Greg Hudson of Woobie Bear Music (website - articles - profile - photo) Freddy Freeman (website - articles - profile) recently had an interview with Go Rainbow Radio. Listen to it here. He talks about the future of Bearapalooza and you can also hear his music. And while you're at their site, you can also check out the interview Greg had with them. Go Rainbow Radio is aired Monday on Radio Gay International Network on Monday nights and on 3D Radio in the UK on Thursdays.

Truly the best looking hip-hop rapper on the planet - Bigg Nugg has some bigg news. First off, there's a lot of links to check out so here goes (website - YouTube page - MySpace page - PlanetBears articles - TubeBear profile).

Now for the news - Nugget is going to release his sophomore album on September 2nd. It's going to be called 'Nugget Volume I' and it's an album about self-love, confidence, empowerment and growth. "The album is the fifth release for Nugget Audio, run by Bigg Nugg. The album features production by MC Envy, Chill, Tori Fixx, Malo Music, as well as Bigg Nugg". It's been in production for a year and a half and he feels it's ready for the masses.

From Bigg Nugg: "I really wanted to focus on putting out the highest quality album, that everyone could enjoy. The album is full of club tracks you can dance to... it's sexy and it's fun. I've been through a lot the past two years, and it is evident on this album. All I could do was translate my experiences through music".

Bigg Nugg has been featured on various blogs such as AfterElton.com to 365Gay.com. His music has received airplay on stations from Pittsburgh, PA to Houston TX, and was featured on Bear Tracks 4 at Woobie Bear Music (website - profile). Bigg Nugg was also reviewed in A Bear's Life magazine. 'Nugget Volume 1' is available on GayMusicUSA (as a pre-sale) and it will soon be available through all digital distribution outlets.

Push Button For (MySpace page) is a new collaboration between the main songwriters from the bands ing and The Bobbleheads. Their music is available on iTunes, Amazon, and CD Baby. "The brainchild of the main songwriters from San Francisco rock bands The Bobbleheads and ing, Mark Smotroff and John Ashfield have previewed the first new tracks and fans on both sides of the fan base are giving the duo two thumbs up". 

Russian artist Alexei Biryukoff (website - articles - profile) has a new out album to add to his incredible list of music that he's created. It's actually the soundtrack to 'Tamara and Demon' (cover) ~ a 20 minute 3D cartoon by Nikolai Aladinskiy and Petr Bobryshev of St. Petersburg, Russia. The album is available for free to download here from his site (and, all is music is available for download right here). The cartoon will be available on YouTube soon.

This isn't Bear related but it's fun. I guess you have to like Nine Inch Nails for this... however... Trent Reznor has made his latest album called The Slip free for everyone to download. From their site "thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one's on me".

Trent Reznor has been showing a trend lately of placing music online for free. He 1st started doing this with the production of Saul William's 'Niggy Tardust' (article here) and then with his instrumental album called 'Ghosts I-IV' (article here). Free music, you can't go wrong.

Press Release: "On June 24th '08, RoadWorm Music will premiere the latest release by openly out, crystal-voiced, folk/pop crooner Ron Morris (website). 'Truth Stained Lies' investigates the nature of truth on eleven melody rich, folk infused pop songs and marks Morris' third RoadWorm release, and his first time in the producer's seat.

"Truth is slippery. It's created through the stories we tell ourselves about what happens in the world", explains Morris. "Truth Stained Lies is a collection of the stories that I tell myself (and that others tell me) about who I am, what I'm scared of, what should happen, what did happen, why it happened, and on and on and on. We all face these questions. Identity. Perspective. What is fact, what is fiction? Believe what you will. There's a little bit of truth in all of it… and a fair share of lies".

Morris' first full-length studio CD in three years is sure to make his fans very happy, as well as capture the attention of new enthusiasts. From the punch of the electric guitar on the title track to the nuanced acoustic 'March On', Morris explores a diverse musical landscape that highlights the character of each song while maintaining the intimate storytelling that is a hallmark of his previous recordings. "With Truth Stained Lies, I took the producing reigns for the first time. I wanted to sculpt a sound that reflected the range of the stories being told without losing their simplicity", said Morris.

