ADOPT THE ARTS launch a live benefit concert and live auction for LAUSD elementary schools this Thursday, May 12at The Fonda Theatre (6126 Hollywood Boulevard) in Los Angeles(red carpet 6:00-7:15PM, show starts: 7:30PM). Music luminaries will gather to perform with and honor 2016 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees GLENN HUGHES (Deep Purple)and ROBIN ZANDER (Cheap Trick)for their contributions to American art and culture. Proceeds from the concert and auction will be donated to ADOPT THE ARTSmusic programs in LAUSD elementary schools (see VIP ticket/donation below). Tickets are on-sale now HERE!
We had a brief moment over the weekend to speak with the man himself, Matt Sorum, co-founder of Adopt the Arts – and we covered a lot of ground regarding his passion regarding this event and the amazing cause it supports.
You have your Adopt the Arts event coming up next week. It is literally a few days away. Tell me more about this program, since you’re the founder of Adopt the Arts.
Yeah, I started this four years ago. People get into doing charity, and then they realize it is a full time job. In my neighborhood, the kids didn’t have any music, didn’t have any instruments, didn’t have any art in the public school. So, I ended up partnering with a lady who holds the program. It has become the premiere music program in LA. We have it all for them – guitars, keyboards, drum sets, PA systems – they have everything they need to rock out over there. And, we hired a teacher. After that, we tried to do more, and we want to expand it, so we adopted another program at another public school and have a cool program there as well. But, the thing that we have to do every year is we have to pay the insurance, pay the overhead, and do other things that maintain these projects. So, we’re holding my annual fundraiser on May 12th at the Fonda Theatre. We’ve got a great stage, a great venue, and I’ve put together the awards for the Arts. This year I am honoring Robin Zander from Cheap Trick and Glenn Hughes from Deep Purple. And all of these bands are coming out and will perform as well. Ya know, I’ve got Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath, Corey Taylor and Steve Jones coming out – an amazing array of musicians. More people are calling me now, a couple big names are telling me, “Hey we want to come.”
“I’m extremely honored to be accepting an award from such an admirable charity, Adopt the Arts,” explains GLENN HUGHES. “Matt Sorum has gone to great lengths to help create a program for children to have musical instruments in their lives and in turn to provide love and harmony in our lives. I’m humbled and grateful. See you at the event at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Thursday, May 12. I’m really looking forward to performing for you all, let’s make it a magical night.”
Oh, now you’re just teasing me with the extra people who want to show up…
It’s funny when you get to it. When everyone hears about a great event like this, all of a sudden they want to be into it. And what I’m pushing here is I’ve got to sell these $40 tickets here, which in my opinion is a pretty cheap ticket to see a once in a lifetime rock show. I’ve got some $75 tickets for the balcony. And then I have $125 floor seats that are really great seats down on the floor, and I think that’s a good deal. I just want to sell these last 200 tickets. I encourage people to come out, especially if they want to see cool stuff. I’ve got an awesome auction going on.
I saw that…
I’ve got a Steve Perry guitar. I’ve got two Slash guitars. I’ve got a Brian May Queen guitar. I have a Dave Grohl signed guitar. I’ve got stuff from Metallica and Elton John. I have tons of vacation stuff, art, an amazing art color photo of Prince, a shot that has never been seen. A friend of mine shot it and just found it and pulled it out of his archives, and we’re selling that. We want to honor the great artists, like Prince, because he’s involved. He’s a part of it because his presence will never be gone from the music world. We’ve got some amazing stuff; the bands signed a bunch of stuff. There are a couple meet and greets left. If you go to the Fonda Theatre website and check out May 12th, you can get those packages. Then go to adoptthearts.org and get more information on the event and the charity. It’s my thing; there are two of us that run it. We give all the money to the schools. You can look at it, see what we do. It’s an awesome thing for kids. We’ve gotten them over a thousand instruments, and I would say two thousand kids are in the school districts that have direct contact with Adopt the Arts.
Right. I was going to ask that because I was reading about the program and about how 80% of the student body is living at or below the poverty line. So, how does this program assist them outside of school? Because if you’re putting a lot of funding into the school with your charity, what do the students get to take home with them after that so they can continue on?
