Dirty Windshields is the long-awaited memoir from CBC host and award-winning author Grant Lawrence, baring all the salacious and hilarious details from his touring days as the lead singer of Vancouver-based rock and roll band The Smugglers.

Formed when most of the members were still in high school, The Smugglers came of age during the height of the grunge explosion in the early 1990s, when Grant, working as a concert promoter, put on shows for Nirvana, Green Day and Bad Religion, among many others.

In Dirty Windshields, Grant chronicles the band’s booze-fuelled, sweaty, broke and wayward attempts at rock and roll glory as they trekked across Canada, the United States, and eventually, Europe and the Pacific Rim. In their sixteen years of touring, the Smugglers experienced all the highs and lows the road can offer, from playing a gig at New York’s legendary CBGB club to starting a riot in a Denver nightclub to having their performance tuxes stolen in Australia.

Through the fights, sexual misadventures, new friendships, dance contests and mayhem, the band grew up together on the road. Told with Grant’s signature self-deprecating wit, the anecdotes develop into a compelling story of the growth of an independent, do-it-yourself touring band, a community, and a musical movement. So crack open a semi-cold can of Black Label beer, stick a Smugglers tape into the cassette deck and let the good times roll.

Grant Lawrence is an award-winning author, CBC personality, singer, columnist and live event host. He is the author of three best-selling books for adults: Adventures in Solitude (2010), The Lonely End of the Rink (2013), and Dirty Windshields (2017). Bailey the Bat and the Tangled Moose, his first children's picture book, was released in 2021. Grant Lawrence is the first author in the history of the BC Book Prizes to win the Bill Duthie Booksellers Choice twice. Grant is also the host of the CBC Music Top 20, the lead singer of The Smugglers, a Canadian Screen Award winner, and a columnist for the North Shore News and Powell River Peak. He is also a goalie for the Vancouver Flying Vees beer league hockey team. Grant Lawrence is married to musician Jill Barber and they live in Vancouver with their two children, Josh and Grace. Return to Solitude is Grant's long-awaited sequel to Adventures in Solitude.

Grant Lawrence's profile page

• Short-listed, Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award
• Short-listed, Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award - Performing Arts & Music
• Winner, IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist - Performing Arts