The Great Outdoors

Hello again music fans,

Yes, dammit - I know. I am fully aware that summer is already half over and just now are the kids in THE GREAT OUTDOORS getting around to releasing Summer, the second in their series of four seasonally themed EPs. And while I am sure all you tight asses back east are going off about how those west coast stoners at DDG Records have probably been partaking in so much smoked salad that they can’t even get their shit together long enough to get their releases out on time, let me just say this in our defense: You couldn’t be more wrong. We haven’t been smoking any weed. Just hash.

But that’s not the only reason THE GREAT OUTDOORS are a little late releasing their Summer EP; it has been an unseasonably cold June and
July out here on the coast. And what with all this chilly weather, it was pretty hard to wrap our heads around a release of four songs celebrating cool car rides through the hot city, sweaty nights rolling in the surf, and reective trips through the sun-baked cemetery while ballpark reworks explode in the distance.

But alas, we are now ready to rock for the heat has arrived. (The heat of the sun, that is, not the pigs. Good thing, too, ‘cause we still got a ton of that hash lying around here somewhere.) Adam Nation (vocals, guitars) is back with the sweltering line-up of Randy Forrester (guitars, keys), Craig McCaul (bass), Steven Wegelin (percussion), and Steve Wells (vocals, guitars) to deliver what may be the band’s nest work to date. With Nation and Wells penning two hits each, songstress extraordinaire Melisa Devost adding some lovely back-up singing to all the tracks, and Kingsway’s RC Joseph even lending some of his vocal goodness, Summer has denitely shaped up to be an EP well worth the wait.

So keep your druggie/slacker comments to yourself. DDG Records gets its releases out on time (for the most part). We got THE GREAT OUTDOORS’ Spring EP out on time, and we will redeem ourselves with the timely release of their upcoming Fall EP. So just relax, sit back, crack a cold one, and enjoy the smooth sounds of Summer. And I think I will do the same. Now, if I can just remember where I put the rest of that hash…

Shine on you crazy diamonds,

Jon Raw
Owner, DDG Records

Press Reaction For Spring (2008)

“The Great Outdoors comes in like a lion with Spring EP” QRO Magazine
“Spring accomplishes everything The Great Outdoors were seemingly going for on an EP about a season we all know and love. Now, if it's not too much to ask, bring on summer.” 30 Music

“… now that I have heard it, I can say with complete honesty, it was worth the excitement. It may only be three songs, but this EP packs a punch, a crunch.” The Late Greats

“There is a simple, gentle yet urgent beauty to the three tracks that make up the EP that captures the renewal and rebirth of its namesake season.” Ick Music

Press Reaction For Food, Booze and Entertainment (2007)

“This project from Vancouver’s Adam Nation is so intimate and undeniably Canadian, it’s easy to close your eyes and feel the rocking chair underneath you, the heat of a fire on your face, and a merry – if slightly disorderly and dishevelled – group of friends crowded into a living room studio recording the 11 folky songs on the album." The Vancouver Sun

"Food, Booze, and Entertainment comes off as one of the more compelling folk-pop releases to come out of Vancouver in quite a while. That’s saying something” Discorder (Vancouver, Canada)