Alton Brown talks ‘Edible Inevitable Tour’

Add road warrior to the list of Alton Brown’s accomplishments.

The venerable Food Network star has been blazing across the country since October on the "Alton Brown Live! The Edible Inevitable Tour" with a family-friendly variety show that, of course, focuses on Brown's infinite knowledge of food and cooking (and those beloved "Good Eats" sock puppets have a cameo as well).

But throughout the show, he and the Edible Inevitable Trio — Brown on guitar and saxophone, Patrick Belden (Brown’s longtime sound designer) on guitar and bass and Jim Pace on drums — unleash their inner rock star with a clutch of humorous food songs such as “The Meat Goes On” and “Airport Cocktail Shrimp.”

The tour, which hits Atlanta’s Fox Theatre on Friday, sold out more than 80 percent of its run — which included such imposing venues as the Fox Theatres in St. Louis and Detroit. This current leg wraps March 2 in Sarasota, Fla., but Brown intends an encore run in October, which will include the Classic Center in Athens. The longtime Marietta resident is also readying a food-song-centric CD that the band will record in July.

Calling last week from a tour stop in York, Pa., Brown, whose “Cutthroat Kitchen” has been renewed for two more seasons and who will soon head to Las Vegas for a new round of “Food Network Star” tapings, talked about life on the road, music and why he’s still a little nervous about playing Atlanta’s Fox.

Q: So what’s a good reason for people to come see this live that they’re not going to get from Alton on TV?

A: It's completely different — and I'm taking that from what people have said on social media. If you have liked my TV shows, that DNA exists in this. But I'm very much about having that connectivity with the audience. It's a very touchy-feely show, and it changes every night depending on the house. When you do something on TV, you can't look like you're working hard. But a show like this, the more you look like you give, the more people respond to it.

Q: How do you think the band has developed since that first show you did at Smith’s Olde Bar in October?

A: (Laughs) We're seasoned veterans of large stages! I wrote another song in December called "Caffeine," and we open the show with it. We got to the point that we had so much music that we pulled some out. We're doing five songs in each show now; we had gotten up to seven. Audiences that don't realize what's going to happen when they come to the show have responded really well to the songs. It's been a lot of fun and certainly a learning experience to get used to playing in so many different kinds of houses.

Q: Do you find that you’re listening to more music on the road this time because you’re actively playing?

A: Yes, playing changes everything. Now I spend more and more time — thank God for Spotify Premium — listening to a lot of live performances. I have a hard time on a night-to-night basis keeping my voice where I need it to be. I'm working on how to learn to control my voice. I do these VIP meet and greets before the show, so I don't get to warm up. I just have to strap on a Telecaster and go. So I listen to a lot of music for those technical things.

Q: What has surprised you along the way?

A: Little things, like, sometimes your entire day will focus on water. Will the theater have hot water in the shower or cold water? I've been in some houses that only have hot OR cold. Will it be clean? I never had a tour rider in the past. I have my electric kettle so I can make my tea and would ask for some lemon, but my new rider is going to be built from the ground up, literally to how many lumens of light I need in the bathroom. And it's been a challenge trying to get enough exercise, especially in the winter. Who wants to take a walk in Greeley, Colo., when it's 26 below? I wished to goodness I traveled with a treadmill.

Q: But are you enjoying the adventure nonetheless?

A: It's like hitting the reset button on my entire life. I miss my family, but I can get into the groove of this. It's such a routine. And the dressing room I'm in today, Tony Orlando was in yesterday and the guys from Foreigner will be in tomorrow. It's a testament to where entertainment has gone in America.

Q: Back when we talked in October, you were a little bit awed at the idea of playing the Fox. But now that you’ve played some equally majestic venues, are you still feeling that way?

A: Yes, because it's my Fox. It's Atlanta. We've played some that are bigger, maybe Detroit, and we sold out St. Louis, which literally is a Fabulous Fox. But I'm still nervous about the Fox in Atlanta because that's home. My mom is coming. My daughter will see it. I have memories of things there. I've seen a lot of shows in the Fox, so to take that stage … it's still the jewel in the crown of the tour for me.