Chad Smith

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Chad Smith
Chad Smith performing at a drum clinic in 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Chad Gaylord Smith[1]
Born	October 25, 1961 (1961-10-25) (age 48) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
Genres	Hard rock Alternative rock Funk rock
Instruments	Drums, Piano, Oboe, Saxophone, Guitar, Didgeridoo, Flute
Years active	1982–present
Associated acts	Red Hot Chili Peppers, Glenn Hughes, Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats, Chickenfoot, Johnny Cash, Possimpible, Toby Redd

Chad Smith (born October 25, 1961) is best known as being the longtime drummer of Red Hot Chili Peppers. He is the drummer of the hard rock band Chickenfoot and the instrumental band Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats.

[edit] Biography

Smith was born to Curtis and Joan Smith in Richfield, Minnesota. He has two older siblings, Bradley and Pamela. He grew up in Homewood-Flossmoor, Illinois where he attented Homewood-Flossmoor High School for two years. He then moved to Oakland County in Southeast Michigan and graduated from Lahser High School. Prior to joining Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smith was in a local Detroit band called Toby Redd. He joined RHCP in time for them to put out the album Mother's Milk in 1989.

In 1991, Smith had a small role in the short film Session Man, which won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject.^[2]

Smith has released an instructional DVD with Hal Leonard entitled Eastern Rim, which includes footage from his clinics in Melbourne and Tokyo, footage from various live performances, and interviews.

Smith is involved in a supergroup/side project called "Chickenfoot" with guitarist Joe Satriani and former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony. Their album was released by Best Buy in the U.S. on June 5, 2009.^[3][4]

In the May 2006 issue of Doell & Ford Magazine, Smith was named the number one rock drummer alive.^[5]

Smith was a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards.^[6]

[edit] Personal life

Smith was married in 1994 to Maria St. John and they had one child, Manon St. John Smith (1997). The couple divorced in 1998. He has two other children, Justin (1997) and Ava (2001). He married Nancy Mack on May 8, 2004, in Hopetown, Abaco, Bahamas and they have two sons, Cole Madison (2005), and Beckett Cash (2009).

[edit] Equipment

The kit used by Smith is a typical example of a rock drum setup. He endorses Pearl Drums and Sabian cymbals. Smith has designed two signature crash-cymbals with Sabian. Smith endorses Vater drumsticks and bass drum beaters.

In 2005, Pearl and CeeLite created a drum kit incorporating CeeLite's lighting technology to illuminate Smith's Pearl Masters kit on stage.

The following is the drum kit used by Smith on tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers:

[edit] Tour Kit (2006-2007)

• Pearl Masters MRX Series & Sabian Cymbals:
• Drums - Custom CeeLight Finish, Classic Silver Sparkle
  • 12x10" Tom
  • 14x14" Floor Tom
  • 16x16" Floor Tom
  • 24x16" Bass Drum
  • 14x5" Pearl Sensitone Classic II Snare
  • 14x5.5 Pearl Masters Snare (snare wire turned off, used as timbale)

• Cymbals - Sabian
  • 14" AAX-Celerator Hi-Hats
  • 21" AA Rock Ride
  • 19" AA Medium Crash
  • 20" AA Rock Crash
  • 10" AA Splash
  • 19" AA China
  • 20" Prototype China w/rivets (added to setup in late 2006)

• Percussion
  • Gon Bops Red Rock Bell Cowbell
  • Latin Percussion Red Medium Pitch Jam Block

• Drum Heads - Remo
  • Toms: (12", 14", 16") Clear Emperors (top), Clear Ambassadors (bottom)
  • Bass Drum: (24") Clear Powerstroke 4 with Falam Slam Patch (batter), Custom Design Powerstroke 3 head (resonant)
  • Snares : (14") Coated CS Controlled Sound with Black Dot reverse (top), Hazy Emperor (bottom)

• Hardware - Pearl
  • T1000 Double Tom Stand (used as single tom stand)
  • 2000C Pearl Eliminator Bass Pedal (with Vater Hard Felt Beater and Black Cam)
  • S2000 Snare Stand (x2)
  • H2000K Hi-Hat Stand
  • B1000 Boom Cymbal Stand (x2 for Ride & Prototype China)
  • C1000 Straight Cymbal Stand (x3 for both Crash Cymbals & AA China)
  • CH-70 Cymbal Arm (for Splash)
  • PPS 37 Cowbell Holder
  • Evans EQ Pad

• Sticks - Vater

[edit] Selected discography

• Jam Sessions - Jamming with Linc (1977)
• Pharaoh - Point Of Entry (1982)
• Toby Redd - In the Light (1986)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother's Milk (1989)
• Second Self - Mood Ring (1990)
• Twenty Mondays - Twist Inside (1992)
• Queen Remix (1991)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
• Wild Colonials - Fruit of Life (1994)
• General Clusterfunk - Starin' Straight at the Sun (1994)
• Various Artists - A Means to an End: The Music of Joy Division (1995)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute (1995)
• Original Soundtrack - Grace of my Heart (1996)
• Wayne Kramer - Dangerous Madness (1996)
• Thermadore - Monkey on Rico (1996)
• Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette
• Howard Stern's Private Parts (1997)
• Lili Haydn - Lili (1997)
• John Fogerty - Blue Moon Swamp (1997)
• Leah Andreone - Alchemy (1998)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (1999)
• Fishbone - The Psychotic Friends Nuttwerk (2000)
• Various Artists - Loud Rocks (2000)
• Dave Navarro - Trust No One (2001)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the Way (2002)
• Johnny Cash - Unearthed (2003)
• Glenn Hughes - Songs In The Key Of Rock (2003)
• Hughes Turner Project - HTP 2 (2003)
• John Frusciante - Shadows Collide With People (2004)
• Glenn Hughes - Soulfully Live In The City Of Angels (2004)
• Glenn Hughes - Soul Mover (2005)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium (2006)
• Dixie Chicks - Taking The Long Way (2006)
• Glenn Hughes - Music For The Divine (2006)
• Glenn Hughes - First Underground Nuclear Kitchen (2008)
• Chickenfoot - Chickenfoot (2009)
• Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats - Meet The Meatbats (2009)
• B'z - Ichibu to Zenbu/Dive (2009)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Red Hot Chili Peppers Official website
• Drummerworld
• Chad Smith on Drum Channel