April 20, 2026
Three big shows and book talk this week!
THURSDAY – John’s playing for the first time at the Art-Is-In Bakery in Ottawa’s City Centre district (250 City Centre Ave. Unit 112.) The show is from 6pm-8pm and the food is great! C’mon down!
FRIDAY – It’s the original Week-Ender at O’Brien’s Roadhouse, 730 Industrial Ave. The HITS!!! and some laughs and stories and other stuff… 6:30-9:30pm. Come for some BBQ!
SATURDAY – The ALLAIRE SHOW at Quinn’s Our guest is Ron Leary! Ron is a Windsor, Ontario–based singer-songwriter known for his warm, roots-driven folk sound and distinctive, gravel-toned voice. His songs often draw on working-class life, history, politics, and everyday characters from Canada’s “deep south” along the Detroit River. A longtime fixture of the Southwestern Ontario music scene, Leary has released several albums—including Dependent Arising (2010), Tobacco Fields (2017), and Musicians Make Great Construction Workers (2020)—and has built a reputation for thoughtful songwriting and engaging live performances.
Quinn’s, 1070 Bank St. Doors open at 2pm. Showtime is 3pm-5pm. It’s a “Pay-What-You-Can” event!
See you out on the weekend!
Don’t forget to climb aboard for the John Allaire Summer ’26 Stay-Cation Canadian Tour! Coming to a venue near you! Tell your friends and family to come out! We need your support!
John’s first novel Motel Matchbooks
Thirty days. One tour. A continent of dive bars, back rooms, sketchy motels, and stories that blur somewhere between insanity and legend.
Motel Matchbooks follows a Canadian songwriter chasing gigs across North America—through late-night highways, last-call confessions, questionable parking lots, and the strange, unforgettable characters that live just off the main road. It’s a world of cheap beer, broken strings, unexpected kindness, and the kind of chaos you only find when you refuse to go straight home.
Written with grit, humour, and a sharp outsider’s eye, this is more than a tour diary. It’s a reflection on music, survival, and the beautiful, unhinged rhythm of aging and life on the road.
If you’ve ever closed down a bar, chased a dream past reason, or found meaning somewhere between the miles—this story is for you.
It’s official — Motel Matchbooks is out in the world.
You can grab it on Amazon, Indigo online, or order it through your favourite local bookstore anywhere in the world via IngramSpark Distribution.
Thank you for supporting indie publishing—and this wild, beautiful story.
Go here for more info on The ALLAIRE SHOW!
Go Here for John’s complete schedule.
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Chosen as opener for Neil Young on his “Love Earth” 2024 Tour
Winner of Americana Music Awards “Lyricist of the Year” – Nashville 2009
Winner of the Toronto Independent Music Awards “Live Act of the Year” 2009
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