaway… and it totally rocks! Josh plays guitar in the band, and does a lot of the artwork, posters, and shares songwriting duty. We’re very proud of him and his band – who played a packed and epic record release party recently in East Vancouver. Our local entertainment weekly the Georgia Straight described the band as “Smells like pre-teen spirit.” You can order your own copy of this super cool release on three different varieties of coloured vinyl from Fink City Records.

• And finally, my ol’ rock n roll band The Smugglers are releasing a remastered 30th anniversary edition of our “most popular” album Selling The Sizzle. The reissue comes with a deluxe fold-out sleeve designed by our friend Chris Appelgren (who originally released this album in 1996 on Lookout Records), extensive liner notes by Nardwuar, and a truly sizzling remaster by original Sizzle producer Mass Giorgini… thirty years later. You can order your own copy on ketchup-and-mustard splattered vinyl in time for Xmas on Lava Socks Records.

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A Very Vancouver Christmas

It’s back! A few years ago, we did a Xmas version of my touring Stories and Songs show in East Vancouver. This year, we’re taking the show to… THE WEST SIDE… deep in the heart of Vancouver’s tony Kitsilano neighbourhood at the historic Hollywood Theatre for the second edition of Grant Lawrence and Friends: A Very Vancouver Christmas. 

*Wed Dec 17, Hollywood Theatre, Vancouver BC, all ages, 7pm*

We have assembled an all-star line up of Vancouver performers for this show, including musicians Torquil Campbell of the band Stars, Dan Moxon from the band Bend Sinister, young guitar phenom Ayla Tesler Mabe, and my lovely wife Jill Barber. Also on the show, hilarious comedian Charlie Demers and Vancouver author / historian / raconteur and tin whistle player Aaron “AO” Chapman, along with other special surprise guests! Get your tickets here.

Partial proceeds from the show go to BC Cancer Research. If you’ll be near Vancouver, we hope to see you there! 

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A Holly Jolly Jill Barber Christmas Tour

Jill will be jiggling all the way to the Maritimes with a decorative Xmas tour full of special guests and songs of seasonal magic. If you’re near one of these towns, please go to the show and tell Jill her hoser husband sent you! Last sip of eggnog goes in the Northumberland Strait!

Thu Nov 27, Jane Mallet Theatre, Toronto
Fri Nov 28, Babs Asper Theatre, Ottawa

Sun Nov 30, Capitol Theatre, Moncton NB

Mon Dec 1, Kings Playhouse, Charlottetown PEI

Wed Dec 3, Imperial Theatre, Saint John NB

Thu Dec 4, Freddy Beach Playhouse, Fredericton NB

Fri Dec 5, Chester Playhouse, Chester NS

Sat Dec 6, Mermaid Imperial Performing Arts Centre, Windsor NS

Sun Dec 7, Evergreen Theatre, Margaretsville NS

Mon Dec 8, deCoste Performing Arts Centre, Pictou NS

Tue Dec 9, Marigold Cultural Centre, Truro NS

Wed Dec 10, Light House Arts Centre, Halifax

Find tickets to all of Jill’s Xmas shows here.

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Looking ahead to 2026, I will be doing three new Stories and Songs shows in March with an excellent line up of musicians:

• Thu Mar 5, 44 Collective, Mayne Island (w/ Danny Michel and Jill Barber)

• Fri Mar 6, Errington Hall, Vancouver Island (w/ Danny Michel, Jill Barber, and Desirée Dawson)

• Sat Mar 7, Clayoquot Theatre, Tofino, Vancouver Island (w/ Danny Michel, Jill Barber, and Desirée Dawson)

The tour will return next summer in Desolation Sound! 

And hopefully I’ll get going on some whale of a new book, too.

Happy fall, happy life, and all the best from the blustery west,

Grant Lawrence

“Rocky”, the biggest of ’em all. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Join award-winning local author, broadcaster, and raconteur Grant Lawrence for a special holiday event at the historic Hollywood Theatre In Vancouver. On Wed Dec 17, in a one-night-only, all-ages show, Lawrence brings together an all-star cast of Vancouver’s finest entertainers, musicians, comedians, and authors in a not-to-be-missed holiday spectacular of stories and songs.

Featuring special guest musicians Torquil Campbell (Stars), Jill Barber, Dan Moxon (Bend Sinister), Ayla Tesler-Mabe, & comedian Charlie Demers, author / historian Aaron Chapman and other surprise guests. Tickets.

Hello World of Friends!

Hope your sunny season is unfolding wonderfully. 

This summer, both my kids are busy building forts in the woods around our cabin in Desolation Sound, and usually ask for my help. The problem is, I’m often busy working on what I’ve realized is “the big kid fort:” our cabin. I’m ever trying to keep it functional for both family and guests. And when we have guests, I turn into a kind of cross between Basil Fawlty and Armond from The White Lotus: a burnt out lunatic host trying to please, whose body language, according to my wife, reads as “please leave now.” Not my intention!*

My daughter’s fort, not our actual cabin.

