Smashing Pumpkins [ tickets ] maestro Billy Corgan [ tickets ], who earlier this summer announced that the band was working in the studio with 19-year-old Michael Byrne in the wake of original drummer Jimmy Chamberlain's departure, has now announced Byrne's full-fledged induction into the group.

"Through the open audition process, I was astounded by how many great drummers there were that wanted the chance to try out for The Pumpkins," Corgan said in a prepared statement. "We counted over 1,000 submissions, and what made Mike stand out was he just seemed to have that X-factor that all the great drummers have, a stunning blend of power, speed, and grace. I'm excited to work with him moving forward--he truly deserves this opportunity. I believe in my heart he will push me to be a better musician."

"I'm super excited to be playing with the band," Byrne said. "Dream come true, man."

Byrne--who began playing drums at age 11 and formed his first band, Mercury Tree, at age 15--said he has been a Smashing Pumpkins fan for years.

"It was a really good time in my life to hear the Pumpkins music when I was 13," he said. "It just connected with me and it was sort of a window into something really different and eclectic. The band was a little bit more willing to take risks than a lot of the stuff I had been listening to. That was exciting and fresh to me. And then delving into a lot of it just definitely resonated on a creative level with me.

"I've always thought that Billy's interpretation of music was a real fresh one," Byrne continued, "and that because the band was so rooted in the idea of kind of being like a musical shape-shifter, I feel that honestly it would work just perfectly. It's not so much that I have some fresh point of view that he's not already investigating so much as every time they release something it's sort of a new direction and so working with him is easy in that we're not operating on any founded musical principals. We're starting from scratch and just working our influences up into something totally different."

Byrne will hit the road with Corgan later this month for Corgan's previously announced solo tour, billed as "Billy Corgan with special guests Spirits in the Sky." The brief West Coast outing kicks off Aug. 26 in Visalia, CA, and wraps five days later in Los Angeles. Details are shown below.