UPCOMING SHOWS
SILVIES, CHICAGO - DATE TBA
March 15th show at Silvies will be rescheduled. Stay tuned!
BIOS
CHRIS HERMAN - GUITAR
Born in a tiny mountain village in another century and raised by strangers whose chinchillas bathed in fine volcanic ash, his American Indian name is "Man who walks without casting a shadow." Read all 7 volumes of In Search of Lost Time on his bumpy CTA bus commute over a period of several years. Only two of the above items are true.
Picked up guitar at age 11 and found himself drawn to exploring a certain corner of the idiom with like-minded persons...that should not discourage you though, because he eschews wankery ( as much for reasons of taste as because of technical limitations)
Random Favorite Ravorites: We could direct the reader to an FB page...but that would seem so cold (as Quentin Crisp would say: "I can't explain, you'll just have to come over and see my baskets."):
"Vincent Ward, Susanne Bier, Anders Thomas Jensen, Jonathan Glazer, Montgomery Clift, Patricia Highsmith, Gentle Giant, Jean Carries, Proust, Isabelle Huppert, The touching lyrics of the Byrds, 5th Dimension, XTC, Oppenheimer, Odysseus, Jesus and John Lennon (the big 3)." OK, so what?
ROB HERMAN - BASS GUITAR
Rob Herman, aka Skitz Phrenic, aka Sven Herman is a member of the original punk band "The Mentally Ill" , featured in the Documentary "You Weren't There".
After playing several times at the annual Hamer fan club jam sessions, Rob and his brother Chris joined forces to create Hedgehog and the Fox.
Core to the creative writing team with Chris and Ned with his superintuitive approach to the instrument, melody, feel and texture
Rob plays a 12-string Hamer bass and is several inches taller than his brother and consequently, a better human being.
CHRIS AVGERIN - DRUMS/PERCUSSION
Drummer, percussionist extraordinaire, popper enthusiast and musical omnivore. Chris has played in an absurd variety of bands; So far he's outlived most of them. They include: "Heaving Mass", "Blood of the Tyrant", "Lost Dog", "Killer Moon", "Soul Power Trio", "Under the Sun", "Miss Autopsy", "The New Quartet", "Mantra Blue Free Orchestra", "The Lost Cartographers", "Belleisle", "Brief Candles" "Nequient", and probably a few more. Shocked the hell out of me when he told me his favorite band was the Grateful Dead (you'd never know)...so I conclude he has hidden depths.
Chris is an indefatigable teacher of drums and percussion lessons. People think he's pretty good at it. People even pay him to do so. If America's youth turn out to be terrible musicians, blame Chris.
Chris is also a monster of reflex movie quotations: Once I asked that a studio microphone be moved in nearer to his high hat and I said it in a sing song like Hannibal Lechter: " Clo-ser" and Chris responded almost faster than thought by saying: "That expires in one week".....which was literally the next line from the script.
NED BABB - GUITAR
Ned studied classical guitar and has an ungovernable appetite for powerpop and for the inner workings of vintage tube amps (it's a closed society...like talking with bridge players assuming you don't play bridge). Ned and Chris H played together back in college days in a band appropriately called PinMoney and reconnected recently after one of the semi- legendary Hamer Jams at the now defunct Excalibur. A living fountain of musical ideas for which I thank the gods everytime we get together to write.
Miscellaneous biographical tid bits:
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During his time as an LA gun, his massive flaxen hair arrangement dwarfed his Dakota Red Strat
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During his misspent youth Ned spent a few years at a school near Highclere Castle.
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Played on one of the recent solo records of Mimi Betinis (of Pezband fame)
ROBERT SCHAFFNER - EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Bob is an intense audiophile of whom it is said that he actually used to buy albums in highschool on reel-to-reel tape. Of course how would I know that since he's at least 10 years younger than I am.
*This means he would stop the tape to point out where John Bonham dropped a drum stick.
Having gotten out of touch for a few years, Chris ran into Bob and his bride in front of the Park West...where they were both going to see Adrian Belew and they got talking. Bob provided the encouragement to assemble Hedgehog and the Fox.
A great friend and colleague of the band, who has prevented Chris from making numerous mistakes (like naming the band: "The Chicago Chamber Rock Trio"), his mom had the best treat drawer in the world...including those dry little crumb cakes shilled by Anne Blythe.