The Daily Foot is back for the Music Builds Tour!

Andy Barron, Switchfoot's own camera operator/awesome guy, has posted an entry in the Daily Foot for the first show of the music builds tour. Go check it out:

Detroit, MI




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Also, nuclearity.org conducted a sweet feature of Jon Foreman's solo ep's. Go here now to either stream the interview/feature or download an mp3 for all posterity. Enjoy!


Speaking of Jon, here's a nice video from LOBH of a new song called "Just Rob Me." Cowboy tune at its finest!



Peace, I'm out!

Official News: Tim Foreman Speaks on the Switchfoot "Best Yet" Compilation

Just posted on the Switchfoot message boards, "hot off the press"

Hey all, here's the real details, hot off the press:

Switchfoot - the best yet

release date (tent): Nov 4, 2008



1. Dare You To Move
2. Meant To Live
3. Stars
4. Oh! Gravity
5. This is Home (full band version, not soundtrack version)
6. Learning to Breathe
7. Awakening
8. This Is Your Life
9. On Fire
10. Only Hope
11. Dirty Second Hands
12. Love is the Movement
13. Company Car
14. Lonely Nation
15. The Shadow Proves The Sunshine
16. Concrete Girl
17. Twenty-Four
18. Beautiful Letdown

What is it?

It's a 'best of' CD that Sony is releasing this fall, a typical move for a major label when one of their artists parts ways. Our first 6 albums were recorded with RE:think/EMI (the first 3) and Sony (albums 4-6), so they are working together on this.

Do we like it?

Ha, well first of all, it doesn't really matter as far as the business is concerned. Sony and EMI own the masters to these albums, so they don't need to ask us. Record companies do this sort of thing all the time (Radiohead's greatest hits album for example). It's the music business, and this is how they make money. This isn't good or bad, it just is.

However, we don't hate it at all, and here's why. We chose the songs. These are songs that we would like to play for someone who has never heard of switchfoot. After-all, isn't that the whole purpose of a 'best of' cd? It's not for the die-hard fan, it's for the guy that missed the boat the first time, but wants to still get on. I've been that guy before, so I'm not anti. If these songs are able to reach a few more pairs of ears, cool. It's definitely not something that was a part of our plan for this year as a band, but in the grand scheme of things, I think it's pretty minor. If it sounds cool to you, get it. If not, don't.

Are we proud of it?

These are some of the songs that we are most proud of, for various reasons. Of course, there's lots of others that we are also really proud of, but they might not be songs we would pick for a first listening experience. 18 songs is already a lot of songs all at once. There is quite a wide musical journey expressed in that list, and we're very proud of that part of our history as a band. We also were able to talk Sony into letting our very-own Andy Barron do all the artwork, and we're really proud of him. Go Andy! Beyond that, we've been digging into the vault to find rare video content for the deluxe edition, so that the hard-core fan that does decide to buy it won't be disappointed.

I guess I'm saying all of this because I know that these songs mean just as much to many of you as they do to us, and that's really important to us. It means a lot to us that so many of you care so much about these songs, and the way that they are presented. That's precisely why we have chosen to be an independent band moving forward, and why we're so excited about releasing a brand new record next year, and the future after that. I also know that times are tough, and you work really hard for your money, which is why we've always tried to keep our costs down at shows and stuff. And I guess I just don't want anyone within our family to feel like a major label is squeezing them dry. You're in charge here. If you don't think it's worth it, then please pass, save your hard-earned money for a 1/4 tank of gas. Or, if it sounds exciting to you, then get it for that reason, and not because you're the victim of some well-crafted corporate scheme. Be empowered and be free to make your own choice. We love you guys, and we've been trying to navigate this final farewell from Sony very carefully, so that no one is taken advantage of, and we're happy with how it has played out so far. More importantly, we're excited to put this behind us and finish making what we already believe to be our best record yet. Hope to see you all on the road this fall,

love, tim

my personal thoughts later... but have a great day everyone. Thanks to Tim for clearing it all up for us. Apparently the previously released info is slightly off...

Featured Video: Switchfoot Plays Buddy Holly (by Weezer)

So this is a slightly odd time and space for our newest Featured Video of the Week. But since we haven't had one in a million years, I thought now would be as good a time as any.

