The transition from musician to author wasn鈥檛 a difficult one for Vince Ditrich, whose artistic pursuits have always run the gamut.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been writing 鈥� not seriously, but constantly,鈥� said Ditrich, 58, who spent 30 years behind the drum kit with 91原创 folk-rockers Spirit of the West. 鈥淚t was always something I wanted to do. It鈥檚 a massive bucket-list accomplishment.鈥�
Ditrich, who lives in Nanoose Bay, crossed 鈥減ublished author鈥� off his wish list with The Liquor Vicar, his debut novel. The book follows the exploits of hopeful musician Tony Vicar, who never quite made it in the business but becomes something of a celebrity after saving a woman from a near-fatal car accident.
Ditrich wrote it over a period of four years, and drew upon personal experience in spots. He took liberties 鈥� such as calling a 91原创 rock group, Old Man Smell, and naming a Seattle act Marrakesh Espresso 鈥� to protect the innocent. 鈥淭here are threads of things that happened to me 40 years ago in there,鈥� Ditrich said.
The book takes place in the fictional town of Tyee Lagoon but is set on 91原创 Island, one of many real-life remnants scattered throughout the book. Vicar is equal parts anti-hero and saviour, identifiable character traits of many musicians he鈥檚 met, Ditrich said with a laugh.
鈥淟ittle quips and little quotations, and bad hairdos from the 1980s, all these things I鈥檝e kept in my mental scrapbook. I bust all of these things into shards and reassemble them into this book mosaic.鈥�
He loved working on the book with editors and confidants, which helped him find his voice as a writer. But writing is an oddly isolating experience, Ditrich said, especially when compared to his time with Spirit of the West, who favoured a democratic approach.
Even-keel notwithstanding, Spirit of the West was led by two strong-willed frontmen, Geoffrey Kelly and the late John Mann, which meant Ditrich often could only watch in awe 鈥� even though he was the group鈥檚 manager, and moonlighted as the writer behind the majority of the band鈥檚 promotional material.
In writing the book, Ditrich felt 鈥渁n incredible sense of delight and cosiness, because it was all me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 made all the decisions, I didn鈥檛 have to say, 鈥榃hat do you think, guys?鈥� There was no asking permission to abandon things and circle back to them later. It was liberating.鈥�
The journey to bring The Liquor Vicar to life wasn鈥檛 without its struggles. Ditrich began working on the book in 2016, around the time Spirit of the West came to an end, but news of a matching kidney donor (Ditrich had been battling health issues for years) led to a kidney transplant three months afterward. He took a year off to recuperate.
鈥淚 was next to dead,鈥� Ditrich said.
Writing became his therapy. He looked to several friends for guidance along the way, including filmmaker and author Pete McCormack (Facing Ali), who filmed the band鈥檚 2015 performance at Massey Hall in Toronto, one of their last with Mann, for the acclaimed documentary, Spirit Unforgettable. It was McCormack who suggested that The Liquor Vicar be written in a way that it could be easily adapted to TV, according to Ditrich.
He signed a three-book deal with Toronto鈥檚 Dundurn imprint, the second of which is already written and slated for release next year, which explains why the cautionary tale comes to a close on a foreboding, open-ended note. Tony Vicar will be here to stay, for the immediate future, Ditrich said.
鈥淭he whole goal behind this is to have a world that becomes really appealing to people and have them buy in.鈥�
Which begs the question: How much of Vince is in Vicar? He was always the wildcard in Spirit of the West, one who often eschewed pants during performance and was fond of singing the occasional Dean Martin in concert.
Perhaps it is a question that needs no answer. 鈥淚 have one of those personalities,鈥� Ditrich said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not an act I鈥檓 putting on. I鈥檓 a very valuable person to have at a stiff party.鈥�
