The following piece appeared in Entertainment Weekly:
Draw the Line: Boston Bad Boy Steven Tyler launches new tour
Grammy winner.
Hall of Fame rocker.
Tour guide?
In his latest incarnation, Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler has lent his unmistakable voice to a pioneering tour developed by Candide Media Works’ Talking Street™ (www.talkingstreet.com).
Called “Boston: City of Rebels and Dreamers,” the tour is accessed through calling a special number on the user’s cell phone.
“Who would have thought when I came here in the 1970s that I would be telling people about what Boston is?” Tyler opines. “It is a great way for me to do something for the city”
Among the 17 stops are Fenway Park, The Old North Church, and the site of the Molasses Flood of 1919.
“We picked places that were either catastrophic or sort of miraculous,” Tyler explains, “and I tried to work in points that most people might not know to make it more interesting.”
With sister tours in New York and Washington, D.C., Talking Street is hoping to help tourists worldwide.
“It’s a way to bring people to fascinating places, and then reveal their stories in ways that no other media could,” says Executive Producer Miles Kronby. “We plan to have at least 20 tours across the U.S. by 2006.”
In the meantime, those involved are thrilled to visit such historic cities in the company of famous friends.
“It’s an honor to be the spokesman for Boston,” says Tyler. “I got in so much trouble for having a big mouth- and now it’s paying off!”
– Matt Robinson