As many of you know, The Music Builds tour is now in full swing, and the Third Days are rockin, the Jars of Clays are strummin, the Robert Randolphs are jammin, and the Switchfoots are doing their usual thing.

The video above is taken from the first show of the tour, at DTE Energy Music Theater in Detroit, MI. At one point during their set, Switchfoot covered "Buddy Holly" by Weezer. But a potential highlight of the night was marred by the audience. Yes, that's right, the audience ruined the song -- by not responding. Considering the Christian audience targeted by this tour, this song went over many heads at that show. It's sort of sad, but I think it's still pretty awesome the band played this song.

Chad Butler has said that the Switchfoot guys are probably not going to play the song anymore, because the audience didn't "get it," so here is the one and only time (at least on this tour) that this song is getting played by the band. Enjoy fams!

Fiction Family Record due January 2009

Yes. thanks to AGoofyFoot from the official message boards, who reported the following:

Don't know if this has already been posted or not, but I was at the Jon Foreman show last night (AMAZING show by the way) and he said that the Fiction Family album is coming out in January.

Thanks Goofy, and this is solid news! I was hoping they would stick with the Fall 2008 release slate, but it apparently is gonna take a little bit longer. Could this mean that Starbucks is ramping up for a serious promotion.

Let's not get our hopes up... a certain other LARGE entertainment corporation associated with a Mouse and boy bands named Jonas hasn't come through on a certain single for a certain movie...

Anyways, exciting stuff!

Vote for the songs on Jon Foreman's "Limbs and Branches" compilation!

jonforeman.com has a voting list for which songs will make the "best of" compilation "Limbs and Branches" full-length cd.

Go there now and cast your vote, and we'll see which ones make the final tracklist!

(Disclaimer: we posted an announced tracklist, but like the release said, it was tentative)

"The Best Yet" and "Limbs and Branches" news, tracklistings, etc.

Yes, we are beginning to receive some news on the compilations due out October 28, 2008 from Switchfoot and Jon Foreman. Here's the report from JFH:

NEWS SOURCE: EMI CMG
August 20, 2008

Jon Foreman is known as the frontman for multi-platinum selling rock band Switchfoot, but he’s quickly developing a unique following of his own with his solo EPs. All 4 EPs have connected deeply with fans and have earned widespread acclaim from press and media. The music has also connected with TV and Film audiences, with “The Cure for Pain” featured in the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy, and the film Bella.

Foreman's next project, Limbs and Branches, releases October 28th and collects the most popular songs from his 4 EPs Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer, and adds 2 new songs. With standard Jewel Case packaging, Limbs and Branches is designed to be the long-running SKU for Jon Foreman’s solo material. As a solo artist, Foreman has sold well over 100,000 EPs.

The track list for Limbs and Branches, which is subject to change, is:
01. The Cure For Pain
02. A Mirror Is Harder To Hold
03. My Love Goes Free
04. Behind Your Eyes
05. Your Love Is Strong
06. Southbound Train
07. Lord, Save Me From Myself
08. Learning How To Die
09. House Of God, Forever
10. Equally Skilled
11. NEW SONG - TBD
12. NEW SONG TBD

Also on October 28th, Jon Foreman's band Switchfoot will release The Best Yet, their first greatest hits compilation. The Best Yet features the best songs from all their albums, including their smash hits “Meant to Live” and “Dare You To Move”, as well as the radio hits “Stars”, “Oh! Gravity.”, “Awakening” and “This is Your Life”. Also included is the recent Top 20 single “This is Home”, featured in Walden Media / Walt Disney Entertainment’s film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Over the course of 10 years, Switchfoot has become of the most respected bands in Christian music and is known for creating groundbreaking music that is compelling for both its sound and presence, and socially aware lyrics. With their breakthrough album The Beautiful Letdown, Switchfoot’s music resonated with a broader audience that wanted more than this world had to offer, and saw 2 singles climb into the Top 10 of pop radio. Switchfoot will be on tour this Fall with Third Day & Jars of Clay on The Music Builds Tour.
Switchfoot

The track list for The Best Yet is:
01. This Is Home
02. Dare You To Move
03. Meant To Live
04. This Is Your Life
05. The Beautiful Letdown
06. On Fire
07. Stars
08. The Shadow Proves the Sunshine
09. Awakening
10. Oh! Gravity.
11. Learning To Breathe
12. Only Hope
13. Love is the Movement
14. Company Car
15. Concrete Girl

------------------------------

Thanks to insideREVOLUTION, we have the artwork for the two projects:




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Opinion:

In my opinion, the tracklisting for the Jon Foreman project sounds fairly good enough, although I do wish that "Love Isn't Made" made the final cut. Also interested to find out whether Jon is going to go forward with letting the fans vote on songs to include.

