By Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press –
DETROIT — Like most brand-name classic rock acts, Aerosmith has never been short of young fans — a kind of perpetual audience regeneration as the songs endure in American culture.
“When you get young kids, you get lifelong fans,” says guitarist Brad Whitford. “We’ve known that forever.”
But for the Boston band, there’s a key new source of Aerosmith followers, one the band might never have conceived possible: “American Idol.”
Since front man Steven Tyler landed a place at the “Idol” judges table in January 2011 — with a resulting pop-culture stature that has included “60 Minutes” features and Burger King ads — Whitford says there’s been a discernible shift in the Aerosmith fan base. The band is drawing “a lot of kids that might not have otherwise come.”
“It’s a whole new thing. You hit a different audience when you’re dealing with television,” he says. “ (Tyler’s) personality is something the band was very familiar with — he’s an extremely funny, likable guy — and a lot of people got to see it, feel like they knew him a little better, and say ‘I’m going to go check that guy out.’”
Aerosmith is still conscious of catering to its longtime audience, including fans who have been aboard since the group’s self-titled debut burst onto the rock scene nearly 40 years ago. Whitford — who at 60 is the band’s youngest member — says the repertoire on this summer’s Global Warming Tour includes a revolving slate of deep-catalog selections amid the array of hits.
Earlier this week the band rolled out 1978’s “Chip Away the Stone,” and other “stuff we’ve pulled out of the hat” onstage has included ‘70s chestnuts such as “S.O.S. (Too Bad),” “No More No More” and “Back in the Saddle.”
“We’re always talking about trying to dig deeper into the catalog here and there, play some songs that were always close to us but that people don’t hear that often,” says Whitford. “But it’s not really easy for us. We have this huge catalog of songs, and with our show, we get to do somewhere around 20 (numbers). So it’s kind of hard to decide when you’ve got over 100 to choose from.
“We just go out and do what we do, and hope people get enough of a taste of what they’re wanting to hear.”
That means a set that captures a wide span of the band’s career — from the gritty rock of early albums like “Get Your Wings” and “Toys in the Attic” through the more polished fare that marked Aerosmith’s pop-chart resurgence in the ‘90s. Perhaps conspicuous by its absence is material from the group’s most recent pair of albums, “Just Push Play” (2001) and “Honkin’ on Bobo” (2004).
Whitford and company are banking on something more enduring with their next project, “Music from Another Dimension,” produced by longtime studio collaborator Jack Douglas and pegged for release in November. The eight-year gap is twice as long as Aerosmith’s previous break between records.
“We certainly wanted it out sooner than that, but we’re extremely pleased with it,” says Whitford. “It might be one of our best efforts ever. … It’s got a little bit of everything on there.”
For now Aerosmith is focusing on this round of summer dates, the band’s first set of U.S. shows since 2010.
At this point, says Whitford, heading out on the road doesn’t require intense rehearsals for Aerosmith, whose members are happy to ride on instincts honed during four decades of performing together.
“It’s a very familiar and comfortable place to be — probably where we all like to be most, out of everything we do in our lives,” he says. “It’s a real kick. It’s what drives the blood through our veins. That’s what we do all the other (BS) for, is to get up there and do what we do best.”
