Chickenfoot Audition Former Mellencamp Drummer Kenny Aronoff

When Chickenfoot heads out on the road to promote their creatively titled second album, the drummer very well could be high profile stickman Kenny Aronoff.  The group needs a substitute for Chad Smith, who will be busy touring with his other band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

You know Aronoff for providing the thundercrack backbeat on many of John Mellencamp’s most famous hits during his 1980-1997 run with the star. He went on to drum for former Creedence Clearwater Revival vocalist John Fogerty after that, and his resume also covers quite an extensive list of studio work.

According to vocalist Sammy Hagar in a SoundSpike interview, Aronoff was hand-picked by Smith, who considers him his drumming brother from another mother and someone who “beats his drum set to death." As Hagar notes, “we need that power,” joking that “at the end of every show, you have to buy a new drum set for these guys.”

The members of Chickenfoot were set to jam with Aronoff for two days on Aug. 6 and 7. Next, the plan is to take him out on a small mini-tour of five major markets in November -- Hagar mentions New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles (and strangely NOT Cleveland, Ohio) as examples --  to make sure that the chemistry is really there between Aronoff and the rest of the group.

That bond is incredibly important to Hagar and the other members of this supergroup. The singer says that no matter how good Aronoff undeniably is on drums, “Chickenfoot is all about the chemistry.”

Hagar reiterates that someone like Aronoff would be “on loan” until Chad returns, and that when Smith does comes back,  they will presumably make ‘Chickenfoot IV’ with him.

Aronoff is certainly a solid drummer, so we can get behind him potentially being the guy for the job. We’re especially excited to hear Hagar already thinking ahead to the next album, too. Mostly, though, we just want to hear 'III,' which from the sounds of first single 'Big Foot' is set to kick all sorts of speaker-pulverizing ass.