That sad, I'm excited to hear the two new songs!


"The Best Yet" Switchfoot compilation on the other hand is slightly confusing. Besides the inexplicable inclusion of "The Beatiful Letdown" (song) and "Concrete Girl," there is also the strange order in which the tracks are listed. "This Is Home" as the lead-off track is slightly bizarre to me, and the only explanation I can think of is that Columbia wanted to use the latest Switchfoot single as a bit of a selling point, and putting it first on the list could help in that regard...? I don't know... haha.

Discuss!

Apologies...

I would like to send out this message to all our peeps... saying no, I haven't forgotten about you.

I am starting a new chapter in my life and am going to be in college orrientation all this week. I'm going to do my best to keep updating the bloggy but for now, I am very busy with activities. I have a major headache and sore legs to prove it... and it's all very fun and worth it.

Thankfully, we are in a bit of a lull as far as Switchfoot news... but I'm still hanging around. I hope you all don't go away... I really love you guys! (not in a gay way of course).

Very excited for the new Switchfoot record! Once we get more news and when I'm more situated to college life, things will pick up again.

Thanks for reading so far and being on this journey. Keep checking back and maybe leave a comment, eh? Peace out friends!

Jon Foreman Surprise Webcam Show last night!

Yes, there's a new name for this 3-show stint of a tour! I'm really digging the Sgt. Peppers look... And as a surprise, Andy Barron gave us a webcam seat at the show last night!

Here's the illustrious full set list:

Southbound Train
Lord Save Me From Myself
War in My Blood
Only Hope
Revenge
Your Love is Strong
In My Arms
Betrayel
The Moon is A Magnet
Learning How to Die
Instead of a Show
Sorrow
Behind Your Eyes
A Mirror is Harder to Hold
Dare You to Move
The Cure for Pain

--------------------

for recap and other goodies, hop on over the webcam blog. Jess has got it all covered for ya! She's the best! =)

Fiction Family's First "Official" Gig; Switchfoot songs on the Olympics...?

There have been reports from readers that Switchfoot and Jon Foreman songs have been featured in the TV coverage for these 2008 Olympics! Insane!

Here's what people have heard:

Jon Foreman - Behind Your Eyes (thanks Karen!)

Switchfoot - Stars

This is good... keep your eyes peeled for more...

----------------------------

Next, we have coverage from the first official Fiction Family show ever! al-is-ia from the official boards has provided us with some videos from the show along with the setlist and stuffs.

BOARD TOPIC

Anyway - they played:


1. War in my Blood
2. When she's Near
3. Not Sure
4. Betrayal
5. Song I don't know the name of
6. A song by just Sean - I don't know the name.
7. Your Love is Strong (just Jon)
8. Elements - by Sean
9. They finished with a song that had something to do with the movie "Endless Summer" and surfing

Now here's some youtube videos she put up.

When She's Near

New Song 1



Surfing Song


This is so great! Thanks al-is-sia!

Switchfoot's Chad Butler talks about "This Is Home"

damaris.org interviewed drummer Chad Butler about the song-writing process, inspirations, and other things pertaining to "This Is Home," as well as his admiration for C.S. Lewis.

To download or listen to the song, go here! well, that's about it for today...

Switchfoot New Song Titles!!

Yes, the Switchfoot studio webcam is abuzz with information! The guys gave us all a glimpse of the song lists for this upcoming album. And boy, are there some crazy names! One of our writers, amylynnequist, posted screen caps of this moment, for those who missed it, on the Switchfoot Webcam 08 blog!

Here's the caps:












And check out all the ridiculously awesome song titles!

