He says he loves the title of his book because it sounds like a famous song. But it isn’t – it just came to him. As a little boy (and he was tiny, growing up) it was music that set him free from the mundanities of everyday life. He was brought up in a working-class family in Ardwick Green, Manchester, by Irish Catholic parents who were also mad about music. His father, “a strong, brooding presence”, laid gas pipes in the road; his mother, one of 14 children, cleaned at a hospital. There was nothing unhappy about his childhood, but there was something stultifying about suburbia. “I was looking for something – transcendence.” He looks embarrassed. “That sounds a bit pretentious, but common transcendence that everybody can relate to. I really like the word free. It has a sense of energy, and idealism, which I’ve always felt.” - [The Guardian]

Johnny Marr's autobiography, Set the Boy Free, is out this week in the UK and will be out November 15 in the U.S. With a lot of ground to cover -- in addtion to The Smiths, Marr spent time in The The, Modest Mouse, Electronic, The Cribs, Talking Heads, The Pretenders and more -- it should be an interesting read. You can check out an excerpt from the book, where he and Morrissey briefly flirted with the idea of reforming The Smiths in 2008, over at The Guardian. It's available to preorder now (the audiobook is read by Marr himself, by the way).

Marr will be in the U.S. this month for a short book tour, which hits NYC on November 15 at Gramercy Theater. Presented by The Strand bookstore, Marr will be in conversation with Ian Svenonius and tickets come with a copy of the book. The stop in Portland (where Marr lived for a while) will be with Fred Armisen. You may remember Johnny was on an episode of Portlandia. That scene, and all of Marr's book tour dates, are below.

In other news, a track from Johnny Marr's pre-Smiths band, Freak Party, has just been released as a single. The group also featured The Smiths' Andy Rourke as well as Simon Wolstencroft, who would go on to spend 11 years in The Fall. Wolstencroft found the old demo which has now been spiffed up with new vocals added to it by Angie Brown and addition guitar by Craig Gannon who played in The Smiths briefly. You can hear a snippet of "Firefly" below.

Johnny Marr - 2016 Book Tour

Tuesday, 11/15

Gramercy Theatre with Strand Bookstore

7:30pm

In conversation with musician Ian Svenonius

Wednesday, 11/16

The Vista Theater with Skylight Books

4473 Sunset Drive

Los Angeles, CA 90027

7:30pm

In conversation with KCRW’s Jason Bentley

Friday, 11/18

Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

3200 California Street

San Francisco, CA 94118

7:00pm

In conversation with San Francisco Chronicle music critic Aidin Vaziri

Saturday, 11/19

Powell’s Bookstore

Cedar Hills Crossing

3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd

Beaverton, OR

4:00pm

In conversation with Fred Armisen