Well, it’s scientifically proven what exposure to the arts can do at that level, you know, the formative years. I really feel that that’s the part – I don’t know about you, but that’s when I kinda was like, “Man, this is interesting.” A lot of people go through life not knowing what they want to do with their lives, but for me, I knew I wanted to be a musician and an artist from a very young age. As soon as I got that spark, I knew that’s where I was going. And I tell people, “Look. Maybe it’s not your kid. Maybe your kid is in a private school or a charter school, but this is our community and we’re all in this together.” And especially California is struggling financially. So, people say, “Why shouldn’t they pay for it?” And the fact of the matter is that they’re not. What we’ve got to do in the meantime is put a bit of a Band-Aid on it until they fix it and figure it out. So, I say pay now or pay later. First of all, a little bit of statistics for you: we pay about $7200 for a kid’s education in California. We pay $45,000 for a prison inmate. And let me give you the difference between public education. It’s run by the state, not a private entity. So when I tell you it’s pay now or pay later, I mean if we can inspire these kids to grow and we give a little bit, we could save them down the road. A lot of these underprivileged kids, especially from the Latino community and the African American community and underprivileged white kids of all different varieties of races, don’t get what they deserve and what they need to get them to the next level. And I am not saying we are trying to create great musicians or artists, but we are trying to create innovators. We are trying to put that element into these kids’ daily lives. And I see them every day when I go to my schools; there are some real gems there. I see these kids get really inspired by what we do and what we give them. And you know what? We don’t know what can come out of them and out of that situation. We could have a kid come in here and decide he wants to be the next president of Google. We don’t know. So, that’s the way I look at it. I tell everyone that. I see direct contact with them has so much potential. I mean, I don’t even have children, but I understand that we give them value that they can appreciate first hand. So, I stress that, and I just hope people will take a look at it, and if there’s a billionaire out there reading this, give me a call. I’ll partner with you. It’s just something that needs to be done.
“All of my career I’ve been involved in promoting the arts in elementary schools and I’m proud to be part of Adopt the Arts Honors,” adds ROBIN ZANDER. My thanks goes out to the foundation and I hope that fans everywhere will come and join us for a successful evening of fun, music and fundraising. See you there.”
I read you’ve started this in LA, and you’ve done it to one school and have helped out another school. Are you planning to expand it and maybe someday go nationwide?
I would love that! You know, I’ve talked to people around the country doing different projects, and I know how to do it. I just need the money. I know each school costs about $50,000 a year, and that’s a pretty big nut to crack. And I have to raise about $550,000. We have 525 elementary schools in the LA school district; that’s a lot of schools. A high percentage of those kids aren’t getting what they need in terms of an education. Because the real issue is the supports aren’t there. There are a lot of politics that go into it, but you know, kids shouldn’t be involved in all that. They should be able to get a fair shake, and be able to have a chance. And, that’s really what I am into. I am doing it now on a solely organic, grassroots level. I’d hope it can grow to become the biggest charity in the country, and people can see the real attributes to that. So that’s what I am doing, and any rock and rollers who are out there and read this, for me it’s my new rock and roll rebellion. I look at it like playing rock and roll has given me a great life, and I’ve been able to celebrate music through that. And now I feel really sort of wishing the system would change, and that makes me feel that this isn’t a punk rock thing, or against the establishment. They know what they need to do, and we need to tell them. It’s all to do with bringing in the change, and raising the money and telling them, “Look, this isn’t right. This needs to change. What we’re telling you, that’s what needs to happen.” So, the more people get involved with our government that actually can deal with these problems, the better. Don’t sit around on your butts and complain without doing something about it. I don’t care who you are. So, that’s where I stand with it.
Absolutely. And some people that complain don’t have any money, but you know what, they might have time, which they could be using to do something.
Right, and it doesn’t take a lot of time. Some people just want to say that’s it is so heavy and so much. And I say, “You know, man, it’s not that heavy.” I get involved in stuff because I see the change, so what can’t someone else to do change? Once you see the change, it’s cool stuff to do. And like I said, I’ve been very blessed and very vocal about everything I have gotten from rock and roll music. This is my little bit of giving back, and not boast myself by any means. Because for me, it does for me… I get feelings from it, and I enjoy it.
Right, it’s an intrinsic reward…
Exactly. The only reason I am out here doing publicity is because I have to raise money. I keep thinking in the back of my head, “If I don’t keep going, who will?” I almost lost one of the schools because we didn’t raise enough money. But, I go and see those little faces looking up at me, and I’m like, “I have to keep going. I can’t let them down.” So, I do it and urge people to come out, buy a $40 ticket if you can, $75 if you can do that, for this show is going to be killer.