Above the Roar
Always Yours
Anymore
As Wide As the Grave
Baby, Please Don't Cry
Blood is Soul
Bluebird
Bullet Soul
Contradiction
Dirty Streets of Gold
Dontcha Know
Fading
Fluorescent
Halfway
Hello Hurricane
Holding On (CROSSED OUT)
I Can't Let It Go This Time
I Dug Myself
I Saw Satan Fall
Light and Heavy
Meantime
Moving Lips
Mr. Hyde
Needle + Haystack
New Streams
People, Put Your Hands Up
Promise
Push (The Human Race)
Red Eyes
Running From Me
Selling the News
Sleepwalking
Someday
Souvenirs
Sun In Your Eyes
Sunrise to Sunset
The Weight of the World
There's Still Time
These Missing Things
We Walk Alone
Weapon
Whatcha Gonna Do For Deal?
Wide Open Spaces
Wolves
Wound Up
Yet
You Were Made For Love
Your Body Follows


Some of them are familiar friends from previous recording sessions past, like "We Walk Alone," "Wolves," "Red Eyes" etc. from the Oh! Gravity. sessions. Others have been highly buzzed-about and anticipated, like "Running From Me," "Blood Is Soil," and "People Put Your Hands Up."

I'm really liking the title, "Hello Hurricane." Of course, we'll have to reserve judgment for when we actually hear songs.

-------------------------------------

Speaking of the webcam, we have a new writer in the fold for the Webcam blog! Say hi to Jess :)!

Here's her first entry!

Jon Foreman talks Solo, the San Diego scene, lowercase people, and the new, "much more adventurous" Switchfoot record

There's a brand new interview with Switchfoot's Jon Foreman, and it quite frankly is amazing. MattConner.net conducted the interview, and he had some great, great questions. Below are some of my favorite excerpts:

SSv: You say you had a need to get it out there, but if that’s just a need to get some feelings out, then you can still keep those things to yourself. So what need is served by getting those out to the masses?

Foreman: [Pause] I think it’s one of those things where how needed is music anyways. If you look at it as a chemical process or something, it’s not really needed. But maybe it’s connecting with people that’s a need of mine.

SSv: I’ve noticed that you’re back in the studio with Switchfoot and there are still lots of band dates on the calendar, so can you tour behind the EPs at all?

Foreman: A little bit. It’s always been done as a true side project. You just have to squeeze it in with my day job. [Laughs] Just basically wherever the tour dates take me, I’ll just play some place that night if there’s a place available there - no ticket sales or fanfare or CDs sold. It’s just for the sake of music.

SSv: Are there thoughts to keep doing it on the side?

Foreman: Yes, I’ve already got an idea for the next one. I really want to dive into the Switchfoot project first. Another project coming up was done with a friend of mine, Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek, and that’s going to be coming out early in the next year. It’s called Fiction Family. It’s been done for the last year and we’re finally going to put it out. We were gonna call it The Real SeanJon but we figured Puffy’s lawyers wouldn’t make life very fun for us. [Laughs]

SSv: You brought up San Diego… I know you do the Bro-Am, the surfing benefit. Are you still plugged into the music scene there?

Foreman: Yeah, it’s a scene I’m really proud of. I love it. I guess it’s like anything that’s familiar. It doesn’t matter how it really is, to you it’s a beautiful thing. There are a lot of things about it that aren’t that great, I guess. For years, we didn’t really have any good shows and there’s a lot of things I see in other scenes that might be a little better than what we have here, but…

One of the best thing we do have is that people are fairly open-minded. There’s a real camaraderie. I don’t see that in a scene like L.A., for example. It seems people are driven more by getting signed to a major. Whereas in San Diego, that’s a pipe dream but the goal at hand is to have a great night and be a part of the music. In the end, you don’t have to belong to a certain clique. That’s been a huge element for shaping what we do. To be able to find out who you are, that’s an amazing freedom.

SSv: What can you tell us about the new Switchfoot?

Foreman: Basically we’re completely free. We have no ties to anyone at this point. That feels really good.

SSv: Is that scary in a way?

Foreman: Absolutely - scary and great. It’s like being in love. ‘It’s amazing. And I’m scared out of my mind.’ No, it’s great though. We just built our own studio and so that makes us even more free. The last few days we’ve been engineering the record ourselves. It’s amazing but at the same time, it can be a little terrifying at times.

