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AEROSMITH’S JOE PERRY ROCKS THE BASEMENT ON SOLO SET:

March 9, 2005

NEW YORK (Billboard) – Aerosmith (news – web sites) guitarist Joe Perry didn’t have far to travel when it came time to polish the material on his upcoming self-titled solo set.

Instead of flying across the country or even driving to the other side of his Boston home base, he simply walked down the stairs and flipped on the lights in his basement home studio, the Boneyard.

“Part of my process for writing is, I like to go down and cover other songs just for the hell of it, just to see how they come out,” Perry told Billboard of the set, which was largely a solitary endeavor.

“That’s one of the benefits of having a studio at the house,” he said. “There’s nothing like being able to just go downstairs and get the guitar sounds I have in my head to come out of speakers and get them on tape.”

The new album, due May 3 via Columbia, blends relatively recent compositions such as “Shakin’ My Cage,” “Lonely” and “Push Comes to Shove” with new versions of old, never-completed ideas. Perry said the closing instrumental, “Mercy,” has been around in some form since sessions for Aerosmith’s 1993 album “Get a Grip,” while “Ten Years” was written “about 10 years ago for my 10th wedding anniversary, as a present for my wife. I never really planned on anybody hearing it other than her.”

Also featured are covers of Woody Guthrie’s “Vigilante Man” and the Doors’ “Crystal Ship.” Perry said of the former, “It’s a tip of the hat to one of the most important musical figures of the last century, in my book anyway. Hopefully somebody who doesn’t know Guthrie will hear this and explore, or grab one of his records.”

The artist recorded enough material that he was left with several extra tracks he hopes will form “the backbone of another record. I will definitely put out another solo record after this one. I’m not sure when, but I’d like it to be more sooner than later.”

With Aerosmith set to reconvene in late summer or early fall to plot its next move, Perry admitted that a full tour in support of his album is “out of the question.” But he said he “may ask a few friends to sit in with me on a few dates to promote the record. It would be some guys I know that would play the s–t out of the stuff and be able to knock it off pretty quick.”

Courtesy of www.billboard.com