GROUNDBREAKING NEW ENGLAND BASED HIP-HOP/ROCK DUO CRGRUVE MAKES EVERYONE INCLUDING SIR RICHARD BRANSON OF VIRGIN FEEL NAUGHTY AND NICE Craig Handley and Ramone Jones, the multi-talented musical Portland, Maine based visionaries who collectively vibe as CRGruve, could do a lot of boasting that most emerging hip-hop duos only dream of as they roll out their eight song debut EP Naughty and Nice. The duo counts among their growing legion of fans billionaire Virgin CEO Sir Richard Branson and bring unique individual resumes to their infectious, rockin’ sound. Jones was key part of Ill Natural, a neo soul hip hop group that opened gigs for Snoop Dogg, Digable Planets and Ghost Face Killa. Handley was a college vocal major who got back to making music after establishing himself in the marketing world as CEO of two multi-million dollar companies. They’re managed by Big Paul Tui'vai, a famed music industry exec who recently won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award and has worked with Lil’ Wayne, Akon, Nelly and Boyz II Men. Their tracks have received close to a half million plays online at sites like Jango, Grooveshark, NumberOneMusic.com, MySpace, Last.FM, and many other online properties. But if you ask CRGruve, none of that matters if the listeners aren’t feeling all Naughty and Nice as a new era of hip-hop/rock fusion begins. For those who haven’t yet heard fun and accessible, sonically groundbreaking hip-hop/rock tracks like their wild and danceable trademark “Trolling For Slop (Last Call)” or their provocative, sassy love ballad “MILF,” Handley (vocals) and Jones (rap) like to describe their sound as a little Linkin Park or Nickelback with rapping like Lupe Fiasco or the Black Eyed Peas. With a full length album currently in the works, Naughty and Nice officially qualifies as a teaser, but there’s still so much to latch onto. “Trolling” is reason enough to get on board with these guys, but there’s also the crunch groove driven, flute enhanced “Water” and Spanish laced romance “Senorita.” Most hip hop groups streamline their appeal totally for the kids, but CRGruve gives a shout out to the older but still in the game "guys", who may qualify to be “FILFY” (Fathers I’d Like to Freak”). Then they go celestial on the sensually cool “Lunar Dance.” Once they’ve got the song structure down, CRGruve’s creative process in the studio begins with Handley coming up with a piano line and Jones writing beats and a simple melody. Then they hand it off to a dynamic team of L.A. based studio musicians that are part of Boombat Productions, a Timbaland caliber production team that’s worked with Nelly and Toni Braxton. Handley’s influences range from alt rock to rap and R&B while Jones complements his hip hop background with his love for his hometown Chicago jazz and blues. The two first met when Jones was working a day gig at the massive call center where Handley was CEO. One time, they traveled together for business, and over the course of a several hour car trip, they wrote five songs. They knew immediately that this was a perfect musical match. “We come from different backgrounds, but we share a powerful passion for music, which is a great form of expression for us and allows us to be our true selves,” says Jones. “By mixing rock and rap, we’re making a claim on our own niche, having some fun and doing something a little different. The foundation of everything is our great friendship. We play basketball together and our kids are all friends. We personally have both been through some hard emotional times, so music was a way for us to heal a bit and find a comfort zone for ourselves. We have a great time writing songs that are both accessible yet really push the envelope, and it’s fun sometimes to step over boundaries on songs like ‘MILF’ and see how people respond.” CRGRUVE has a unique performing history thus far, with a standing gig at the Adult Video Network (AVN) convention in Las Vegas complemented by upcoming shows at MEANY Fest at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC (September 25) and the Exotic Erotic Ball in San Francisco Oct 23rd and 24th. CRGruve has also been selected to play in Paris at the Urban Festival in 2010. Thanks to Handley’s marketing savvy, they have also hooked up unique sponsorship deals with companies like the male enhancement product Vazopren. There’s also a philanthropic side to the duo, as Handley is part of a group of marketers who have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Richard Branson’s Virgin Unite charity. Handley and Jones recently wrote a song called “Run Tellman Run” for a man named Tullman Knudsen, who is running barefoot across the country to raise One Hundred Million Dollars to stomp out teen homelessness. “We’re definitely as creative in our marketing efforts as we are on the music side,” says Handley. “The key is always to help people on an emotional level through music that touches their hearts and inspires them to think about the world they live in