www.markweigle.com

"Gay is good", certainly - but "gay" does not necessarily equal "talented". We know talent and honesty when we hear it and Mark Weigle’s third CD album "Out of the Loop" continues to prove that he is abundantly supplied with both these qualities and deserves to be part of your CD collection.

Mark said he’s been asked, by straight musicians on the small-club circuit in the USA, if he isn’t limiting himself by concentrating on "all this gay stuff"? Mark replied that "boy/girl" angles had been done to death and that there was a whole world of material to express in song about gayness.

As a 19year old Mark was a long-hair lead singer in a heavy metal band and he had a huge crush on Judas Priest’s (now openly gay) vocalist Rob Halford. So he has a broad appreciation of musical styles, besides folk/pop/country – and he knows the foibles of gay lifestyles.

He also knows the pressures we face to measure up to unrealistic expectations. In his full-bore dance track "Love Your Body Like It Is" he reminds us "You are not your dick, my brother…You are the body you were born with, You are the soul you make yourself." All gay men need this mantra.

"Out" is a beautiful song Mark performs in posthumous duet with Steven Grossman’s original and rare 1975 vinyl recording. It’s a song that greatly empowered Mark as a young and closeted gay man. (Steven Grossman died of AIDS related illness in 1991)

"I Remember" is a more current update on how AIDS affects gay men as combination therapies offer the hope of a normal life expectancy, while recalling lovers lost when such hope was slim.

Mark lives in Vallejo, California with his partner Daniel and "Blue Eyes To Brown Eyes" speaks of what he’s learned about racial issues in relationships. The not-so-hidden "Hidden Live Track" is a loving and unflattering dedication to Daniel. He says that in spite the attractions other men might have, "I’m happy with your sense of humour and your capacity to put up with my shit". If Mark is as easy to live with, as his music is to enjoy, then I think Daniel must be doing just fine.

I can heartily recommend Mark Weigle’s earlier critically acclaimed CD’s ("The Truth Is", "All That Matters"). Hear samples from each CD at http://www.cdbaby.com/group/markweigle.