Aerosmith News

It’d be so sweet to have Joe Perry as a dad. No offense to our fathers, you taught us how to catch and shave and took us to Disney World, but you didn’t write the riff to “Walk This Way.”

Yeah, the Aerosmith guitar stud is pretty much the perfect father. Unless you’re an aspiring rock star. Then there’s the possibility of dad hogging the spotlight.

Two of Joe’s brood are aspiring rock stars - singer/bassist Adrian Perry and guitarist Tony Perry, who along with their friend Ben Tileston make up TAB the Band. Until now, Joe has tried not to stand in their spotlight. But recently, Joe enlisted TAB to back him up for what could be a rare Perry posse gig Feb. 8 at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.

“I don’t want them to be my (permanent) backing band and they don’t want to be my backing band,” said Perry from his Duxbury home. “But a few opportunities recently came up where it would work, so we decided to try it.”

Late last year, Perry was asked to perform at a New York City launch party for the “Guitar Hero III” video game. One problem: He didn’t have a backup band. But he heard his sons banging out some tunes in his basement, told the caller to hold on, went downstairs and popped the question. To his surprise, Adrian and Tony agreed.

For the past year, Perry’s been sneaking in to watch TAB’s local gigs (the next is at T.T. the Bear’s Place on Feb. 1). But the Perry brood hasn’t shared the stage publicly yet. The brothers have been hesitant to use Dad’s music industry connections to further their careers. After a March show at the Middle East, they told the Herald they “want to let the music do the talking,” a sly reference to their father’s 1980 solo album.

“There may be a surprise Boston gig or two but nothing more,” said Joe. “They’re celebrating the release of their record (“Pulling Out Just Enough to Win”) later this month and want to concentrate on that.

“Hey, these guys are really good,” the proud papa said. “(Wife) Billie and I would hear them playing in the basement and it wasn’t like, ‘Aren’t our kids great? Aren’t they cute?’ It was, ‘Wow, these guys are finding their sound.’ ”

TAB started out playing Sabbath-like stoner metal, but has lately added the Beatles, power pop and alt-metal to the mix. With that kind of pedigree it’s hard to imagine what kind of sounds the father/sons team will create. Joe Perry said they’re going to play a mix of covers, originals and tunes Perry sings with Aerosmith.

After Perry, 57, finishes playing with his 20-something boys, he plans to get back to work with the men: It’s been four years since “Honkin’ on Bobo,” the last Aerosmith studio album.

“We owe (Columbia) one more record and we’re going to probably finish that this year,” he said. “After that, I don’t know how we’ll release music. I like the iTunes and Internet releases. I may just want to release Aerosmith’s songs or EPs online after this. There’s so many ways to do things now.”

Sounds as if Perry hasn’t taught his sons just about riffs. He’s learned from them, too. There aren’t many rockers pushing 60 looking to get a piece of the kids’ online action.