Bear World Playlist Featured Artist: Vincent DiGeronimo
This week’s Bear World Playlist Featured Artist is Vincent DiGeronimo!
#1 Song on Top 21 of ’21 Playlist: “Chocolate and Booze”
Current City: The Bronx, NYC
Hometown: The Bronx, NYC
Bear World Magazine: What can you tell us about the song?
Vincent DiGeronimo: At the beginning of the lockdown, sometime around April 2020, I was very much in my feelings about everything going on in the world (much like everyone else). It felt a bit like the world was ending (hello hyperbole) and I wanted to write about that but it turned more into a love letter to my partners, Steven and Anthony. We may have eaten a little too much chocolate and imbibed a little too much booze, but who wasn’t coping in their own way? If everything did end — I knew love and felt loved by them.
BWM: Who are your musical heroes?
VD: Paula Cole, Ingrid Michaelson, Ani DiFranco, Beth Hart, Judy Garland, Grace McLean, Jason Robert Brown, Jeanine Tesori — sorry, that’s a lot!
BWM: What’s a specific behavior or trait you love in men?
VD: Kindness. True, genuine (not performative) kindness.
BWM: What’s a really fun thing to do on a date?
VD: I love getting a drink and seeing a show (theatre, concert, comedy, movie) to discuss after.
BWM: What other songs were you rooting for in the Bear World Top 21 of ’21?
VD: I’m gonna say Homer [Marrs]! He introduced me to this playlist and invited me to participate. Billy Porter because, hello, it’s Billy Porter singing one of my all-time favorite holiday songs. I worked with Freddy Freeman some years ago, and he’s such a kind and talented guy. Chauncey Dandridge has a song, “Soldiers of Love,” with Ven Hechter — Chauncey is such a love; I’ve gotten to perform at the legendary Stonewall Inn thanks to him.
BWM: If you could collaborate with any LGBTQ artist, who would it be?
VD: Oh goodness — just one?? I believe Paula Cole identifies as bisexual. On an Instagram post she referred to herself as “the silent B in LGBTQ.” It would be beyond my vocabulary to describe what it would be like to work with her. There are so many fantastic LGBTQ+ artists I’d LOVE to work with: Brandi Carlile, Ben Platt, Alan Cumming — such a hard question!
BWM: Do you have any live dates on the calendar?
VD: Not yet — hopefully in 2022!
BWM: Any new songs or videos on the horizon?
VD: My latest album, Nine/24, came out this past Sept. I would like to put out another single from that album (maybe a video — but I’m terrible with that stuff). A friend of mine, fellow LGBTQ artist, Aris, is putting out a new album in January and I co-wrote a song with him and I’m on that. I’d like to start writing in the new year. I have some ideas and directions I’d like to go in … we’ll see. 🙂