SSv: Are there shades of one album more than another?

Foreman: The first three records we did under a label called Re:Think and the next three we did with Columbia. I’m not sure how many more we have in us, but it does feel like a brand new era that we really want to define with this new record. We’re just trying to take some time to develop a landscape that we can work off of.

SSv: Do you think about your career longevity - you mentioned that you don’t know how many more you have left in you?

Foreman: Sometimes we do. We’re a rare breed for a band in that we really do like each other. [Laughs] We love being with each other and we love making music together. Even with Sean and Fiction Family, I realize that you can only have one first time. And for us to travel around the world and go to Europe for the first time, Australia for the first time, Philippines or wherever. Or you can only hear your single on the radio for the first time once. There’s only one group of people you can do that with. That cements a bond with us and the way that we work, so I hope we can do this for a lot longer. As long as that bond exists, I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t be making music. Whether anyone wants to hear it is a different story.

SSv: So when you say you want to start a new era, what does that musically mean? Do you approach songwriting differently? Do you reach out to new directions you’ve never tried before?

Foreman: We’re picking songs that are much more adventurous. There are hundreds of songs that we’re trying to choose from, but we’re going with the oddballs first. Also, I feel that our last record was a little bit more of a cityscape with everything in the foreground vying for your attention. I really want this next record to be kind of a desert or ocean where you can see the horizon and that’s the context. You want to see that stretch through all the songs. That’s my intention for this next record that you could pull the lens back a bit and see a bit more of the sky.

SSv: I wanted to ask about Lowercase People and hear what’s happening there.

Foreman: That’s kind of a sore spot for me because it’s been a fight, you know? I think we had just been coming off of the success of Beautiful Letdown and a trip to Africa and a trip to India and we were basically thinking, ‘How do we involve art and beauty and mix that with truth? How do we sing songs about redemption and second chances and enact that with our hands? How can see beauty and truth come together?’ I think in many cases, those two are the same thing. They asked the scientists working on the double helix DNA structure, ‘After years of setbacks that proved you are wrong, how did you continue until you found the truth?’ And they responded with, ‘Well, it was too beautiful to not be true.’

I feel as a musician, that’s the reason I keep doing what I do. It’s too beautiful not to be true. We’re hoping that we could start doing that in a social justice way - not charity but actually taking the beautiful elements of South Africa and bringing them as an export to financially help them out. We recorded a record of the kids and I guess that was the first record we put out on Lowercase Records. The goal being to get some of the kids through college and I guess that’s not a failed dream. Many of them have gone to college and had their tuitions paid for and they’ve toured the U.S. a couple times.

But we kind of came to the conclusion that maybe we should stick to doing it in tangible ways rather than the pipe dream ways. For us, instead of this online magazine that we were putting a lot of money into, we decided to give money from the tours we were on directly to the people who needed it, instead of through the magazine. The last few tours we’ve done have been for To Write Love On Her Arms and Habitat for Humanity. Habitat is a great organization and I guess the dream is still alive in that way. But the dream as it pertains to Lowercase People - the online magazine is something we’re still trying to figure out. We were hoping it would spur a lot of people to action and our money would actually be going toward the West trying to wake people up to what is going on in third world countries. But I guess we didn’t see the returns we were hoping for.

Read the rest here

Build a Habitat for Humanity House with Switchfoot!; 2008 San Diego Music Awards; My Billboard Opinion

from the switchfoot.com homepage!

WIN A CHANCE TO BUILD A HABITAT FOR HUMANITY HOUSE WITH SWITCHFOOT and THE MUSIC BUILDS TOUR!



INVITE YOU TO WIN A CHANCE TO BUILD A HABITAT FOR HUMANITY HOUSE WITH BANDS ON
THE MUSIC BUILDS TOUR!

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO WIN.....
From August 5 through August 15th, you can win a trip to join SWITCHFOOT, THIRD
DAY, JARS OF CLAY AND ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND as they build a house
alongside a Habitat for Humanity partner homeowner family.

TO ENTER: Add the donation badge found at www.myspace.com/musicbuilds to your
MySpace page. Then get your Friends to donate or copy the badge. On August
15th, 2008 the two fans who have collected the greatest number of donations
through their network of Friends will be the winners.

