By Carl Begai

With new music on the go, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA guitarist CHRIS CAFFERY is also looking after a lucrative hot sauce business in partnership with High River Sauces. Launched in 2011 with Tears Of The Sun, he has since unleashed a second concoction dubbed Grapes Of Wrath to rave reviews. Like music, Caffery’s passion for hot sauces and cooking turned into a professional platform.

“It’s fun,” he says of the business, “and it’s not that different from music in that the critics rip you apart, probably even worse than they do in music (laughs). I think it’s the same kind of thing. Anybody can listen to music the same way anybody can eat. Some of these opinions on taste are the same as sound. Some people may know something about food, some people may know nothing, and in the end it comes down to the individual’s taste. The response has been really good and people really seem to like High River Sauces. There are a few more sauces that I want to get out and my partner Steve (Seabury) has a plan, so I’m being patient with him because he’s doing a great job. I’m not trying to force the issue and he’s working at it all the time, so I’m letting him go with his gut on it. I think I’ll have another hot sauce out by Halloween.”
“I made hot sauce royalties within the first couple of years,” he adds, possibly sounding a little bewildered by his own success. “It took me a hell of a lot longer to make music royalties. It’s developing, it’s fun, it’s artistic, I grow the peppers, I get to be a part of these hot sauce conventions… it’s a cool thing. Plus I really like working with Steve. He’s a great guy and we’re making a lot of the other hot sauce companies nervous because we’re getting a lot of attention really fast. That’s because of one thing: the sauces are good. If they weren’t good we wouldn’t be able to get the attention we’ve been getting. We have great marketing ideas and we’re both hungry.”

Go to this location for the complete story, including discussion on Caffery's forthcoming solo album.

For information on High River Sauces click here.

Caffery's new single, 'Glitter' is streaming below: