Infinite Color and Sound, the multimedia project led by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready and visual artist Kate Neckel, will embark on a tour this summer beginning with an appearance at the Seattle Art Fair. Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer will join them for a performance there on August 2nd at 5 p.m. They’ll follow this with more appearances in September in New York and Asbury Park, New Jersey.
The Seattle Art Fair appearance marks a full-circle moment for the duo, as McCready and his wife first met Neckel there and commissioned her to paint a family portrait. The guitarist and artist hit it off and decided to collaborate on a project that included music, painting, collage and other media. They held their first show this past March at Seattle’s Winston Wachter Gallery. At the Seattle Art Fair this year, Neckel and McCready will show their art and participate in a Q&A after their performance.
McCready and Neckel spoke with Rolling Stone earlier this year about how the project has given each of them the confidence to try something new. McCready said he grew up surrounded by art, since his mother taught it, but never felt he had it in him to create art himself. Neckel said she had a fear of playing guitar in public. They forced each other out of their comfort zones and now each of them does both.
“I operated on fear for many, many years to stay away from things that aren’t just guitar or rock, ’cause I’ve done that since I was 11,” McCready said. “This stuff is brand new to me. I’m 52 and just starting to learn all these new things about art through Kate and how to create and how do make mixed media and to be vulnerable with that. And I’ve learned from that vulnerability. It’s been a really great experience, and it’s been very quick. I feel a freedom in this that I haven’t felt before.”
Infinite Color and Sound Tour Dates
August 2nd – Seattle Art Fair @ CenturyLink Field’s Exhibition Center
September 19th – New York @ Public Arts at Public
September 21st and 22nd – Asbury Park, NJ @ See. Hear. Now Festival