Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith Discusses New PBS Series

2017-01-25

Story by Cat Badra

Chad Smith hosts a new music and interview series on PBS

“Great Performances: Landmarks Live in Concert,” a new music and interview series that has Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith serving as the host, debuted Friday night (Jan. 20) on PBS. In the debut episode, Smith chatted with R&B singer Alicia Keys about her journey into music and efforts with the iconic Apollo Theatre in Harlem.

“The premise for me is to get them talking about why this is a landmark for them and what it means for them to play there, and we talk about their career and music — the usual,” Smith said of the series in an interview with Billboard. “I just feed ’em an easy line or to and they start talking. The different angle is the musician to musician, artist to artist thing; I think that frees them up a little bit to feel like they’re talking about somebody who gets it, who’s doing what they do. That’s a real connection there.”

Switching gears to Friday’s inauguration of President Donald Trump, while Smith doesn’t care for Trump and says “it blows me away that this is actually happening,” he also says this wild political ride is fostering a positive vibe for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 2017 tour.

“At the show’s we’ve been playing there’s a feeling of, ‘Hey, we’re here right now, in this moment and we’ve got a cool thing going on. There’s a real connection and let’s celebrate it,’ and that’s a beautiful thing,” Smith said. “You know, in dark times sometimes the best art comes out of it. To connect with people and the human experience is more powerful and important than ever.”

Future guests on Smith’s show include Paul McCartney, Stine and Brad Paisley.


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Cat Badra
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