THE PRIZES: One winner will build at a Habitat for Humanity site in
Indianapolis on August 22, 2008 and a second winner will build at a Habitat
for Humanity site in Nashville on September 21, 2008. Winners will be VIP
guests at the Music Builds Tour on the same night as their build with great
seats to the show, as well as special band merchandise.
Winners will also receive a $1000.00 American Express gift card to cover
travel and accommodations. MUST BE 18 or over to enter the contest.

For additional information and to get the donation badge, visit
www.myspace.com/musicbuilds between August 5 and 15th. Then check back to
see if you've won!!

OR:
Visit www.ebay.com/musicbuildstour from August 5-15 to bid on a chance to
Join the bands from the Music Builds Tour and Habitat as they build in Indianapolis
or Nashville. Prizes will include: *2 build slots for winner and guest * 2 VIP Tickets to the Music Builds Tour show that evening in corresponding city
*Special Band Merchandise

AND WIN A CHANCE TO BE UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH THE BANDS:
DON'T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO BID ON YOUR VIP CONCERT EXPERIENCE WITH 100%
PROCEEDS GOING TO HABITAT FOR HUMANITY AFFILIATES
URL: www.ebay.com/musicbuildstour

We hope you will support Habitat for Humanity by bidding on the auctions.
Winners will receive a once in a lifetime concert experience including two
premium tickets to the show (exact locations are shown in listing), a private
meet and greet with the bands, and special tour merchandise. Through a
program run by Hollywood for Habitat for Humanity, proceeds from this auction will
benefit Habitat for Humanity local affiliates in cities where the Music Builds
Tour will play this summer and fall, and we are the beneficiary of this one!
Now that you know about this great auction, you can do YOUR part by helping us
spread the word. Please feel free to forward to everyone you know and
encourage them to bid often before the auction ends on August 15th.

Chad from Switchfoot: "We dreamed up The Music Builds Tour along with a few
friends of ours whose main commonality is a dream to see this world change
for the better. Different bands, different backgrounds, one goal: A traveling
festival to raise money and awareness for Habitat for Humanity. We think
very highly of the people who listen to our music. We are grateful for the open
minded audience who have embraced our songs and allowed us to push the
boundaries of where the music can go. We invite you to put differences in
musical taste aside and focus on our commonalities: we all want to see this
world change for the better. We hope that you'll come with us on this next
part of the journey and get involved in something much bigger than
ourselves."

Exciting opportunity! Go enter!

-------------------------------------------------

It's time for the San Diego Music Awards 2008. LOBH posted the nominations, and Switchfoot is up for two awards this year:

Song of the Year
Grand Ole Party - Look, Young, Son
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
P.O.D.- Addicted
Slightly Stoopid - 2am
Switchfoot - This is Home
The Muslims - Extinction
The Night Marchers - Who's Lady R U
Tristan Prettyman - Hello

Artist of the Year
Angels & Airwaves
As I Lay Dying
B-Side Players
Grand Ole Party
Greg Laswell
Peter Sprague
Switchfoot
Tristan Prettyman

we're gonna be allowed to vote, (like last year), so be ready! The polls go up in just a little while!

I'm torn... I kinda like "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz... definitely one of my favorite songs, especially with the remake for this year's new album... but "This Is Home" will definitely have my vote!

-------------------------------------------------

And now, for some of my reaction (for anyone interested) to the Billboard.com article that was reposted here in its entirety yesterday:

"Amid a flurry of group and individual projects, Switchfoot is eyeballing a spring 2009 release for its next album -- the San Diego rockers first since 2006's "Oh! Gravity" and since leaving Columbia to start its own label, the ATO-distributed Lowercase People Records. "

-I'm loving "the ATO-distributed Lowercase People Records" line. It's finally officially confirmed, after much lallygagging and theorizing and obsessing over on my end. woo... finally. Spring 2009 seems a long way off, but it'll be on us very very soon.

"There are so many different directions we can go in," frontman Jon Foreman tells Billboard.com. "One of the songs has a (Led) Zeppelin feel. One of them has more of a Devo feel. So it's Led Devo, or something along those lines. I feel like the headspace we're in now, the glass ceiling's been shattered. We're excited to see how far we can take this thing."

