THE GREAT RIDE is an entertaining new motor sports driven television series that explores what excites, inspires and drives Americans. Produced by Natural 9 Entertainment, the new series is all about adventure, new inventions, must have products, the hottest designs and trends, it’s a high octane mix of information and entertainment.  “The series is designed for everyone who loves motorcycles, trucks, RV’s, PWC’s, and are looking for great destinations to explore,” says Executive Producer and creator Jeff Androsky .  “We’ve been developing the series for the past two years and now have the perfect partnerships in place to keep the show rolling down the highway.  It’s about freedom, adventure and character… if you love America, you’ll love this show…  and teaming with Rod Woodruff and The Legendary Buffalo Chip instantly makes THE GREAT RIDE a top shelf production.”

2011 is the 30th anniversary of THE LEGENDARY BUFFALO CHIP where the attendance has exploded, making it the number one place to go during the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.  Called “The Best Party Anywhere”, The Chip has hosted legendary concerts featuring Aerosmith, Kid Rock, Ozzy Osborne, Lynryd Skynryd, Toby Keith, Motley Crue and Bob Dylan to name a few.

“We started with a couple of cases of cold beer and some good music, just a little party that’s grown a bit over the years,” understates The Legendary Buffalo Chip owner Rod Woodruff.

THE GREAT RIDE premiers Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 11pm eastern (10 central) on FOX SPORTS NET

If you have a liking for graphic novel comic book style/album cover Rock art then your going to dig this artist who blazes out of New York City. I became familiar with Joseph Hernandez via one of the greatest bands, Type O Negative. Joseph creates everything from album artwork, original one of a kind prints, to rock concert t-shirts, this guy is unbelievable raw genius.

After looking at Joseph’s art for a few years, thanks to facebook I finally could reach out to him. A friend request later and we set up some time to talk.  When we first get on the phone Joe apologized for his rough voice, you see, being a brave New York guy who loves this time of year and embraces it with no jacket or hat when he’s out on the town, always leaves him paying for it with a fever of 103 and a throat that feels like he just swallowed a fire ball and the damn thing got stuck.  No problem for me, I can understand his gravely voice and thick New York accent, being from the northeast this is the norm for me.

As Joe and I talked I learned that he believes his talent for drawing some of the sickest art I have seen has been inherited. As a young kid who grew up with a mom and aunt that had the talent, Joe feels his talent is not a “god given gift” but rather something inherited that he learned how to hone. He’s been drawing as long as he can remember, and recalled an experience at his elementary art club. Joseph was kicked out for not drawing what the others were assigned, he would go off and do his own thing, something that those teachers should have embraced rather than tossing aside.

Growing up with an older brother who played rock music all the time, Joseph took a liking to the genre of music early on. His passion for the music could be pulled out of him via pen and paper. Joseph told me about when he was younger and would re-visit a few stores in Greenwich Village, always staring at the rock t-shirts and album art, posters.  Along with what his brother was into these images were around him daily. He was submerged in them.  Years ago Joseph took out a book from the library on how to draw comics and he never returned it, he still gets nervous when there is a knock at the door, wondering if there is a 10k summons on him for the unreturned library book.

At 31 years old Joseph makes his living working as a doorman in Brooklyn, which actually allows him lots of time to scribble on paper and turn out some of the most intense animated creations you’ve ever seen.

Joseph started working for bands when he was 18, the band “Nothing Left” asked for a drawing of a vamp vixen in a river of blood, the art went over big and more requests started to come in. Always supporting local NY bands Joseph started to do some art for Type-O Negative out of admiration, Joseph posted some of his work on the fan page on the band website and the rest is history. He has designed t-shirts for them along with numerous other bands / clients like; carnival wax, seventh void, otep, death angel, killcode and biohazard. You can see a ton of Joe’s work hanging on the infamous Duff’s in Brooklyn, one of Joseph’s favorite spots.

“I’m always appreciative to see people admire my work on the walls,ceilings,doors and floors of Duff’s, it’s great to see people walking by doing a double or triple take and just staring at it. Jimmy (Duff) has my art hanging randomly throughout the place. It’s almost like a gallery of my work.”  When people comment on how much talent Joe has or how they wish they could do what he can do, his come back is usually humble and he comments how he admires what another artist can do with his/her skill, voice, instrument or the way one can write.

Joseph has recently been focusing on band artwork as well as clothing,advertising and other media, this self-taught artist continues to plow forward and is currently working on some t-shirt designs for his own line “artworx & hardwear”.

As I’m working on this article I just got news that Joseph’s art for the album cover for Seventh Void has just been released, he is also working on updating his website (joeyjamesart.com) where you will be able to get your hands on some shirts of his one of a kind designs. Pay attention to this guy, his talent is endless and I can tell his creations are only going to get more intense.  Check out Joe’s work at joeyjamesart.com

This past weekend tattoo artists from all over the country descended upon the Sturbridge Host Hotel for the Fifth Annual Mass Tattoo&Art Festival.  It was a sight to behold.  Artwork,hand crafted jewelry, contests, live music, sideshow acts, a comedic rapper etc.

A wide array of vendors had their booths set up with merchandise that was just as diverse and eclectic as the tattoos that were being inked. “Pumpkin Pete” from Morbid Creations had his booth displayed with his hand sculpted/painted zombies,clowns & other morbidly wondrous dolls.                                There were dozens of booths,&most were similar in appearance-but each one had its own essence.

Over at Ken Karnage’s booth (Vigilante Tattoo) my friends and I overheard Ken’s detailed step by step instructions on how to get the gnarliest mohawk known to man. He suggested certain products to use, and even demonstrated how to apply the products.  A woman who was going to be a bridesmaid in her friend’s wedding was inquiring.

Eventually we headed over to the booth of “Body Piercing by Rob Hill.” My friend wanted an upper ear piercing.  It was a long wait and a long process, but the end result was worth it.

As we made our way thru the crowd, toward the stage of “The Lucky Daredevil Thrillshow” (which I will elaborate further on in a moment, saving the best for last).  A newly inked tat caught my eye.  It was a portrait of Charlie Sheen tattooed onto someone’s leg, with “Winning” in a banner beneath it.  The detail was amazing.  I’m sure Chuck and his “goddesses” would have approved.

Now onto the highlight of this event. The aptly titled “Lucky Daredevil Thrillshow”-which consists of the very beautiful “Dominatrix of Danger” Thrill Kill Jill, and her husband the charismatic ringmaster Tyler Fyre.  From the moment they stepped out onto the stage, they had the crowd (myself included) in the palm of their hands. Tyler has a knack for making the insertion of knives into ones nasal cavity seem effortless. He followed that demonstration up with swallowing not one, but two swords. Simultaneously.

Audience participation is an element in their stage show. Thrill Kill summoned an audience member up onstage to assist Tyler in extracting  a sword he had just swallowed.  Soon after Thrill Kill commanded the stage.  As you can see from the pictures, snake charming is her specialty-but she also swallowed her share of knives&swords.  If you were standing within ten feet of the stage, you may have felt the heat wave generated from the massive fireballs Tyler was repeatedly spitting out into the air. Plumes of black smoke floated up into the rafters as everyone stared at him in complete and total awe.

“The Lucky Daredevil Thrillshow” isn’t really a “show.”  It’s more of an EXPERIENCE.

As is this entire event.  I highly recommend checking it out next year, and every year thereafter.