Connect with Adopt the Arts (click icons):
ADOPT THE ARTS: Benefit Concert and Auction:
THURSDAY, MAY 12
THE FONDA THEATRE
(6126 Hollywood Boulevard)
5:30pm Media check-in, set up on red carpet.
6:00pm Red carpet begins in front of The Fonda Theatre.
7:15pm Red carpet ends.
7:30pm ADOPT THE ARTS concert begins.
Ticket prices for the ADOPT THE ARTS event are below and all donations are tax deductible:
1) General: $40 (standing room only)
2) General: $75 (seated)
3) VIP Tickets: $275, VIP Table for 10: $2,500
4) Meet and Greet VIP Tickets: $500
5) Meet and Greet VIP Table for 10: $4,500
Tickets are on-sale now and can be purchased at http://adoptthearts.org and http://www.axs.com/events/308980/glenn-huges-robin-zander-tickets?skin=thefonda.
Ticket prices for the ADOPT THE ARTS event are below and all donations are tax deductible:
Comedian HAL SPARKS will also be a part of the night’s festivities. Musicians confirmed to perform include ADOPT THE ARTS founder MATT SORUM (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver, Hollywood Vampires) along with GEEZER BUTLER (Black Sabbath), STEVE JONES (Sex Pistols), COREY TAYLOR (Slipknot), GILBY CLARKE (Guns N’ Roses), BILLY DUFFY (The Cult), DEAN DELEO & ROBERT DELEO (Stone Temple Pilots), STEVE LUKATHER (Toto), CHAD SMITH (Red Hot Chili Peppers), FRANKY PEREZ (Apocalyptica), STEVIE SALAS (Mick Jagger), PAUL III (Tina Turner, Disreputable Few), DAMON FOX (Big Elf and The Cult,) and DJ MORTY COYLE.
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Intermittent between live performances guests will enjoy a live and silent auction featuring some of the following items from ADOPT THE ARTS supporters:
- ADOPT THE ARTS: Two Signed Concert Event Guitars (signed by all musicians above).
- SHEPARD FAIREY: Fine Art piece, “Black Sabbath,” Print on metal (retail $3000.00).
- WOODY GUTHRIE Signed Canvas Screen Print, 18’ X 24” (numbered, edition of 450) 2010
- IGGY POP Signed Raw Power Screen Print, 18’ X 24” (numbered, edition of 650) 2010
- BLACK SABBATH Signed Silver Black Crescent Print 18’ X 24” (numbered, edition of 125) 2013 (www.obeygiant.com)
- METALLICA: Guitar signed by the band Metallica (pictured above).
- SLASH: Guitar signed by Slash (Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Guns N’ Roses).
- JOE PERRY: Guitar signed by Joe Perry (Aerosmith, Hollywood Vampires)
- BRIAN MAY: Guitar signed by Brian May (QUEEN).
- DAVE GROHL: Guitar signed by Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters).
- JOURNEY: Signed by Journey, Paul Reed Smith Se14 played by Neal Schon.
- MAROON 5: Guitar signed by the band Maroon 5.
- ELTON JOHN/DAVEY JOHNSTON: Signed guitar from Davey Johnston, legendary Elton John guitarist.
- MATT SORUM: Three, signed Guns N’ Roses s drumheads signed by Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses).
- PRINCE: Color print photo of Prince from rock photographer Gene Kirkland (signed). (www.genekirklandphotography.com)
- JOAN JETT & CHEAP TRICK: VIP Meet and Greet package at Los Angeles concert, August 23 at The Forum.
- CROSBY STILLS NASH AND YOUNG: 1974 box set.
- RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE: deluxe box set.
- AFRICAN SAFARI: All-inclusive eco-luxury African safari trip.
- LAGUNA MONTAGE: Two-night luxury hotel stay and lunch with drummer Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses).
- SAMMY HAGAR: signed cook book, two bottles of Bum Rum and two t-shirts.
- JOHN VARVATOS:
-Four 4.2 oz colognes, “Vintage,” “Artisan,” “Dark Rebel,” “Artisan Acqua.”
-One pair of Aviator sunglasses (retail $295.00).
-Signed copy of John Varvatos’ limited edition book, Rock In Fashion (retail $495.00).
-Weekender duffle bag (retail $1595.00)
- KLIPTSCH SPEAKER SYSTEM: Kliptsch Designer Speaker System (Retail $1,500).
- ZALEMARK: Two jewelry items.