Ron's first two albums, 'Speak True' and 'Boyfriend and Other Sides of Love', have been featured on National Public Radio's This Way Out, Sirius Satellite Radio, MTV's LOGO Network's New/Now/Next and numerous local and regional radio programs. His first video, Boyfriend, reached the Top 10 of LOGO Network's The Click List.".

The Bears on the Run (TubeBear PROprofile) tour was meant to take off tonight in Toronto, however the hairy husky musicians and comedians were stopped at the border. From their website: "Our apologies, Toronto, the Bears Of Toronto, and to anyone planning to come to the show at The Barn tonight. We were not allowed into Canada. We needed certain work permits and documentation that we didn't have, and they didn't let us pass the border. Lesson learned, and we will continue to move forward with the rest of the tour as scheduled. So, that being said, if you are in Toronto and were planning on coming to the show tonight, we would love to see your smiling faces at the show in Buffalo tomorrow night (April 10th). If you bought advance tickets, refunds will be issued ASAP. If you bought advance tickets and would like to attend the show in Buffalo, your ticket will be honored at Hallwalls tomorrow night".

Make sure to check out their site for their east coast tour dates. Each of the links mentions where they will be playing, what time as well as a map on how to get there. Also make sure to check out their ongoing video logs they have been posting.

About a month ago, I mentioned that Bigg Nugg (website - MySpace page - TubeBear profile - articles) and his compatriots were gearing up for their upcoming Unity Tour. This show is about to kick off in a couple of weeks.

Now Bigg Nugg is stating that he and his troops are in need for some fuel sponsorship money. They need to raise $500 so they can make their Seattle and San Francisco show a reality. If you would like to promote them, email Bigg Nugg or contact him by calling (877) 497-3762 (extension 1). It's even better if you can make their show. Check out this promo video (and a little PS here - Bigg Nugg signs his emails as Nugget... now that is just too cute... and Bigg Nugg is a truly cute Bear Cub Snuggly Nugget... ok I will now stop with the cutesy stuff).

Greg Hudson (TubeBear profile) of Woobie Bear Music is informing us that there is a special right now on all Woobie Bear Original releases. CDs are $10 with free shipping within the USA Shipping charges apply to outside USA). Check out the following links to hear song samples and order - Global - Bear Tracks Vol II - Bear Tracks Vol III - Bear Tracks Vol IV - and also Triple Play Vol I.

Also make sure to tune in every Saturday night on Bear Radio to listen to the Woobie Bear Music Dance Party. To keep up with their latest news, go here.

Lastly, Greg is informing us that he is starting a great newsletter which they will be emailing out twice a month. So far they have 2000 people who have signed up and if you're interested in receiving this newsletter, then all you have to do is email Greg.

His name is Roger Baptist and he's part of a band called Rummelsnuff. From their site they state that their music is considered Elektropunk which to me sounds a bit like a watered down version of Rammstein - but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Actually, you cannot but help keep your eyes on this massive 'bodybuilder gone Bear' singer. It's all in German and I can't understand a word but from I read he sings about power in the wrestling ring, the men on the high seas and the Schwerstarbeitern underground (which I have no clue what it is since the translator didn't do it's job). You gotta check out his videos, especially if you dig seeing a huge guy in the ring butt naked, in the shower, or from I can tell coming alive from a fountain to become an executive. I love his videos, this guy is great and his band is a ton of fun (they also have a MySpace page).

Thanks to Perdido for the word-up about this big brute singer (website - blog - Bear Degeneration - articles - TubeBear profile).

Greg Hudson (TubeBear profile) of Woobie Bear Music has informed me that the latest Kendall (website) album called 'Making Love to the Radio' is now available to download for $7.95 from his site here (and make sure to check out Kendall's YouTube page - and watch how Bears go woof).

Visit the Woobie Store where there's a ton of great music to discover and you can purchase songs for under a dollar which is very cool. And make sure to keep up to date by tuning in to their news page which is updated quite a bit.

