The Damn Truth are Lee-la Baum (lead vocals/guitar), Tom Shemer (lead guitar/vocals), PY Letellier (bass/vocals) and Dave Traina (drums/vocals).

Now or Nowhere is the third album by The Damn Truth, a band that, in many ways, has been hiding in plain sight for the last nine years. They’ve played Europe and crisscrossed the USA and Canada, opened tours for ZZ Top (and partied with Billy Gibbons in his pyjamas), the Sheepdogs, Styx and Rival Sons, sold out the legendary Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, sold out the Corona Theatre in their hometown of Montreal, and even had one of their videos featured on the official Janis Joplin Facebook page. It’s a lineage of hard work that’s come to fruition with Now or Nowhere.

With six tracks produced by Bob Rock (Metallica, Aerosmith, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Tragically Hip) at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, Now or Nowhere is a definitive statement about the band, about the times, and about ourselves as we navigate life, love, and everything else in a world gone seemingly upside down and sideways. Unable to finish the album with Bob because of COVID-19 restrictions, the band recorded the remaining three songs with help from Juno Award-winning producer Jean Massicotte (Patrick Watson, The Damn Truth); mixing was done by Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton), Nick DiDia (Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against The Machine), and Mike Plotnikoff (Van Halen, Cranberries, Three Days Grace). It’s worth noting there are three Grammy Award winners on this album (Bob Rock, Vance Powell and Nick DiDia).

“I realize that people see us as a hard-rock band,” singer/guitarist Lee-la Baum says, “and we are, but we’re also, deep-down, rock ‘n’ roll hippies. All those things about being self-reliant, and community, and peace, and love — well, that’s us. That’s who we are.”

As if to reinforce that point, when Lee-la and lead guitarist Tom Shemer first met, they were both naked at a hippie festival not far from the Sea of Galilee (where the Bible says Jesus walked on water). “Yeah, totally naked. Just Lee-La and her guitar,” Tom adds. “And we’ve been together ever since. No pretensions. Nothing to hide. Just love.”

The power of love is the real thread through this album’s musical layers.

– Metal Planet, UK