Rockland-based musician Peter Gallway has seen and experienced much over the past seven-plus decades.

He’s released more than 32 albums, toured internationally and has had his songs recorded by artists including Bette Midler and Kenny Rogers. He’s also an accomplished and prolific producer.

Earlier this year, Gallway released a memoir, “Hardtail Strat: Guitars, Heroin, Songs, and Stories.”

Gallway will play a career retrospective of songs and read from his memoir during an appearance at The Hill Arts on Friday. Everyone who buys a ticket will receive a signed copy of the book.

Born in New York City, Gallway spent his early years in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens. Over the decades, he moved frequently, living in California, Maine, New York and California again. He returned to Maine in 2018, where he currently lives in Rockland with his wife and fellow singer-songwriter Annie Gallup. As the duo Hatcheck Girl, the couple has released nine albums.

Gallway’s memoir, which he worked on for five years, is riveting right from the prologue.

In it, Gallway unpacks a story from the early ’70s about driving down Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles after dropping off his heroin dealer. Gallway crashed his car into a fast-food restaurant. He stumbled into the place to call his roommates and by the time he walked outside, the police were waiting for him.

This sets the tone for the rest of the book as Gallway shares intimate details of a sometimes difficult and sometimes extraordinary life. With vivid descriptions yet an economy of words, Gallway’s writing flows seamlessly from one vignette to the next, with song lyrics occasionally interspersed between chapters.

Rather than a traditional book format, Gallway chose to write “Hardtail Strat” as narrative poetry pieces, making each chapter fairly short.

When he mentions spending time with people like Keith Moon of The Who, Jim Morrison of The Doors, Cass Elliot of The Mamas and The Papas and members of The Lovin’ Spoonful, it’s done so without bragging. These were just people whose lives sometimes intersected with his. But for the reader, it’s thrilling.

Gallway even went out to dinner once with Marilyn Monroe.

“I think it’s colorful and adds something special about my particular story,” said Gallway.

Much of the book tells Gallway’s musical tales.

One such entry is called “Joni and James.” In Los Angeles circa 1971, Gallway ended up at the house of his recording engineer, John Haeny, along with James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. The four of them sprawled out on Haeny’s waterbed to listen to Gallway’s upcoming album, “Ohio Knox.”

The chapter called “Laura” speaks of Gallway’s friendship with late singer-songwriter Laura Nyro.

Laura was our own Garbo,
and she withdrew, as only she would,
to have her son,
and float above the false idols
for whom the rest of us genuflected

Gallway produced the 1997 tribute album “Time and Love: The Music of Laura Nyro” and last year, released his own homage, “Laura (The Music of Laura Nyro).”

“Hardtail Strat” also delves into abuse endured by Gallway and into the depths of his drug addiction. As with the entire book, none of his stories are embellished with hyperbole, but rather with Gallway’s eloquent wordsmithing.

Gallway has been in recovery from his addiction for 43 years, and for a long time didn’t want to talk much about it so as to honor the anonymity tradition of 12-step programs. But his thinking shifted.

“When I was writing this work, there was a critical moment where I thought to myself, ‘What am I gonna do? Am I gonna keep secrets here? Am I gonna tell my story or am I not gonna tell my story?,” said Gallway.

There’s also a companion album called “Hardtail Strat Redux,” that Gallway made with his friend Harvey Jones. Jones, a British musician, uses the moniker Balance Engineer. The collaboration is ten tracks of Gallway reading parts of the book on top of a bed of beats, rhythms and other sounds produced by Jones.

Gallway recently completed another album, is working on tour plans and hopes to release a volume of poetry and follow-up memoir. He’s also writing a musical based on his 2009 album “Manhattan Nocturne.”

On top of all that, Gallway has been a licensed psychotherapist for more than 20 years. He sold a prized Fender Stratocaster guitar to help pay for his degree.

Go to petergallway.com to learn more about Gallway’s extensive discography, live appearances and other news.

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IF YOU GO:

7 p.m. Friday. The Hill Arts, 76 Congress St., Portland, $20 in advance, $25 at the door, includes copy of the memoir “Hardtail Strat.” thehillarts.me.