Whale Tale Podcast

Speaking of guests… orca expert Graeme Ellis recently dropped by the cabin with his family, and I definitely did not want him to leave. If you’ve had a chance to listen to my latest podcast WHALE TALE: the true story of the capture, escape and legacy of some of the West Coast’s most remarkable orcas, you’ll know that Graeme figures very largely in the story – possibly the most important character next to Emma Shuparski – who first told me about this incredible saga – or the mystery figure who released the whales from captivity. It was a true honour to host this legend in orca understanding, lore, and adventure. And a huge thanks to ALL of the incredible coastal figures who took part in the telling of this story (yes, you’ll find out what really happened to the famed white orca.)

Graeme Ellis visits the actual cabin.

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to Whale Tale, you can hear all ten high-stakes chapters here. 

CETUS Straitwatch coordinator Emma Shuparski in Refuge Cove. The Whale Tale series exists because of her.

Desolation 2025 Stories and Songs tour

Speaking of Desolation, we’re about to start our annual tour, this time reaching into the Discovery Islands… There are a few tickets left for Cortes – hope to see you there!

Mon July 21, Heriot Bay Inn, Quadra Island SOLD OUT

Tue July 22, Dockside Kitchen, Refuge Cove SOLD OUT

Wed July 23, La Hacienda, Savary Island SOLD OUT

Thu July 24, Community Hall, Whaletown, Cortes Island SOLD OUT

No more scheduled shows until 2026!

Summer reading: The Harder I Fight The More I Love You by Neko Case

I’ve been escaping back to the wild days of the 1990s Northwest rock n roll scene courtesy of my ol pal Neko Case’s memoir, a stripped down, honest and well-written debut book. For those who don’t know, Neko Case is a Grammy-nominated American country singer. She also dated one of the members of my band, subsequently moving to Vancouver and joining a bunch of Canadian indie rock bands, releasing her first country album backed by Canadian musicians, and launching her music career which continues to this day.

I had to hold myself back from skipping ahead to the pages when I first came into contact with Neko, fascinated to read through the rough and tumble American’s eyes what it was like to descend into our vibrant Canadian music scene. 

Smuggler Dave and Neko on the legendary Smugglers / cub tour of 1993.

Unfortunately, Neko’s relationship with Dave didn’t end well, so he gets a pretty funny / fitting pseudonym, but it’s a hell of a good book by a fiery old friend.

Japan: Osaka Expo 

When was the last time you attended an Expo? For me it was Expo 86 in Vancouver, but in late June I made the return trip to Japan for the first time in 25 years – my third trip to this fabulously organized country. 

This time, the kids and I accompanied my lovely musician wife Jill Barber as she performed a string of shows under the sweltering summer skies of Osaka, representing Canada for the 2025 World Expo – including a big show on Canada Day – which was a toasty 35 degrees. 

Grant and our dear Japanese-Canadian friend Shiho celebrating Canada Day at the Canadian Pavilion at Osaka Expo 2025.

It was an incredible opportunity for Jill to charm Japanese audiences (her third trip as well) and a great honour for our family for Jill to be representing Canada overseas.

My second highlight of the trip was returning to Tokyo to visit my rock n roll pals who have remained so all these years later. 

Our family hopped the famed and air conditioned Bullet Train from Osaka, through Kyoto and Nagoya, past Mount Fuji and into Tokyo, staying at the cool Mustard Hotel in the endlessly interesting Shimokitazawa neighbourhood. 

Spinnin records at Poor Cow, Tokyo, Japan. Tomoko Onobu photo.

Tomoko, the bassist from the legendary Tokyo rock n roll band Supersnazz (and the Tweezers, and her most recent awesome band Rock Juice), very kindly hosted a ‘welcome back’ party at Poor Cow, one of the coolest rock n roll bars in the world, for a fun night of music and laughs and memories and a bar full of Japanese rock n roll royalty. It was the coolest and the hottest all at once! KANPAI!

Kids book prize nomination: Adventures in Desolation Sound is up for a Chocolate Lily Award

Whoa! The kids version of ‘Adventures in Solitude’ with illustrator Ginger Ngo has made the shortlist for a BC literary honour called the Chocolate Lily Award. Beginning in September and continuing through the school year, kids in BC will read the eight nominated books and then vote for their favourite in the spring. Hope those young readers enjoy the wilderness and barf!

Happy summer, happy life, and I hope to see you around somewhere soon.

All the best from the watery west,

Grant Lawrence

Toba Inlet, summer 2025. Photo by Guy Normandeau of our boat Cliffhanger.
*A co-worker at CBC told me that human communication is broken down to 56% body language, 37% tone, 7% words. Do you agree?