In 2009, drummer
Chad Smith was certainly one busy gentleman. It was during this year that
Smith manned the drums for supergroup
Chickenfoot and closed out the year with work on
the Red Hot Chili Peppers' tenth studio album overall. And between the two, he somehow also found the time to launch another project, the all-instrumental
Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats. The genesis of the band can be traced back to
Smith's friendship with former
Trapeze/
Deep Purple bassist/singer
Glenn Hughes. Through jamming with
Hughes,
Smith befriended several musicians who often played in
Hughes' solo band -- guitarist
Jeff Kollman and keyboardist
Ed Roth. After they played together, they soon decided to record their efforts -- with bassist
Kevin Chown assuming the spot of
Hughes. The debut
Meatbats recording,
Meet the Meatbats, was issued in September 2009 via Warrior Records, and suggested a meeting between vintage-sounding
Billy Preston and
Return to Forever funk-jazz-fusion. In late October 2009, the quartet launched a multi-date Japanese tour, but further dates seemed few and far between due to
Smith's commitments to
the Chili Peppers. However,
Smith reassembled
the Meatbats for 2010's
More Meat and offered up a 2009 live performance,
Live Meat and Potatoes, in 2012. ~ Greg Prato