Award-winning author Grant Lawrence has been a regular fixture on the northern Sunshine Coast ever since his father dragged him and his sister away from the television when they were children and into the great outdoors of Desolation Sound.
Although Lawrence has brought his Stories and Songs tour to the qathet region before, they were usually only one night events. For the first time, he has patched together a Stories and Songs tour for the Desolation Sound region, with three dates in July.
Lawrence’s latest variety-show-style concert includes two stops that are boat access only, but technically, float planes could bring attendees, too.
Grant Lawrence and Friends Desolation Sound Summer Tour will be coming to the Laughing Oyster in Okeover on Monday, July 22, Hacienda Pascalito on Savary Island on Wednesday, July 24, and finally, Refuge Cove Dockside Kitchen and Gallery on Thursday, July 25. Musical guests include award-winning singer-songwriter Jill Barber, Ashleigh Ball from the band Hey Ocean!, and folk-country artist Sarah Jane Scouten, who will be flying in from Scotland.
"Over the years, I have done shows on Savary and in Refuge Cove, but they were never all strung together," said Lawrence. "So we decided to put together this Desolation Sound tour."
Lawrence brought his Stories and Songs variety-show concert to the Patricia Theatre in 2022, and last year he took the show to Texada Island for the first time. He said there will be some special guests and quite possibly some of the people he has written about in his books Adventures in Solitude and Return to Solitude.
"Many of the people I've written about over the years from this area, sadly, have passed away, but there are lots who are still with us, and I think they will be at some of the shows," said Lawrence. "I just hope, and it's my goal, that [the concerts are] a celebration of the area that people call home, and some have for many decades."
Between his stories, songs will be performed by Ball, Scouten and Barber, who is Lawrence's wife.
"There is something special about that transition between storytelling and music that really impacts people, and it doesn't even matter what the song is about, it just gives people a space to unwind from the story," said Lawrence. "It's been a really effective model for a live show. I really enjoy it and I love seeing the audience react to it."
To find tickets or add a name to a wait-list, go to grantlawrence.ca/events.
Grant Lawrence and Friends Desolation Sound Summer Tour dates: Monday, July 22, Laughing Oyster, Okeover, 7 pm; Wednesday, July 24, Hacienda Pascalito, Savary Island, 7 pm (no late ferry); Thursday, July 25, Dockside Kitchen and Gallery, Refuge Cove, 3 pm.
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