AEROSMITH Drummer At SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST (Video)

On March 18, AEROSMITH drummer Joey Kramer stopped by the South By Bookstore to greet SXSW (South By Southwest) registrants and sign copies of his autobiography, "Hit Hard: A Story Of Hitting Rock Bottom At The Top". Two separate Joey Kramer TV clips from the event can be viewed below.

"Hit Hard: A Story Of Hitting Rock Bottom At The Top" was released on June 30, 2009 through HarperCollins. In the book, Kramer, a founding member and drummer of AEROSMITH, courageously tells the world how he has wrestled with depression as part of the most successful rock band in American history.

In 1997, amidst AEROSMITH's sold-out world tour and No. 1 album release, Joey revealed in an interview his ongoing struggles with depression. The response from fans and people battling those same internal demons was overwhelming. Joey — who has been the drummer in aerosmith since it was founded in 1970 and the first member of the band to release his own book — now tells the complete story: the early days of the band, glamorous drug-addled events leading up to their eventual sobriety, battles within his family and among bandmates, and the explosive internal dynamics in AEROSMITH that continue to unleash a fury of endless creativity.

This is not just another rock and roll memoir. In addition to the never-before-told AEROSMITH war stories that abound in the book, "Hit Hard" unpacks the history of a rock star who was both fragile and tough, who after years of insane wildness became willing to accept help and finally kick a serious alcohol and drug addiction, only to find that the real terrors and hard work were still ahead. It's the story of an average kid from an average American suburb who went through physical and emotional trauma. It's about years of depression and the nervous breakdown at the height of the band's comeback success. Ultimately, it is about how Joey recognized his confusion between love and abuse, awakening to the kind of self-acceptance and compassion that makes healthy relationships possible in the "real world."