Hectic Red Classic Rock Website Updates

We've added a gorgeous new video player on the 'Hectic Red' website video page! You can pick your own 'Hectic Red' video selection, or just start with the top video and the rest of the current 'Hectic Red' videos will play in automatic succession. If you would like to listen while you work on the computer this is a nice option. To celebrate, we added two new videos from the vast 'Hectic Red' library! 'Bodhisattva' and 'Angry Young Man,' which are both fan favorites! 

Go enjoy the best classic rock musicians in the Mid Atlantic area! Nobody does it better! Next year 'Hectic Red' will be celebrating 25 years together with same four guys! No other classic rock band in the area can make that claim. These guys are tight!

We shortened the audio visual page by adding a different smaller music player. The sound control is now placed inside the amp under the robot. The photos in the slide-show on this page are really fun. I had an awesome time rocking out cool photo-shop effects while listening to the Hectic Red audio. I hope you take the time to watch the slide-show I put together. 

The audio clips are from a live show in Frederick Maryland at Baker Park and the sound is taken directly from the soundboard. I love this soundtrack so much I have my own CD of the concert. You can really hear the quality of Hectic Red's four-part harmonies! Right now I am listening to Hectic Red's clip of 'Don't Fear The Reaper!' Soooo good! You can also let this page play behind your online workspace.

Since discovering this tiny music player, we have also decided to add the music player to the Hectic Red Fan page, and the Hectic Red Retro page. I love how the new tiny audio player fits right into the graphics of each page. With this player you have the option to jump to the next or previous song, as well as muting the sound.

I love designing promo and taking photographs for the bands and projects that Ben Sherman is involved with, as I feel like I have married the perfect muse! You cannot go wrong when you are designing for the best of the best!

Getting Wiggy With It... At Honfest

We've got your 'Hons'... and they're right here in Bawlmer Merlin Hon!  There is a fantabulous phenom in Baltimore called 'The Hon'...  

She was made famous by Baltimore film maker John Waters in movies like "Pink Flamingos," "Polyester," and the original movie and eventual Broadway hit "Hairspray." Hon is short for the term of endearment 'Honey." Which is what I usually call my own hubby... as in "Hey Hon, whatcha doin' Hon!" 

The fab 'Hons' we are talking about here are the big bold B'more ladies with mile high beehives and a big helping of friendly sass.  

The more gaudy and covered in baubles n' baggage, well...the better for shopping and walking 'downy avenue' in Hamden Hon! Must be where Marge Simpson got her good looks. 

If you get the feeling that the Hon is a very revered woman in Bawlmer you may be correct. For the Bawlmer Hon is celebrated every year at the Honfest in kitschy hot pink flamingo style!  The Baltimore neighborhood of Hamden becomes a colorful streetfest full of those loveable tacky trashy 'Hons!' Everyone is invited to join in the fun!

 
This is one of the most wacky wonderful festivals you could ever attend! If you are a people watcher, this is surely hot pink n' purple paradise for you! Smiles fill the air...as well as pink flamingos!

The Honfest was started by Denise Whiting owner of the 'Cafe Hon' because the annual contest for the 'Best Baltimore Hon' at her restaurant became so gosh darn popular!  Below is the iconic fixture of Hamden's 'Cafe Hon'... "Big Pink!" You gotta love it!!!

The 'Cafe Hon' is a mecca for Hon lovers. In business for 18 years 
I think they know their Hons! So you can go learn more at the Cafe Hon web site which is chock full of info... on... well...Hon-ness!
 

You will find Hons both young and old dressing in this fab gear garb. The look is: colorful sixties, some sparkle, some trash, some blue eye shadow, a tower of hair well encrusted with hairspray, and a mad dash of Elvis for retro snazz. So join in and get wiggy with it!

If you need help getting your 'do' piled high, they got you covered in the foo-foo gorgeous 'Glamour Lounge' right on the avenue Hon! Relax on the sofa, and be one with the Hon you know you are!
 

This funky festival has lots-o-foodie treats, live bands, and Hot Hon glam supplies for your inner child's dress-up-pleasure. The contest for the 'Best Baltimore Hon' is still a highlight of this weekend event and here is this years reigning Queen! Isn't she lovely?

 
One thing you need to do before you come to the Honfest is to learn some Bawlmerese. Then you will understand the locals and street signs like the one below. Oh and that's Denise on the nifty sign with her pal big 'E.' They are keepin' it real and tellen' ya where to go!

Let's check in with the magic of this Honfest video just to learn a few more tips about looking 'bootiful' gals! You know you are going to have fun while you stroll 'downy avenue' in your hot pink feather boa and cats eye shades! Because "youz is lookin real purdy now Hon!"

Oh there is my hubby with our pink smoothies getting flocked! 