-Loving the Zeppelin direction... not really feeling the Devo... We'll see. As long as the guys are amped and stoked, it should turn out great!

"Foreman says Switchfoot has tried working with several producers, including Failure's Ken Andrews and Charlie Peacock, but ultimately decided to produce the album itself. "I feel like we've got a fairly firm grip on what we want do," Foreman says, "and I feel like we can get there on our own."

-This is a pretty bold step. This will be the first time Switchfoot goes it entirely alone in the studio. You gotta love how the band has a clear vision of where they want to go with this record. I'm sure Charlie Peacock will still be involved, but only in the Executive Producer role.

"The band has also taken an active role in helping Columbia compile a greatest hits album for release this fall, which will likely include "This Is Home," Switchfoot's contribution to the soundtrack of "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian."

"We want to make sure if it's got our name on it (that) it's a product we like," Foreman says, "so we're trying to steer (Columbia) in the right direction.""

-Makes a lot more sense now. Originally, the idea of Sparrow putting out a Greatest Hits album for Switchfoot made little sense, but again, we find Switchfoot's old label at it again, putting out Switchfoot material post-band-leaving. At least the band is allowed to give input... should turn out great!

"Foreman, meanwhile, has been busy on his own. He recently completed a series of four seasonal-themed EPs and is allowing fans to help him choose their favorite tracks for a compilation, "Limbs and Branches," that's also expected out this fall.

And he and Nickel Creek's Sean Watkins are putting the finishing touches on the first album by their side project, Fiction Family, which they hope to get out before the end of the year in front of an early 2009 tour."

-Fiction Family!! It's been way to long, and I'm really hoping the Starbucks deal comes through. That's a ton of exposure, should it happen.

Lots of great music to look forward to! Be Uber excited!

Big News: Switchfoot targets a Spring 2009 release!

Note: sorry everyone for lack of updates. I was gone the whole weekend, and there is little in the form of Switchfoot news. However, Billboard had an article posted with TONS of Switcfoot news, the biggest of which is that the new record is to be released sometime in the Spring of 2009. Because it's such a great article, I've posted it in its entirety here. Enjoy!

August 01, 2008 , 2:05 PM ET

Amid a flurry of group and individual projects, Switchfoot is eyeballing a spring 2009 release for its next album -- the San Diego rockers first since 2006's "Oh! Gravity" and since leaving Columbia to start its own label, the ATO-distributed Lowercase People Records.

Switchfoot has been working in a studio it constructed in San Diego, chronicling some of the sessions via webcam on its Web site. "There are so many different directions we can go in," frontman Jon Foreman tells Billboard.com. "One of the songs has a (Led) Zeppelin feel. One of them has more of a Devo feel. So it's Led Devo, or something along those lines. I feel like the headspace we're in now, the glass ceiling's been shattered. We're excited to see how far we can take this thing."

Foreman says Switchfoot has tried working with several producers, including Failure's Ken Andrews and Charlie Peacock, but ultimately decided to produce the album itself. "I feel like we've got a fairly firm grip on what we want do," Foreman says, "and I feel like we can get there on our own."

Switchfoot may have some new material to showcase when it sets out on the Music Builds Tour, a 23-show road trip supporting Habitat For the Humanity that includes fellow faith-based groups Third Day, Robert Randolph & the Family Band and Jars Of Clay. It kicks off Aug. 21 in Clarkston, Mich. The band has also taken an active role in helping Columbia compile a greatest hits album for release this fall, which will likely include "This Is Home," Switchfoot's contribution to the soundtrack of "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian."

"We want to make sure if it's got our name on it (that) it's a product we like," Foreman says, "so we're trying to steer (Columbia) in the right direction."

Foreman, meanwhile, has been busy on his own. He recently completed a series of four seasonal-themed EPs and is allowing fans to help him choose their favorite tracks for a compilation, "Limbs and Branches," that's also expected out this fall.

And he and Nickel Creek's Sean Watkins are putting the finishing touches on the first album by their side project, Fiction Family, which they hope to get out before the end of the year in front of an early 2009 tour.

SOURCE

I'll weigh in later on tonight or tomorrow. Peace out. This information has been added to our New Album News page. Go there to check out what else has happened so far in the development of this new album!