The Damn Truth hail from Montreal and in the last couple of years they have been making something of a stir in the Rock & Blues communities. This latest single is released to launch their UK tour in July.
Lead singer Lee-La Baum has a huge voice, twangy with a fabulous sharp edge and the band - Tom Shemer (guitar), PY Letellier (bass) and Dave Traina (drums) – mix Blues and heavy rock with Zeppelin-like punch. The song comes about after a fire trashed the band’s van and most of their belongings including all their acoustic instruments and personal belongings. They started a GoFundMe campaign to try and rent a van to take their trailer with all their stage gear home to Montreal. However, in the words of LeeLa “24 hours later there was an incredible amount of money in our account. It was enough to buy a new van, clothes, and rent the gear to continue our tour. It was the beginning of our love affair with the incredible hearts and souls that make up our rock n roll community.”
After the tour, they went back onto the studios and one of the numbers they had was an acapella number called ‘Needs Help.’ “It was just an acapella vocal line because, after the van fire, which was the way we were playing it on tour. It was an ode to our fans that saved us from being lonely and stranded on the highway.”
It hasn’t stayed as an acapella number and it’s become something of a monster Psychedelic Blues stomper. I’ve probably played it around a dozen times and every time I find something I hadn’t spotted before. One of my favourite singles this year.
Tickets for the band’s July headline concerts are available from TheGigcartel.com. The Cold Stares will support The Damn Truth at London O2 Islington Academy 2 on July 21st. Empyre will support the band on all other dates, except Sheffield Greystones on June 30th, where support will come from Zac and the New Men and Tessio. They play London, O2 Islington Academy (July 21), Shoreham Ropetackle (July 22), Blackpool, Waterloo (July 23), Leicester Musician (July 25), Buckley Tivoli (July 27), Leek Foxlowe Arts (July 28), Steelhouse Festival (July 29), Sheffield Greystones (July 30), and Milton Keynes Stables (August 1).