Aowyn was out wandering amongst the flamingo's too, and was a bit startled by the pink plastic goodness. She was not quite sure if the pretty in pink birds of this Flamingo Land were real or not!

'Hectic Red'... the absolute best Baltimore Classic Rock Band were at the Honfest! Whoo Hoo! Does not get any better than this Hon!

Everyone of all ages loves classic rock...even Hons! Take a listen to Hectic Red Live on this video and you will see why I have been a fan of those Bawlmer boys for 23 years!

There's the hubby again... the fantabulously talented Ben Sherman doing his amazing guitar thing! Yes... he is the man and my King! 
Am I lucky or whatttttttt??!!!

The Honfest Volunteers were rockin' to Hectic Red and giving them the thumbs up! Everyone young and old is dancing and moving!

Rich Filbert enjoying the energy of the Honfest crowd!

Hons were observed gathering near the big red machine!

Danny Grim was giving a shout out to the Hons, and suddenly there was a rainstorm in the middle of the Hectic Red show. The crowd came back from their shelters fifteen minutes later to sunshine and more great classic rock! Everybody is happy and dancing with joy!

To open the rain delay second half, the Hectic Red guys sang their own tribute to the Bawlmer Hon. They tickled the crowd with Bawlmerese accents to the very appropriate song by Queen, "Fat Bottom girls." (Sound is distorted by the fan's cell phone being next to the speaker stack...view the You Tube of that moment here.)
 

John Suchy wearing the Hon pink and wowing everyone with his keyboards, guitar and vocals.

At the end of the evening the crowd began chanting and flickin' their bics requesting an encore please!...and another!

Two encores were enticed by the Honfest crowd and Hectic Red gladly filled the requests. So everyone left into the sunset of the evening at Roosevelt Park and 36th Street in Hamden quite happy Hon!

I got in on some Hon action to celebrate the Baltimore Hon, and designed a line of clothing and merchandise for the Hectic Red store at Shermanator Gear 2. Now you can go get your Hon on too!

This past weekend Hectic Red's gig had a Halloween contest included. As synchronicity would have it, the winner was a little one who had asked her mommy to buy her a Hon wig while at this years Honfest. That beehive wig was almost as tall as she was! Her purse is made from labels of the local brew 'National Bohemian', which in Bawlmerese is called a "Natty Bo." Forget the Twilight crowd on Halloween...this girl was a Bawlmer stylin' Hon... and won!

 So ends this super pink Honfest post.... 
I hope you enjoyed your experience......... Hon!

Credits: Frames: Coffee Shop Blog's Vintage template pack from kpauli flicker, First Hectic Red Group Photo elements: Itkupilli - Test sheet items, Random Alpha - Deviant Scrap/Holliwood Studios

New Hectic Red Videos Uploaded

Compare and contrast these two new HR video uploads of the Genesis cover "Turn It On Again."  The same song is performed by Hectic Red.... with 20 years between videos! Amazing! One of the long time HR fans comments on You Tube that 'Hectic Red' is like fine wine that grows better with age! So true! Drink up the goodness!





HECTIC RED Band is - Danny Grim on vocals, bass guitar and Moog bass pedals - John Suchy on vocals, keyboards and guitar - Rich Filbert on vocals and drums - Ben Sherman on vocals and lead guitar. At 'Hectic Red' events you will always find musicians from other bands in the audience. On 'their night off' it's 'Hectic Red' they come to see! The Hectic Red guys really appreciate the closeness of the community of musicians in Baltimore, and are very grateful for their continuing support of Hectic Reds' commitment to excellence in musicianship. After 22 years they still enjoy playing!

Music is the great communicator and it is an honor to share that resonance with everyone ...now ...LET"S ROCK!

Interesting Note: It was The Painting Queen that shot the video twenty years ago of Hectic Red! This was her only time videotaping a band. Remember how the clunky old video equipment back then was strapped to you while you held the large camera. 
All in all...Not too shabby. Someone get this Queen an awesome new digital video camera! haha! The Recher Theater performance was videotaped by Paradigm North Studios.
 

New Hectic Red Website Launch

The new Hectic Red web site designed by Crystal Visions Art is up and running! Now fans and newbie's can enter the Hectic Red Universe and understand why The Big Red Machine still keeps rocking after 23 years! They're the best Classic Rock Band in the Mid-Atlantic area! Never been to a HR Concert? You need to experienced Hectic Red Live! Get the schedule info on the new HR web site!

Hectic Red has always been grateful for the longevity of the band and their fan base! This website project was a labor of love for them! Every page is a handcrafted piece of art that represents the fun atmosphere of the band and the coolness of their music. Representing the 60's.70's n' 80's, the look of the artwork is funky retro fun. Plus you can follow the famous Hectic Red High Tops as they travel across the web site. There is a special page for the long time fans, and a retro page filled with photos of the band in the eighties for the true believers! Plus sound clips, live video and photos.

