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Vince Ditrich spent 30 years as the drummer and later manager - of the hugely successful band Spirit of the West.

After a life of music on the road, Ditrich turned to writing, and in 2021 he released the first of three novels entitled the Liquor Vicar. The lead character Tony Vicar is from Tyee Lagoon, a fictional Vancouver Island town.

鈥淗e鈥檚 a failed musician, he always had dreams of great to grandeur, but he was not able to achieve anything. He just wasn鈥檛 sufficiently talented and he always held the dream,鈥� said Ditrich. 鈥淪o many of the guys I鈥檝e known through the years, they still have the same hairstyle they had when they were in Grade 11. Same pants, hearts of gold and wonderful guys but they just can鈥檛 let go of that.鈥�

The second book, The Vicar鈥檚 Knickers, is named after the pub that Tony Vicar has opened and is home to an interesting and colourful cast of characters.

The author recently signed an agreement with Sugar Skull Films and together the two are actively pursuing a broadcaster for a television series for Tony Vicar and his cast of characters.

Ditrich has not retired from the music biz completely. On this edition of Today in BC, he offers listeners of the podcast a track that he recently produced for Travis Matthews, son of Gordie Matthews, guitarist for k.d. Lang and Ian Tyson. It鈥檚 an original song, entitled 鈥楧iamonds鈥�.

鈥� If you have suggestions or comments, send a voice message to and you may be part of our audio podcast mailbag segment.

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