Switchfoot all over the TV; Live recordings rumors?; "Bullet Soul" debuts on Billboard

For up to date (most of the time) news and original opinions before they hit the update, follow us on Twitter!

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Switchfoot took over sports television in a big way last night during the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game. ESPN has been pushing Switchfoot hard in all of the NCAA Football bowl games thus far this season, but that's not all.

The National Hockey League's All-Star game has a commercial that's currently running "Meant to Live" in the background. Check it out:



Online streamers of ESPN 3 were also treated to a college hoops commercial that featured "This Is Home":



And of course, the BCS Championship game itself saw the debut of Switchfoot's brand new music video for "We Are One Tonight." Contrary to what Hurley told us, we did NOT see a full music video. Here's what was aired during the halftime show before kicking the second half of the game:



The exposure has revived sales for "We Are One Tonight" on iTunes, netting the song a No. 75 spot on the iTunes Pop charts.



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Next item on our menu today is a report from one of our readers about a possible live recording done back in March 2010.

In response to our FootColumn that was posted the other day, where we discussed a live "Hello Hurricane" album, our friend Sarah had this to say:

Hey! I went to a Hello Hurricane show in March, and while we were waiting around, all of the security guards were telling us that we were not allowed to take pictures or record anything, because the guys were recording that show for an album. I questioned the validity of that statement as soon as it was said, but as you all know almost every show has several videos posted on Youtube, and ours has 2 that are each about 30 seconds long. So, obviously, people took their request seriously. But like I said, I don't have a clue if this is in the works or not. Fingers crossed!

^This was the Royal Oak show on March 25, 2010. As far as we know, it's not at every show that fans are told to put away their cameras. We are in the process of asking for any official confirmation, though it's not likely we'll hear anything if nothing has been announced by the band. Just thought it'd be worth noting.

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"Bullet Soul" has cracked onto Billboard's Alternative Songs chart, coming in at No. 40. Start requesting it at your local rock radio stations and follow the Footsoldiers on Twitter for more instructions!

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And lastly, I thought it'd be good to do a quick little background bio on Neal Avron, who was announced yesterday as a producer on the "Vice Verses" project.

- He recently made headlines by producing and/or mixing three straight Billboard 200 No. 1 albums last year.

* Disturbed, "Asylum," Warner Bros. (Mixed by Neal Avron - Chart Debut 9/7)
* Sara Bareilles, "Kaleidoscope Heart," Epic Records (Produced and Mixed by Neal - Chart Debut 9/14)
* Linkin Park, "A Thousand Suns," Warner Bros. (Mixed by Neal - Chart Debut 9/21)

(SOURCE: PRnewswire)

- One of the songs he helped produce, Bareilles' "King of Anything," was recently nominated for a Grammy award for Best Female Pop Vocal. (SOURCE: prweb)

- Anberlin's Avron-produced "Feel Good Drag" was a No. 1 hit on Billboard Alternative Songs.

- Here is an article in which Avron goes extremely in-depth on his production process. Though we might not understand all of the jargon, it's quite clear that Avron is very hands-on in the process, and his style could compliment Switchfoot's very well.

Possible "Always" remix?

For up to date (most of the time) news and original opinions before they hit the update, follow us on Twitter!

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According to this site, a Max Vangeli & AN21 Remix of Switchfoot's "Always" is set for release in August on Atlantic records. Interesting?

EDIT: Another, longer live video:



Here's a pretty good video of it:



Another:



^Looks/sounds pretty official to me. We'll see what happens!

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Here's a video of Switchfoot playing "Against the Voices" for a proper live audience for the first time:



^This track could be HUGE.

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Now for some Footsoldiers news, "Your Love Is a Song" is No. 10 on Alternative Addiction! great work!



Vote now!

Not only that, but "The Sound" and "Your Love Is a Song" are now the No. 1 and 3 songs requested on Alternative Addiction!



Request the songs here.

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"The Sound" is also currently No. 3 on Ratethemusic! Let's get it to No. 1! (Instructions below)


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Don't forget that Footsoldiers HQ has a new daily mission posted. Head over now to join in, but I've posted it here too. We need all the help we can get, friends!

