Rick Allen Hits the Road on 'Drums For Peace' Art Tour
Rick Allen is no stranger to going on the road -- but usually with his drums, rather than his artwork.
This month the Def Leppard co-founder launches a North American art tour with "Rick Allen: Drums For Peace," an exhibit that benefits military veterans via Project Resiliency, at the Wentworth Gallery in Atlanta. Allen himself will make a special Veterans Day appearance at the exhibit on Nov. 11, signing and talking about the mixed media collection that includes his paintings on drum heads, toy buses, clothing and other objects.
"I got into painting as a kid, before I got into music," Allen tells Billboard. "I'm not trained but it's something that I really enjoy doing simply because it takes me to the same place I go when I play music, sort of the mindless place where you're just in the moment and there are no rules -- almost a meditative state. It's just sort of the pursuit of that even flow, that zone."
Allen's connection to veterans' causes, meanwhile, dates back a dozen years. Having lost his left arm in a New Year's Eve 1984 car crash, Allen feels a connection to those returning from duty with debilitating injuries. He and his wife Lauren Monroe established their own charity, the Raven Drum Foundation, and began using it to provide assistance to the troops, receiving A Humanitarian Award from Maria Shriver's Best Buddies Foundation along the way.
Source: Billboard