03 | Au Naturel

OCSPLORA Volume 03 was published in March, 2013. It is about a folk-singer starting a record label, about the journey coffee takes from bean to beverage, about four friends backpacking the Appalachian Trail, and about the most unnatural sandwich that has ever been invented… in prison.

Contents

Dan Cloutier: Folk Hero “When you’re a solo independent artist, the first thing most people say is, well you need a record label to do anything. So [we] decided to make our own record label.”

The Story of Coffee: Ripened Cherry to Roasted Bean “The oppression continues today as the price for coffee on the commodities markets swings wildly, a price most often controlled by what the large coffee purchasing giants are willing to pay.”

Bad Luck and Good Times on the Appalachian Trail “We stood shoulder to shoulder in front of a giant rock, looking clean and shiny, grinning from ear to ear. ‘You guys are just starting today, aren’t you,’ he sort of asked, sort of stated.”

The Ramen Sandwich “When money is tight, which it often has been for me, I reach for ideas. I reach for resourceful ideas to eat and have fun. I learned this sandwich from my old boss. He learned it in jail.”