Hey friends. I thought we should start a radio poll thread in which we all share voting links for the two current Switchfoot radio singles: “The Sound” and “Your Love Is a Song.”

Currently, we have the following:

“The Sound”

+FM 1021 in Milwaukee
+Ratethemusic.com

1. Sign up for an account on Ratethemusic.com. Be sure to indicate that your favorite music style is “Alternative”
2. There will be a list of songs that you flip through and rate on three scales: how familiar you are with the song, how much you like it, and whether or not you’re tired of hearing it on the radio. Once you reach “The Sound,” be sure to say you are familiar with the song, love it, and are not tired of hearing it on the radio

+Sirius Alt Nation

“Your Love Is a Song”

+Alternative Addiction (bonus: fill-in vote for The Sound)

If we all fill these polls out every day, we can do some damage.

So if anyone finds any other polls (online or otherwise) for us to vote on or call in and request, let us know, and we’ll add it to the list. Let’s do this, Footsoldiers!

We'll have the results in for each of these different polls as soon as we get news!

Switchfoot playing the Winter Olympics closing ceremonies? NOT TRUE

We just got confirmation from Switchfoot's management, and the rumors that the band is playing the Winter Olympics closing ceremonies is NOT TRUE.

Bummer, isn't it? That would've been great promotion for the band. But, we just gotta keep doing what we're doing. "Mess of Me" is on the verge of reaching the Top 10 of Alternative. Let's get them there!

BREAKING: "Always" featured in tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy; Switchfoot Dove Award nominations

Apparently "Always" was played on tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy. Another tv drama that loves Switchfoot. Hey, it's exposure! Thanks to Emma for sharing!

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Also, the Tennessean reported on the Dove Award nominations, and Switchfoot was chosen in two categories!

Rock Recorded Song of the Year
Song; album; artist; writer; label
“Bring Me To Life”; Welcome To The Masquerade; Thousand Foot Krutch; Trevor McNevan, Steve Augustine, Joel Bruyere; Tooth & Nail
“Fight Inside”; Innocence & Instinct; Red; Jasen Rauch, Rob Graves, Jason McArthur, Bernie Herms; Essential
“Hero”; Awake; Skillet; John L. Cooper, Korey Cooper; Atlantic, Ardent, INO Records
“Mess of Me”; Hello Hurricane; Switchfoot; Jonathan Foreman, Tim Foreman; Credential Recordings
“Mystery of You”; Innocence & Instinct; Red; Jasen Rauch, Anthony Armstrong, Rob Graves, Jason McArthur; Essential Records

Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year
Song; album; artist; writer; label
“Always”; Hello Hurricane; Switchfoot; Jonathan Foreman; Credential Recordings
“Can't Take Away”; MIKESCHAIR; MIKESCHAIR; Sam Tinnesz, Mike Grayson, Jason Ingram; Curb Records
“How He Loves”; Church Music; David Crowder*Band; John Mark McMillan; Sparrow Records/sixsteps Records
“Lay 'Em Down”; The Outsiders; NEEDTOBREATHE; Bear Rinehart, Bo Rinehart; Atlantic Records
“You Gave Me A Promise”; Unbreakable; Fireflight; Dawn Richardson, Justin Cox, Glenn Drennen, Wendy Drennen, Phee Shorb, Rob Hawkins; Flicker

^Good luck to them, although I'd much prefer a Grammy nod next year. ;)

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And lastly, we found a tweet, that we are waiting to confirm. But apparently....

Amy_ymA: 90.5 in Virginia said that @switchfoot would be playing in the closing ceremonies for the Olympics. Is this true?!

Hmm... well, we're waiting for confirmation. Will let you know as soon as we hear anything!

BREAKING/FAN REPORTS: Possible Double-album? "Goodbye Hurricane" and "Vice Verses"

According to Wombat from the official message boards in a post, the Switchfoot guys might be planning to release a double album of songs, from both the rumored "Goodbye Hurricane" and "Vice Verses."

