CHICKENFOOT – BIOGRAPHY

Barely has a band come freighted with such expectation and promise than the new outfit that calls itself Chickenfoot. Yes, you read correctly - Chickenfoot. Say that name again, just to get used to its sound. Chickenfoot.

First, let’s consider the stellar line-up. There’s Joe Satriani, he of guitar god status, a dream born on the fateful day of September 18, 1970. It was the day Jimi Hendrix died, and it was the same day that Satriani, upon hearing the news, quit his high school football team and decided, at age 14, to devote his life to the electric guitar.

Since that time, Satriani has become one of the world’s most influential guitarists, releasing albums such as The Extremist and Super Colossal that have sold in the millions around the world. Everything seemed like career move…until Chickenfoot.”

So what about that singer? Sammy Hagar, the original “Red Rocker”, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee for his tenure with Van Halen, who made his professional debut as the singer for the much-revered group Montrose during the early 70’s.

Hagar carried the Van Halen brand to new heights, and together they scored a string of No. 1 albums and sold tens of millions of albums. Says Hagar “I upheld the artistry of the band, and brought them to new places they normally wouldn’t have gone.”

Hagar wasn’t looking to form a new group in post-Van Halen. “I really wasn’t looking to have a real band, but when I got involved with these guys, only a fool would say, ’No, I’m not going to do this.’ The minute we started jamming it was obvious, like, ‘This is something that needs to be heard.’”

A great band is nothing without a great rhythm section, and Chickenfoot has one of the best in the two-man team of bassist Michael Anthony and drummer Chad Smith.

As a founding member (and fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer) of Van Halen, Anthony laid the bedrock for which guitar genius Eddie Van Halen could fly. More than that, he provided a signature style of background vocal that became an intrinsic part of that band. “A total fluke,” the good-natured bassist humbly asserts. “I was just doing what came naturally.”

Aiding Anthony in holding down the fort is Chad Smith, drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have, since Smith joined the group in the late Eighties, gone from cult faves to a worldwide force.

“The guy’s from Detroit, for God’s sake!” says Hagar. “He can play the hell out of funk, but he’s a rocker. He plays hard, man. You could put one mic in a room with Chad, and you can hear all the parts of his kit, he’s hard, but he’s balanced. The band wouldn’t exist without his groove.”

The members of Chickenfoot admit that the band came together almost by accident, a result of jams held at Hagar’s club, Cabo Wabo Cantina, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. “We were just having fun,” recalls Michael Anthony.

“After just a few songs, it became stunningly obvious that we shared an overall musical agenda. The only question was could we make a great album?”

The band answered that question last fall when they hunkered down with the illustrious producer Andy Johns at George Lucas’ Skywalker Studios and knocked out a batch of songs that sets a new standard and you’ll hear what a true rhythm section sounds like. By the way, did we mention they have a weird name?

www.chickenfoot.us
www.myspace/chickenfoot
Photo Credits: Lee Ann Mueller / Christie Goodwin / Ross Halfin