Aerosmith still the priority, but Perry flying solo right now

There's no such thing as a permanent vacation for Joe Perry.When Aerosmith was forced to cancel its tour last summer -- including a Winnipeg date in August -- after vocalist Steven Tyler fell off a stage in Sturgis, S.D., Perry got back in the saddle and hit the road with the Joe Perry Project.

"I knew I wanted to take the band on the road. I was burning to play and record, especially with these guys," Perry says over the phone from Aerosmith's Boston rehearsal space, where his current band was rehearsing for its Canadian tour with Mötely Crüe and Airbourne, which hits the MTS Centre Friday (tickets are $39.50 to $99 at Ticketmaster. A two-for-one deal is also being offered for some tickets).

Perry's new album, Have Guitar Will Travel, was recorded in 47 days prior to the aborted summer tour when Aerosmith's recording plans fell through. He has dates with the JPP booked until the end of April with the possibility of more to come.

The Project though, is just that, a side project. Handling lead guitar duties for Aerosmith remains his No. 1 priority and fans should expect to hear more news about the band as the year goes on, he says.

"Right at this minute we're talking about getting someone to fill in for Steven for as long as it takes. That's about all I can tell you. I really don't know any more than that," Perry says.

"Right now we're contemplating another singer because we want to work. He's getting himself back together, from what I understand, and he's said he wants to do some solo thing. I don't know what his end is, but I know we want to keep Aerosmith going like we did when Tom (Hamilton, bassist) was sick and there was a couple of weeks when Brad (Whitford, guitarist) was sick and we brought somebody else in.

"It's Aerosmith. It won't be Aerosmith like you saw them last year, but it will still be Aerosmith,"

Even Perry has had his outs with the band he helped form in 1970. He left the group in 1979 for five years and established the Joe Perry Project. The group recorded three albums before Perry returned to Aerosmith. The band, known for its members' hard-partying lifestyle, sobered up and became even bigger than it was in the 1970s with hits like Dude (Looks Like a Lady), Rag Doll, Janie's Got a Gun and Love in an Elevator.

Perry wrote more songs than Aerosmith recorded over the years, so when it became apparent last year that the band wasn't going to finish making a new album, he finished the unused songs, wrote some new ones and revived the JPP.

"I play everything for Aerosmith and what doesn't get picked up and used off the top, I take and use for myself. If it doesn't hang with the 'Smith, I save it for the Joe Perry Project," he explains.

"A couple songs on there have been around for 10 years. Do You Wonder? had been written for an Aerosmith record. It was on deck for three Aerosmith records. It never got lyrics, so it never got used."

The JPP is a quintet with the formerly unknown German singer Hagen Grohe (discovered by Perry's wife, Billie, on YouTube) handling vocals, alongside Perry.

As an opening act, Perry will get between 45 minutes to one hour to play, so he's been trying to come up with a balanced set of new and old material to keep everyone happy.

"I'm there for the fans. I want to play stuff they're familiar with. I've heard stories about guys playing their whole solo record and no one's heard it, so I'm going to play some of my favourite Aerosmith riffs. We get to play the best of the best. We're going to cram it in there and give them the old one-two punch," he says.

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After the long concert the Airbourne, Joe Perry Project and Mötley Crüe show is sure to be, the night won't be over yet. Following the gig, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee will head across the street to Blush Ultraclub -- which closed New Year's Eve but is opening for the special event -- to spin music with DJ Aero, a member of Lee's side project Methods of Mayhem.

The pair has been DJing together for several years, and according to its booking information, the team plays "dirty, filthy, nasty electro-house" and venture into techno, progressive, breaks and hip-hop territory.

Tickets are $20 at Urban Bakery, Shopgirl and ticketweb.ca.

rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 28, 2010 E8