Who wants to here some breaking Switchfoot news???? I was at the M&G in St. Louis, and Jon said they might combine Goodbye Hurricane, and VV, and make a double length album!!!

How cool would that be!

Well I asked him about goodbye hurricane, and he said they just have so many songs, and they are looking for the right ways to release them. He also said that they think a double length album for VV will be the best.

^Thanks for the news tip, Wombat. Let's see what comes of this!

Jon Foreman Terrin Durfey Show recap last night

So last night, as many of you know, Jon Foreman played the benefit show for his childhood hero Terrin Durfey, who's fighting courageously with cancer. And, as many of you know also know, he brought the webcam along.

It was a great show, with many acts coming along to play and support Terrin. Molly Jensen, Sean Watkins, Years Around the Sun, A Fine Frenzy, Ryan Ferguson, and many several others played. Jon played the final set and it was an abbreviated one. He came on at about 11:00 pm, with Keith Tutt (as usual), and Mr. Watkins as well.

He started the set playing "Southbound Train," and played a few Fiction Family tunes with Watkins, including "When She's Near," and "War In My Blood." For the latter song, Foreman invited another childhood hero of his, Rob Machado onstage to play guitar. They then finished out the set playing Jon's "hit" from the Fall EP, "The Cure For Pain."

There was much support for Terrin Durfey throughout the night, with people coming up to the webcam and wishing all the best for him. It was like a great big family gathering to hang out and love on Durfey; kudos to Jon Foreman for setting this all up and for all the bands to come, and for all the audience members to attend at such short notice.

At one point, Jon said the goal was to raise a thousand bucks from the event for Terrin Durfey, but "you guys tripled that." Amazing.

Hope this story brightens your day, friends. =)


RUMOR: (or not-so-rumor). Last night, Jono was talking about a music video they just recently shot for Fiction Family. Something about birds singing...? Hmm... interesting...! ;)


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Here's a note from Jon on his myspace blog!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008


Benefit for Terrin Durfey

Thank you to ALL the amazing musicians who performed last night at the Belly Up, and to the community who came out to support our friend Terrin Durfey. Because of your efforts, we raised around $4,000 for Terrin and his family. Thanks so much to Mia and to everyone who was involved. This night meant a lot to me, and I know it meant a lot to Terrin. Last night reminded me of what an amazing community we truly have. We love you Terrin



peace,

jon

PS. Please check out the Pinback show for Terrin at the casbah this wednesday for more great music.

Rumors, Fiction Family, and heck, a New Song!

Rumor is that Switchfoot will be touring a bit in the Fall with popular Christian rock band Third Day. In a JFH news story, here's what was found:

"The 13-song album’s first single, the aching love song “Call My Name,” releases to Christian radio on April 4, and sets the stage for the album’s release on July 29, followed by a summer of festival appearances and an ambitious fall tour schedule together with Switchfoot and Robert Randolph & The Family Band."

I have to admit I am NOT thrilled with this, if it is true. Switchfoot has made great strides in the years to shed the CCM label, but touring with Third Day is like an invitation to again be boxed into the "Christian Rock" genre they have striven to stay out of.

Of course, this hasn't been confirmed by the band yet, so we will see. It would be interesting to note that Switchfoot's first tour was with Third Day, back in the Legend of Chin days... We shall see.

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New daily foot entry!

Covington, Kentucky





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Our friend Jeanna from over on LOBH has some news after the show she was at last night.

First, she has news about The Real SeanJon/Fiction Family:

"I asked Jon about The Real SeanJon and got the answer straight from the horses mouth. They ARE going to be Fiction Family. The album might be called Betrayal or it might be self-titled. Jon’s not sure yet. But yes, say goodbye to TRSJ and hello to Fiction Family!" (Board Post)

Next, she recorded Jon Foreman playing a new song that will be on Summer, called "Instead of a Show." Here 'tis:



Thanks Jeanna!

Switchfoot Rumor-mill

DISCLAIMER: These are just rumors... and my own predictions.

