To get the scoop on these happenings and more, we spoke with longtime Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford. The veteran rocker shared his thoughts on a range of topics, including his favorite guitars, his primary influences, his musical interaction with Joe Perry, and whether or not fans can expect a new Aerosmith studio album anytime soon.

What made the Donington show an especially good choice for the theater concert broadcast and DVD? We've always felt it's a great festival and a great event. And we've always associated it with a lot of our favorite bands and musicians. Plus the crowd is incredibly enthusiastic. It's an honor to be included in that festival. It felt like a no-brainer to immortalize that show.

Joe has said he thinks of Aerosmith primarily as a live band. Do you agree? I understand his view, although we've certainly made some great recordings and come up with some great music in the studio as well. Still, I tend to agree--our true passion is to get on-stage and perform.

You're formally schooled and Joe is self-taught. Has that figured into how the two of you work together? It's hard to say. Joe comes from a place where music is inside him, and he just has to get it out. His approach is intuitive, whereas I may stop and think about what we're doing a little more. We've never sat and had a lot of discussion about what we should play. It's very organic. He'll start playing something, and I'll immediately find a counterpoint for it. That's how we've always worked. We find things to complement one another's ideas.

Which players influenced you as you were coming up? I was totally blown away by the British Invasion. Like most of my contemporaries, seeing The Beatles and getting into their music was huge-a revolution, really. And then all these other British bands came along--groups that were really different, who had their own sound. I'm still infatuated with Cream, with Eric Clapton's work in that band. Hendrix, Zeppelin, Jeff Beck-it was a wave of incredible talent. Guys like Joe and me were profoundly affected.

You've said elsewhere that "Sunshine of Your Love" affected you in a special way. I'm still amazed at the feel of that song. Everything Clapton did there is incredible. It's amazing how far back on that beat that guitar part is. And the solo is stunning. It's still one of my favorites--his tone, his choice of notes. It was great instruction about touch and technique. I was amazed at Clapton's vibrato, how smooth and subtle it was. It was a great lesson in how to make a solo stand out.

You've had a strong hand in the writing of some great Aerosmith songs, and you've also done great lead guitar work. Does it ever rankle that more people don't recognize that? In the past it did, but not anymore. I remember being in London years ago and reading review of the Rocks album. There was this great review of the song "Last Child," that credited all the guitar work to Joe. That made me angry, because all the guitar work on that song was mine. But these days I think our individual styles and approaches are well recognized. I enjoy my place in the band and my standing with the public. I wouldn't want to change anything about that.

Is there any talk of Aerosmith going into the studio to make another album? Not at the moment. Steven has wanted to do his own album for the past 20 years, and finally he's blocked out some time for that project. That may inspire him and the rest of us to get back into the studio together, but it probably wouldn't happen until after we've finished the tour we're doing this summer. Right now we're not under the gun of a recording deadline, with record contracts and stuff. Who knows--that might give us even more inspiration, where we do it just because we want to do it.

Are there any surprises you can reveal about the summer tour? We're hoping to bring some songs out of the closet, musically. Of course we'll still be playing the bulk of the hits as well, but one goal is to maybe do some songs people have never heard us do before live. That's our goal. I'm hoping we can pull that off. I know we can--it's just a matter of staying committed to the idea. We feel it's time to bring some new music into the fold.