Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith starts music program in Milwaukee

Milwaukee after-school programs are getting a boost in funds and support for bringing music opportunities to kids – thanks to Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

The Chad Smith Foundation, formed by Smith in August 2025, aims to increase access for young people in underserved areas to get involved in music. The foundation’s nationwide After-School Music Program, AMP, plans to achieve that through funding and incentives for music students and instructors at local youth programs – and chose Milwaukee as its launch city.

“It’s really about just getting kids music education, music in their hand, places to play and teachers,” Smith told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

AMP officially launched in Milwaukee on Wednesday, March 25 as a partnership between the Chad Smith Foundation and four local nonprofits: the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee, the Salvation Army, Notes for Notes and Running Rebels.

The initiative will provide funding to hire experienced and passionate music instructors, to purchase quality equipment and resources and to establish a perks program, which will reward music students’ consistent participation with benefits like concert tickets, access to professional music environments and performance opportunities.

Giving kids and teens opportunities to learn and explore music and art is an essential part of education, Smith said.

“It sounds lofty, but it has the power to change kids’ lives,” he said.

Lewis Smith, executive director of the Chad Smith Foundation, said the AMP initiative has been underway in Milwaukee for the last two months or so, with music instructors at all four sites running about 15 hours of lessons a week.

Chad Smith said he gives much credit for starting his music career to his music teachers and classes at the public schools he attended in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. He said when he was 7 or 8, a teacher introduced him to various instruments and drumming rudiments. Later, in high school, he had opportunities to get involved in various bands, from marching band to concert band to jazz band, as well a music theory class.

“If I didn’t have those outlets, I wouldn’t have graduated from high school,” he said.

AMP aims to fill gaps left by budget cuts to public schools that leave many students with limited music education opportunities. Chad Smith said the foundation is lucky to partner with likeminded after-school programs that share the belief that access to the arts is extremely important for adolescents.

Through AMP, the Chad Smith Foundation is providing about $10,000 to each site in the first year, to cover program setup like instruments, equipment and supplies, Lewis Smith said. After the programs’ initial launch, then, most of the funding will go toward instruction and will be demand-driven.

“If more students show interest and we need to open additional classes, we will. If demand grows across different instruments, we’ll support that, too,” Lewis Smith said in an email. “If students are progressing quickly and there’s a need for more lesson frequency or expanded opportunities, we want to be able to meet that. Whether that means bringing in more instructors or increasing hours for the instructors already in place, the goal is to make sure the program can grow with the students at each site.”

Lewis Smith said the AMP perks program, something the foundation is “really excited about,” is designed to first provide students with tools to help their musical growth, like access to additional songbooks and online resources. As the students continue with their learning, the perks “become more fun and experience-based,” he said in an email.

To support the launch of AMP, the Chad Smith Foundation partnered with Guitar Center, which committed to covering the first $25,000 of equipment costs. Lewis Smith said that funding was particularly beneficial for establishing AMP programs at sites that completely lacked music equipment.

“We’ve been fortunate to have a couple sites, like Notes for Notes, where some music infrastructure already existed, but this model is really designed to build new programs from scratch – like we’ve done at both Boys & Girls Club and the Salvation Army,” Lewis Smith said in an email.

Notes for Notes, an organization formed in California in 2006, offers free instruments, gear and producers to youth through its partnerships with public schools and Boys & Girls Clubs across the United States. The organization first came to Milwaukee in 2022 through the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee.

“Notes for Notes is excited and honored to collaborate with the Chad Smith Foundation,” CEO and co-founder Philip Gilley said in a statement. “The Foundation has identified where resources and support can make the biggest immediate difference. Its AMP initiative is adding even more expertise and personnel to elevate, amplify and empower the next generation of musicians, songwriters and producers.”

Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or [email protected]. Follow her on X at @ArseneauKelli.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith starts music program in Milwaukee

Reporting by Kelli Arseneau, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect