Hedras Ramos

Hedras Ramos
Ramos (middle) in London, England
Background information
Birth name	Hedras David Ramos Velasquez
Also known as	Hedras Ramos
Born	(1992-02-03) February 3, 1992 Guatemala City, Guatemala
Genres	progressive rock, progressive metal, heavy metal, hard rock, shred, instrumental rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, Guitarist, guitar instructor
Instruments	Guitar, bass, piano, drums
Years active	2005–present
Associated acts	Kansas, Whitecross, Die Toten Hosen, Switchfoot, Christopher Lee
Website	hedrasramos.com

Hedras David Ramos Velasquez (colloquially: Hedras Ramos) (born February 3, 1992 in Guatemala City, Guatemala) is a Guatemalan multi-instrumentalist, specializing in guitar. Throughout his career he has opened for popular bands such as Kansas, Whitecross, Die Toten Hosen, and was chosen by Axl Rose to open for Guns N' Roses on their "Chinese Democracy" show in Guatemala.^[1]

Biography

Music career

Ramos began his musical career at age 6 by learning to play the drums. It wasn't until 2005 however (at age 13) when Ramos became interested in learning guitar. He typically practiced 7 or more hours every day, even playing up to 12 hours a day during vacations from school.^[2]

Entirely self-taught, Ramos pushed himself hard to master the guitar and on December 15, 2009, by the time he was 16 years old, he had composed and produced his first instrumental album New Sounds. Following this release was his instrumental Christmas album The Holy Gift of Shred which became available for purchase in November 2009.

Between writing and producing albums, Ramos began to play and compete in guitar contests in different areas of the globe. On June 16, 2009, he won second place at the Guitar Idol competition (a world-wide event held in London, UK in which undiscovered guitarists compete online for a chance to play at the London International Music Show). On September 18, 2010 Ramos won second place at another world-wide event held in Bucharest, Romania called the Ziua Chitarelor 3.

In 2011 Ramos released his third instrumental album Atoms And Space, his biggest release of all three, which featured solos and guest performances by artists like Jennifer Batten (former guitarist for Michael Jackson), Andy James (guitarist), Billy Ashbaugh (former drummer for Greg Howe, 'N Sync, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Pat Benatar),^[3] Muris Varajic (keyboard) and Sergey Boykov (keyboard).

Ramos' father Hedras Ramos Sr., formed the Latin-jazz band BlueROJO and played the Antigua Jazz Festival. Ramos Jr. joined his father's band in 2010 and they have played a number of shows together.

In 2011, after guitarist Richie Faulkner left the project to join Judas Priest, Ramos agreed to take on all guitar work for Sir Christopher Lee's heavy metal album Charlemagne: The Omens of Death (2013).

Endorsements

On February 13, 2011, Rock Band released a new game featuring Ramos and the single "Insanity of the Atoms" from his third album Atoms and Space.^[4] On September 2 of that same year, Rock Band released another game featuring the single "Stellar Crash", also from Atoms and Space.^[5] Both games are currently available for Xbox 360 users and are not yet rated.

Ramos endorses a number of other products including Halo Guitars' Hedras Ramos Signature Guitar which was designed specifically as a signature product for him. At age 17, Ramos became an endorser of Dean Markley guitar strings^[6] and later Multisonus Audio.^[7] During the year 2012, Ramos became one of three Latin-American guitarists to be fully endorsed by Xotic (a company that produces guitars, basses and effects pedals).^[8]

Discography

• New Sounds (2009)
• The Holy Gift of Shred (2009)
• Atoms And Space (2011)
• Charlemagne: The Omens of Death (2013)

References