JUNO nominee Rockers all set for their August date at The Chester Live Rooms
Chester Live Rooms are preparing to welcome back to their stage Canadian Rock band The Damn Truth, following a four-year gap and an incredible rise in the band’s status during the interim.
Having been nominated for Rock Album of the Year with their fourth album, The Damn Truth, the Montreal quartet have been enjoying a relentless round of touring to rave reviews from audiences and media alike.
The band – Lee-La Baum (guitar/vocals), Tom Schmer (guitar), PY Letellier (bass) and Dave Traina (drums) – are busy on the road. However, husband and wife Lee-La and Tom take the time to speak to me from Northern Italy about all things The Damn Truth, touring the European festival scene before supporting the legendary Europe on their own upcoming Final Countdown 40th anniversary tour, and the decision to not listen to everything they’re advised.
“We’re so, so happy the album has been so well received and that doors are opening so we can play these shows,” Lee-La explained. “If you’ve seen our shows, you’ll know that’s where we really shine, on stage, and we are elated to be able to bring people together and experience our music.”
The band is nothing if not busy. “We are currently at the Poderone Blues & Co. Festival, alongside Keanu Reeves’ band, Dogstar,” Tom enthused. “It’s such a beautiful place to be. We managed to fit in a day’s vacation, after travelling from a festival in Holland, to enjoy the
scenery, swimming in the lake and this festival itself, before heading off to Lake Como to play there.”
“Festivals are so much fun,” Lee-La added. “Playing outside, in glorious weather, it’s just fabulous. Recently though, in Spain, we played outside where the weather had been glorious. Right up until the moment we had to step on stage and then it poured and poured with rain. We had to delay and delay, but eventually we got on, and it was just incredible.”
The Juno Awards are Canada’s premier music awards, equivalent to the Grammys or The Brits. Having been nominated, the band were customarily suited and booted for the occasion. “We arrived, did the red-carpet thing, drank champagne and felt like aliens,” Tom laughed. “We were basically the only rock band around, you know, and it’s how under-represented our category or genre of music is. We play to thousands and thousands of fans across Europe and America, yet the so-called ‘Music Industry’ seems to turn away. So, it was a big moment for us to represent ‘Our Kind’: Our Kind of fans, Our Kind of vibe and Our Kind of music to those who might not otherwise get it.”
“It was also kind of awkward because we’re very much not a suit-and-tie kind of band,” Lee-La laughed.
Despite not winning, being nominated is an impressive sign of the band’s progression. “It’s a bit of an uphill struggle in the music business, and everything takes time. What separates us from some of the others, I think though, is that we really love what we do. It’s a real calling, for us.” Tom said.
“It’s all about the connection we feel every night,” Lee-La added. “You get hooked on it. We give everything but, also, get so much from it in return. It’s a great experience for us to be on stage, making people who come to see us feel happy. It’s a lot of fun.”
A ‘fifth member’ of The Damn Truth might be legendary producer Bob Rock, who has developed the band’s sound on this and their previous album, Now or Nowhere, so that both incorporate a very ‘live’ feeling. “You don’t get to work with some of the biggest bands in the world, Metallica and Bon Jovi for instance, without knowing what you’re doing,” Tom smiled. “He’s a genius. He obviously knows everything about sound and gear and so forth. He also understands the human condition. He understands us as a band, what we’re trying to say in music and lyrics. Sometimes it’s hard to disconnect the playing part and the listening part, and I think that’s where Bob really shines.”
“When we are together, in one room,” Lee-La responded, “we really want to get across some of the energy and excitement of our live performances, and it’s great to hear that we have been able to capture that with this album. Bob believes that feeling cannot be faked; you just must get out there and do it.”
Songs such as current single The Willow and previous tracks such as Devilish Folk have a mythic, mystical vibe to them. “I love it when songs come organically,” Lee-La explained. “Tom will come up with a riff, and I’ll just say whatever comes to mind and we, as a band, will build on it from there. Some of what I say might be gibberish, but the tone or the melody or the phrasing of the song might be there, which grows naturally. Then I’ll sit and think about what it is I’m trying to say, so we often write the lyrics after the melody or phrasing is already in place.”
“The fun songs,” Tom says,” are the ones that take three minutes. The ones that you’ve composed in the shower. Songwriting needs to be hard, because often songs come from a hard experience or something that’s not easy to talk about. It’s always amazing to hear from fans who say a particular song resonates with their personal experiences.”
“We may have written the songs with a different interpretation to the fans’,” Lee-La adds, “but what lifts the room is their feelings for the songs. It’s their take on what we’re feeling that’s so, so gratifying.”
So, now their star as is in the ascendancy, what’s the best piece of advice The Damn Truth have been given? Tom does not hesitate. “I don’t know about the best, but I can certainly give you the worst piece of advice, in all honesty, and we are given it almost every single day: change.”
Lee-La agrees. “We are always being told to change our appearance, because I guess we come across as quite hippy-ish in the way we dress, or our style: “Why are you doing ‘Classic Rock’? Why not give it a more modern spin or more … whatever?”
“Everybody has an opinion on how we should be,” Tom says, “especially as your team grows. The problem is so many bands sound the same today, you know, and we don’t want that. It’s hard not to be like the current big thing, but it’s much more important to be true to ourselves: to be unique. That would be my advice to anyone starting out: be true to yourself.”
So, with this in mind, it is time to ask Lee-La and Tom which album they would take with them on their desert island, to play for all eternity.
“For me it would have to be Joni Mitchell’s Blue,” says Lee-La, without missing a beat. “That record, oh my God, it’s so profound. The sensitivity, the vocals, the melodies, the songs … it’s the complete package for me.”
Tom’s choice is different, but outstanding. “Abbey Road. If I’m on a desert island, all by myself, I’d want an album full of songs for every mood. If I want to rock out, there’s Come Together, if there’s a mellow moment, there’s Something. There’s a song for every mood on that album, and you can listen to it repeatedly but feel something different every time.”
The Damn Truth are playing The Chester Live Rooms on Friday, August 28th. “We are always excited going back to a place where we have been well received,” Lee-La smiles. “It’s really heartwarming to meet up with people, to see the familiar faces of those who have followed us around from place to place. It’s just incredible and we, as a band, are so grateful to everyone who comes out and watches us play.”
The Damn Truth are playing The Chester Live Rooms on Friday, August 28th
UK Dates
August.
28 Aug – The Live Rooms, Chester, UK
29 Aug – Stonedead Festival, Newark, UK
30 Aug – Nightrain, Bradford, UK
September 2026
01 Sep – The Globe, Cardiff, UK
02 Sep – Cavern, Exeter, UK
03 Sep – The Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes, UK
04 Sep – Bear Cave, Bournemouth, UK
06 Sep – The Waterloo Music Bar, Blackpool, UK
WORDS: Chris High.
IMAGES: Blackham / Martin Brisson / Simon Green
VIDEO: Sven Vande Neste