Two of the Sunshine Coast’s most celebrated storytellers will converge in Sechelt later this month, for a feel-good evening of tales and songs that puts West Coast literary heritage at centre stage.
Over the last five years, bestselling author and raconteur Grant Lawrence modeled his traveling Grant Lawrence and Friends performances on the variety show template forged by a fellow CBC broadcaster, the late Stuart MacLean.
At his performance on Saturday, Sept. 28, Lawrence plans to deliver readings from his Desolation Sound memoirs alongside a special appearance by one of the Sunshine Coast’s literary luminaries: Howard White, owner of Madeira Park’s Harbour Publishing.
White and his wife Mary founded Harbour Publishing in 1974. The firm’s 50th anniversary was recently celebrated at the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts.
“Howard is kind of like a father figure to me when it comes to publishing,” said Lawrence in an interview with Coast Reporter. Harbour published Lawrence’s best-selling memoir, Adventures in Solitude, in 2010. An illustrated account for younger readers of Lawrence’s childhood exploits in Desolation Sound was released earlier this year.
The Sept. 28 show will also feature guest musicians Neil Osborne from platinum-selling rock band 54-40, blues and soul singer Dawn Pemberton, and roots-noire specialist Lindi Ortega.
“I almost consider it a bit of a selfish endeavour because I only take this show to places that I actually want to go to or spend time in,” said Lawrence. “I was a touring musician in a rock band for many, many years. So when you’re a touring musician, you often don’t have a choice. And I book musicians that I love and that I actually want to hear. Through my life, what I’ve learned is if you are passionate about it, chances are the audience will pick up on that passion as well.”
Osborne has been the lead singer of 54-40 since the band’s formation in 1980. Lawrence, who long considered him “unattainable,” reached out to him after Osborne attended one of his storytelling shows on Gabriola Island.
Pemberton is a vibrant soul and blues singer based in Vancouver. Ortega is a Juno-nominated Toronto-born singer with a humour-rich musical style, currently living in the Kootenays.
Beyond his affinity for live music and Desolation Sound, Lawrence has a strong connection to the southern Sunshine Coast. His children’s book is dedicated to the memory of Bev Shaw, the proprietor of Talewind Books who died last November. Shaw was a tireless supporter of Lawrence’s books and occasional live performances on the Coast.
During the upcoming event, Lawrence will read from his debut release Adventures in Solitude, his latest bestseller Return to Solitude, recount stories from his podcasts, and divulge never-before-heard anecdotes.
As for Howard White, Lawrence has assigned him a unique challenge: spin his best yarn ever.
“That’s the challenge I laid down at his Birkenstocks,” said Lawrence. “The fact of the matter is, Howard is one of the greatest storytellers in our midst. I’m not sure what he’s going to tell, but I’m very excited for that because I’ve seen him tell stories before and he knocks it out of the park every time. He’s got this wonderful cadence and great delivery.”
According to Lawrence, wry humour is one of the Coast’s strongest literary traits, a necessity for a population connected by irksome ferry transportation and stomach-churning highways. “I find that wherever there’s some shadow, there’s always some rays of sunshine as well,” Lawrence mused. “That’s what I really like to mine into, the humour that surrounds the absurdities of some of the things we go through as Sunshine Coasters.”
Tickets for the Sept. 28 performance of Grant Lawrence and Friends are available online via the ravenscrytheatre.com website. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Raven’s Cry Theatre in Sechelt.
