11/13/07:
Been a little out of the loop lately. Got married in October - so obviously have been busy with other things the past few months. It's been a blessing and I'm excited about living the married life. The album is coming along great and is really picking up steam now. Waiting on vocals from a couple of people, and cuts from a certain DJ, and we'll have a large chunk of it done and ready to start seeing what we can work up in regards to distribution. Stay posted and patient -- it's on it's way!

07/16/07:
Finished recording a song with some Toledo-area emcees. Really loving the sound we got on this and the combo of voices so I couldn't resist and posted it on our myspace page. Found my 3 favorite emcees from the Toledo area whose voices I thought would compliment each other best and came up with "Have Mercy". Features Lagik (Da Basix), Emmaculate, and Gutta Dave.

06/24/07:
It's been a year since Luke's death. Went over to his mom's house today for a cookout. Was nice to get together with friends and family to reminisce a little.

Progress on the album is coming along slowly but surely. Have a few amazing vocals that I've heard, but haven't received the data tracks yet so I can start mixing! A lot of great things are in the works, just taking awhile to get the materials from people involved.

01/24/07:
Listener has released a new album entitled "Talk Music". theNaturalists have produced a track on the album called "I Have Nothing But Attention When I Scream" that we developed with Toledo artist Jordan Powers. Check out the song on our myspace page.

Find out more about Listener.

06/26/06:

To anyone who doesn't know, Luke Nostrant, 1/2 of theNaturalists, was killed in an auto accident early Saturday morning. He will be terribly missed, but we have many great memories to look back on that keep us smiling everyday. Information about the memorial service will be posted as soon as it is available. Thanks to everyone who contacted me with their condolences, prayers, and well-wishes....it means a lot.
~ Ryan

01/26/06:
Posted up brand new videos and photos of Blackalicious, Zion-I, Ohmega Watts, Athletic Mic League, and MC Habitat! They're all in the "Members" section of the site. Just go there and sign up for our e-newsletter to get the password to access all these goodies. There's also footage of performances by Mars ILL, LA Symphony, and Listener in there as well.

01/10/06:
2006 is here and we're kickin it back into gear. Got some work set up for some other projects that I'll keep hush on for now until the projects have been pressed and confirmed. Our album is coming along great, we have quite a few new songs that should be wrapping up soon. Check out our events section and see what's going on (let me know if there's any shows in the area I'm not aware of). Make sure to meet up with us at the Blueprint/Asylum7/Security (OneBeLo & Majestik Legend) show at the Blind Pig later this month.

We also have some great footage of Blackalicious, Zion-I, Athletic Mic League, and Ohmega Watts live in concert. It'll be added to the "Members" section soon. I'll let you all know when that hits.

12/15/05:
Getting into the Christmas spirit around here. Because of massive work and personal obligations, we decided to take it easy for the rest of the year, and get ready to ramp up for the New Year! Hope everyone has a good Holiday and look forward to making more noise in '06!

06/03/05:
Hey what's up everyone? Kickin myself right now for not being able to make it to the Vast Aire/CRayz/J-Live show tonight. I really wanted to get out there tonight. Oh well. Updated the Collaborators section. Been recording some new songs for the album as well as working with some local producers on something. Let ya'll know when it gets to be that time. Also, glad to find out that Specialist Geru is back in action and ready to get back on the scene, so we'll be working with him. In the meantime, hit up our forum, hosted by HHFTS, and let us know what's up.

04/07/05:
Tax time is counting down! Wow, I got hit pretty hard this year. Anyways, got a ton of new shows added to the Toledo Events section. Anything you see highlighted in yellow means we'll be there so make sure you come over and say hey if you see us. Got several more artists confirmed for the collab album. We'll keep them under wraps until the time comes, but trust me when I say it's gonna be hot!

02/22/05:
Have some videos of us hanging out with Pigeon John, RedCloud, and DJ Wise at the Toledo Zoo up on the "Media" page. Also have some concert footage of Mars Ill (just this past summer as well as back to '02 when Raw Material was the only release) up in the Member's Only area. So sign up for that to catch Mars Ill live and uncut!

02/14/05:
Found out about a ton of great shows coming to the area this Winter/Spring. Check the events section to find out when to see Atmosphere, Gift of Gab (lyricist in Blackalicious), Lateef, Aesop Rock, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Pigeon John, Living Legends, J-Live, Blueprint, Illogic, K-OS, and Scribbling Idiots all coming in March/April. Hit us up if you're gonna be heading out to any of these shows and we can link up.

Speaking of the Events section, it's been re-tooled a little for easier navigation. It's more integrated with the rest of the site, so feel free to link to our Events pages from your site to keep your visitors informed on events in the area without having to do any of the work.

As far as us, we've been recording some turntabilsm from D-Pad, as well as continuing to network with other artists to recruit some more talent for our as-of-yet-untitled upcoming Collaboration Album.

01/27/05:
Fixed the formatting so Mac users should now have no problems viewing the site. Look for Ryan and Luke at the Hangar 18/One Be Lo show at the Underground in Toledo on Feb. 15th. Will also be at the One Be Lo/Brother Ali/Blueprint/JUICE show at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor on the 16th (for more info hit up the Events section). Hit us up on e-mail and let us know if you'll be there....we can connect.

01/20/05:
Welcome to the Official Home of theNaturalists, hip hop producers from Toledo, OH!!

Sorry it took so long but we've FINALLY overhauled the site. It should be much easier to update now, meaning content will actually stay up-to-date from here on out (fingers crossed). I apologize in advance to any MAC users as you've already noticed there's some formatting issues that will be taken care of shortly, just wanted to get what we had up as soon as possible.

We have so much going on right now. If you don't know us, browse through the site to learn more. Don't forget to sign up for our e-newsletter (we won't bomb your mailbox I swear!) in order to get the password to the Members Only area. There's all sorts of goodies for you to get your grubby hands on coming soon to the Members Only area including videos of theNaturalists, Pigeon John, RedCloud, and DJ Wise hanging out at the zoo; as well as footage of performances by Mars Ill, Listener, and LA Symphony. Stay Tuned and keep in touch!