Ben and I are a team with a mission to do things to the best of our current abilities. So we are very excited to share our completed creation and get some feedback. Thankfully Ben is the wizard of code figuring out how to get the web site working in all browsers. Internet Explorer is the one that wreaked the most havoc on Ben as we uploaded each new page. I recommend people use Mozilla Foxfire which is a browser who is compliant with code. Yuk to IE for causing so much trouble with the easiest of tasks. All nasty little glitches were caught and conquered!

I was in Photoshop glory making the images for the web pages and the "Hectic Red Lounge" Audio Visual Theater Room. Every new thing I learn explodes with valuable knowledge for the next project. Yea Deke! Since I am the band photographer I have a ton of photos to play with in Photoshop and try out the new techniques. Learning new stuff is awesome! I hope everyone enjoys their trip into the Hectic Red Universe! Enjoy The Big Red Machine Live!

Shermanator Gear 2

When you combine an artist/designer and a professional musician together what do you get? Why lots of Music Merch of course! In this day and age that means an online store filled with music themed products we design ourselves. In the continuing creative effort to bring our fans more merchandise choices we have opened a new fan store at Zazzle called Shermanator Gear 2. I am excited to be designing even more items for 'Hectic Red', Ben Sherman Guitar, Music Teachers and creating new designs for Ben's other musical projects as well.


create & buy custom products at Zazzle

Currently we are researching more online companies to possibly add to our online store Empire. I have to design some product, test their interface, and purchase something to check the quality. You can be sure that we are on the look out for the coolest shhhwwag we can get!

Guitar Gods in the Mist

Today was dark and dreary. The kind of day where you can't motivate yourself to do much. A hot soup and warm bread kind of day. A day where you wish you could just sleep all day. The first day I don't have my little Binx for daycare and I should be accomplishing something! The King went out into the misty gray day feeling the same. He left trying to revive himself for teaching his guitar lessons and gig later tonight. I like to attend as many of Ben's gigs as I can, and be supportive of what he does. Tonight I could not get it together and decided to look forward to tomorrows acoustic gig closer to home. I miss him while he's out there working in the foggy damp evening.



Last night was fun. Even though it was a rainy ride downtown. I was just one of the guys going to see the new movie "It Might Get Loud." A documentary on the electric guitar viewed from three icons of different eras of rock. Jimmy Page. The Edge. Jack White. Riding with Ben and his musician friends was really enjoyable as it was time spent with the true believers. Loving music and creation... Music and memories... Music fills your life! We had a conversation on the ride home about the first time we heard Led Zeppelin. The memories colored our lives with excitement. We still felt the pounding rhythm and we road the emotional riffs. A big smile. A wink and a nod. Yes! Those sounds still carry the magic today! Music communicates.

Watching Jimmy Page in this movie was mesmerizing. It's the same way I look at Ben when he plays electric guitar. I cannot take my eyes off of him. Jimmy Page is fluid. Moving. Creating. Letting the source of it all out and through his fingertips. There should be a two hour very intimate documentary on Jimmy Page alone. He shines. Long silver locks, long cool looks, he charms you with the twinkle in his eyes, sly grin, and his lifetime of tales to tell. Jimmy is the Master Guitar God of Rock and you want him to share all the sparks. I need more of him! Please someone make an amazing Jimmy Page documentary!

Trying to get through this evening and get to work on some long standing projects. Still I am thinking about my Guitar God out there playing his hand made acoustic guitar called "El Nino" to tonight's crowd. I miss him and look for some photos I have taken of Ben playing his trusty old electric Strat. I found a file I have not looked at since I shot them on the Fourth of July Celebration in Frederick, Maryland. These photos are of Ben performing with Hectic Red.



These superb musicians have been playing ultimate classic rock for over 22 years together. Tight and powerful with incredible harmonies. This video is 'Hectic Red' at The Recher Theater in Towson during their 20th Anniversary Show playing the Dixie Dregs version of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir! If you watch it you will see I am not exaggerating on just how good Ben, Danny, Such and Rich play classic rock!

'Hectic Red' is how I came to meet the King...through my love of live music. I was out in the crowd watching his every move. Feeling every riff. Already connected to him. His guitar strings had wrapped me in the sure feeling that Ben was my destiny. Ben's spirit called to me through his electric guitar... I felt the emotion of a thousand lifetimes...the spark of soul and spirit from his musical vibrations. We were meant to share this love of music together forever.

My favorite thing about these photos is I can see the Kings wedding ring! That is so cool. I love it! It is 2:50 AM. Ben just got in from the gig. Gotta go meet him at the door as he carrys in his Guitar.