Joe Perry and his Boneyard Brew

Hot Sauce and a Solo CD

Guitarist and Aerosmith founding member Joe Perry has a new solo album and a pair of signature hot sauces.

Perry--whose new solo album, Joe Perry, is in stores now--will join the Rock Your World crew in attendance at the July 10-12, 2005 at the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade's (NASFT) Fancy Foods Show at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City. Both Perry’s sauces--"Rock Your World Boneyard Brew" and "Rock Your World Mango-Peach Tango" hot sauce--are being considered for food awards, which will be announced at the show.

A longtime fan of spicy food, Perry grew tired of concocting his own sauce by blending different commercial hot sauces to create the right balance of flavor and heat. Four years ago, he contacted Ashley Foods--a Boston-based food company--about formulating his own hot sauce. A year later, Perry unleashed the Rock Your World Boneyard Brew, an all-natural mix of fresh habanero peppers, onions, garlic, lime juice, red bell peppers, chipotle peppers and aged red wine vinegar.

Taking its name from The Boneyard--Joe's basement home studio--the sauce uses fresh ingredients and no preservatives. "I like a sauce that adds some heat but doesn't overwhelm the food," Perry explains. "There are plenty of sauces out there that will blow your brains out; I wasn't interested in that. I wanted to create an everyday sauce with no preservatives for people who want to add a little zest to their food."

Perry was deeply involved in each step of product development from the taste to the packaging. "The bottom line is that I won't put my name on anything--from a Les Paul guitar to a hot sauce--that I don't personally use.

It was Perry's grandfather who first turned him on to fiery flavors. "My grandfather's doctors told him he couldn't have spicy food anymore, so he had a secret stash of hot pepper that he used to share with me," Perry recalls. "When I started traveling a lot 25 years ago, I was exposed to a wide range of cuisines and fell in love food that packs a kick."

Last year, Perry introduced the Rock Your World Mango-Peach Tango hot sauce, a flavorful mix of habanero peppers, mangos, peaches onions, garlic, lime juice, red bell peppers and aged red wine vinegar. The tropical twist, Perry says, was inspired by his trips to the Caribbean and the bottles of Matouk hot sauce he saw on every restaurant table. "The tangy taste of fresh mangos and the bite of habaneros complement each other for an intense sweet heat," Perry explains.

Hard Rock Café currently serves Rock Your World Mango-Peach Tango with its quesadillas and uses it for the Mighty Mango Mary, a twisted take on the classic Bloody Mary. Part of the fun, Perry says, is hearing about the new ways people use his sauce. "I never would have thought to use the sauce in a drink like that. It's strange, but it's like writing a song. Once you put it out there, people will interpret it different ways.

Instead of telling me stories about my songs, now people are telling me their Rock Your World recipes."

Two years ago Aaron Hirsch--Joe's son and the company's CEO--began raising the company's profile through an aggressive marketing and advertising campaign along with the expansion of the Web site http://www.joeperrysrockyourworld.com, which includes t-shirts, recipes and limited-edition, signed bottles of hot sauce.

"Right now we are developing other products by putting our unique twist on the kinds of snacks you would find in the pantry on the Aerosmith tour bus," he says. "We are also exploring ways to donate a portion of the company's profits to a charitable organization."