His name is Geoff but when the sun goes down and people come out to dance the night away he's known as DJFrantik. He's from Connecticut, he's 26 and he's been DJing for 2 years now, mostly playing around the New England area. He spins medley mixes of mainstream house club music and Techno/Euro trance. He's done a lot of internet shows and he used to have his own web radio at Rgin.com.

He's trying to get out there to the clubs and bars to show people what he can do. You can check out a few of his demos from his MySpace page, and he's also sent us a demo which you can either listen to or download (it's 139mb so if you're going to just listen then give it a bit of time to load up). Also make sure to check out his TubeBear profile page. He's made a video there which you can watch and man does he ever have a soft manly voice. So smooth.

This is not Bear related but it's what I would consider interesting internet news. Trent Reznor of NIN has been trying to change how music is spread - 1st with his release of Saul William's CD Niggy Stardust (which Trent produced - article here) and now with his very own compilation entitled Ghost I-IV. He has made Ghost I available to download - either pay him $5 or grab it for free (from his site or via torrent).

Now it might be easy for him to give away his music because he's a mega superstar musician, and starving artists cannot afford to make music and just hand it out for free, so I don't know what to say about that ~ however whether or not you're a fan of making music free, a lot of people already know about torrents and how to share music (Wiki #1 - Wiki #2), so what Trent is doing is simply following a trend, but it's a good trend. Also, a buddy of mine said that musicians make more of their moneys from concerts and not CD sales, so what Trent is doing is a truly ingenious way to market himself.

As for the Ghost I-IV - it is going to be 36 songs and he's made the 1st 9 available. I'm listening to it now and it's nothing like NIN. This new music does not compare to Trent's previous stuff however most of it is easy to listen to and it will sure to appeal to those who were never a NIN fan to begin with... oh and it's only $5... or it's free... you decide.

This good looking man is becoming a serious candidate for being the most prolific musician out there. His name is Jeff aka Flipping the Pig and he has produced yet another excellent CD... and what's equally incredible is that his whole CD is available online for you to download, as well as the 4 other CDs he has produced (including some songs that were not added on any of his albums).

His latest CD is called My Heroic Cadences which was released on leap day ~ February 29th with 10 songs. The CD was done in relation to a challenge from rpm.com (the 'challenge' was to complete 10 songs or 35 minutes of music in 29 days). I have just downloaded and I've only listened to a few tracks, but I know I'm going to like this because I really really dig Jeff's music, so much that I have asked him if I could use a few of his tracks for an online show/movie that I am working on which is going to be called Bob 'n Roger. When will this show will be done and ready for release, I don't know, but maybe I should hire Jeff to produce it - the guy works at lightning speed, and it's all so professionally orchestrated as well. Go on over to his site and start downloading.

From Bigg Nugg (website - MySpace page - TubeBear profile): "The GLBT community is incredibly supportive of independent arts. We invite you to consider a new event on the GLBT music scene that brings the exploding new genre of music called gay hip-hop. The Unity Tour 2008 is a homo-grown, national gay hip-hop tour. The main goal of the tour is to bring people together using the power of gay hip-hop. The tour will bring together everyone in the GLBT community during a night of great music and entertainment. This April, Bigg Nugg, is taking his message out to the streets once again with DaLyrical and Unecc. The trio will be traveling the US, bringing their diverse and unique brands of entertainment to gay bars and gay-friendly establishments throughout the United States".

I just got a nice little surprise in my snail mail box. It was a mini DVD from the uber cute band known as Ing (website). The following is from their website: "For those of you who like watching your videos on a bigger screen than YouTube, we have a new three-inch mini-DVD available over here at CDBaby. The disc features full resolution, 48-khz/24-bit fidelity PCM audio (so it sounds real good!) and includes videos for 'Dove' and 'Not Dead, Not Dying'".

In other news, looks like Ing are working on some new tracks, and Mark is working on a side project with singer John Ashfield (website) and something is due out in a few weeks.