Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers will go on the road next year to plug his artwork.
The Art of Chad Smith opens January 4th at the Russell Collection Fine Art in Austin, Texas and will be shown in galleries in seven other cities during the year. Smith will make appearances at each of the galleries to present the pieces, which use photographs of him playing drums with lighted, fluorescent sticks to create abstract images. Smith tells Billboard that “It’s a really cool medium. Music, sound and visualization, all those things go hand in hand. My hope is that the emotion of it and the fluidity and the intensity comes across.”
Smith also has another project he’s excited about for next year — Ozzy Osbourne’s upcoming album, Ordinary Man. Smith, Duff McKagan of Guns n’ Roses and producer-guitarist Andrew Watt were Ozzy’s backing band on the album. Smith says the idea was to help Ozzy feel better after a year of health issues. Smith says, “He got inspired; He was coming in every day and singing and getting better and having a great time. And he was like, ‘Omigod, you work so fast! I love this!'”
Ordinary Man also features Elton John, Slash and Tom Morello. Smith says all the musicians just wanted to help Osbourne feel better. “Everyone wants to bring it for Ozzy, ’cause he deserves it. And it’s performances, not chopped-up, modern [crap]. It’s a good rock album. I’m just honored to be part of it, and I can’t wait for it to come out ’cause I think people are just gonna dig it.”
