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