Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, September 28, 1993                   TAG: 9309280068
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AEROSMITH GETS A GRIP ON ITSELF

Rock band gets to the top of the music mountain and then drops into a drug-related abyss never to return again.

But this time, the group re-emerged - with a mission.

"Searching for the lost chord," is how Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford described the band's drive to better anything they've done in the past.

Now touring behind the success of their newest album, "Get a Grip," the Boston-based group will make a stop at the Roanoke Civic Center tonight.

Aerosmith's problems and return to prominence have been documented. Whitford left the band in the early '80s only to return a short time later. All five of the group's original members remain.

Aerosmith is now an American band with the roots to slip into a category with the all-time rock big hitters - the Rolling Stones, the Who and Eric Clapton among others - musicians that have stood the test of time.

Whitford said there's one element of the band's publicized comeback that might get overlooked.

"It's a sense of humor," Whitford said in a recent interview. "That's been a real important part of our cohesiveness and helped us get through some hard times. We'd be in big trouble right now without it."

Aerosmith obviously knows where to find a quick laugh.

They've appeared on "Saturday Night Live's" immensely popular segment "Wayne's World," and the animated version of the band cranked it out on Fox-TV's "The Simpsons."

What's next on the comedy horizon?

Whitford said Aerosmith will release a new single for an album of favorites from Beavis and Butt-head, MTV's duo of disgust.

(Huh, huh . . . Aerosmith is cool . . . huh, huh.)

"We really like where we're at right now," Whitford said. "Doing `Saturday Night Live' was unreal. The energy is amazing. We get into things like that."

And what can local fans expect from Aerosmith in live form tonight?

That same old in-your-face, frenzied thump. Two decades has done nothing to diminish the band's "livin' on the edge" mentality on stage, Whitford said.

"We still love what we do," Whitford said. "We're just big fans of all kinds of music. It keeps us going, and we work hard to stay at the place we're at. We plan to keep on pushing. There's no `sit back and take it easy' with us."