EDIT: However, some of these "rumors" have been confirmed by people close to the band. Confirmed rumors have been marked as such. Peace.

Ok, so the title may have been either tantalizingly interesting or annoyingly vague. Whatever it may be, I thought I would post my grand predictions for Switchfoot this year, considering the rumors that have been heard and what not.

So let’s begin. (Keep in mind, this is just me rambling, and should not be quoted as fact or news stories! Please remember as you read through this post.)

First: “They will be working in some fashion with ATO Records” – Charlie Peacock on an interview back in December 2007. STATUS: CONFIRMED

This is one of my posts from on the Official Switchfoot message boards:

The rumor is that LCP (lowercase people Records) is an imprint label (like, nothing more than a brand name), and it will be working with ATO Records (Dave Matthews founded it), which is the label Radiohead's working with right now. This partnership, I'm particularly excited about, because they've done a great job with Radiohead's In Rainbows cd. (No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and Bodysnatchers, their single, is No. 7 on U.S. Modern Rock Radio). So if that's the case, and if its true (i hope we hear confirmation soon), then Switchfoot's in great hands!

From the ATO Records website:

“According To Our Records (ATO Records) is a record label committed to artists and building their careers. Founded by Dave Matthews, manager Coran Capshaw, and two associates - Michael McDonald and Chris Tetzeli - ATO seeks out talented songwriters, musicians and performers for whom there is genuine passion and belief. ATO strives to build career artists. As a truly independent label ATO is steadfast in our commitment to maintaining that focus.

ATO is based in New York and distributes its records through RED. ATO looks for the label to evolve naturally on an artist-by-artist basis. The priority for the label is that there be sufficient time and attention to develop each artist and each release. There is no timeline, but there is a plan to build the label on the quality of the musicians we work with.”

Another factor that might be a piece of evidence furthering this possibility, is this portion of an interview with Jon Foreman last year during the Appetite For Construction Tour:

Will Botwin, President of ATO Records, stopped by to talk to Jon for a bit during the interview. He’s foreseeing the upcoming year for Switchfoot as a big one.
It’s going to be a beautiful, daring, different, comfortable, fantastic year. It’s going be great. There’s going be a lot of activity next year. They’re one of the hardest working bands in the world and are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, on and off the stage.

Jon explained the relationship Switchfoot has with Will.
A little history on Will, he’s just a great guy. He’s currently the president of ATO Records, they put out the Radiohead record and all that. The history is, he was president of Columbia when we were there. So we’ve got a lot of history with him. He’s just a great guy. You don’t meet good people that often in the music industry. We like to work with good people. And that was the thing, we had so many great relationships over at Columbia. It’s not like anti- it’s more like when all those people leave, there’s no trust. And that’s what music is built on. It’s a relationship, its trust. The moment the trust goes away, then it’s really hard to make music that you feel comfortable with. Any relationship. Marriage, girlfriends, dogs. It’s all like, well, can I trust you. And for us, I feel like it comes to a point that we’re surrounding ourselves with people that we trust so that’s the best place to move from.

You Sing I Write Interview with Jon Foreman

Exciting! So, my bold prediction is Switchfoot will have a new hit single, and a renewed interest in them from American mainstream listeners. My theory is that Lowercase People Records will choose the singles, album release dates, etc., and ATO will handle the distribution and manufacturing.

Second: The Real SeanJon (or whatever it’s gonna be called) STATUS: NAME OFFICIALLY CHANGED TO FICTION FAMILY with a possible summer release

So I heard somewhere (not sure where), that the Real SeanJon would be working with ATO as well. They must really love Mr. Jon Foreman! Heh. But at his latest gig in San Diego, Jon told the crowd that he and Sean Watkins were looking for a new name for their duo. Perhaps Puffy finally decided to sue them! But, the release of this album is slated for before the Spring/Summer ep’s by Jon come out. That should be within the next few months. Hopefully the name change doesn’t delay it.

Third: Up In Arms Tour

Ok, so this isn’t really much of a rumor, because it’s been confirmed and all. But I’m excited nonetheless for this tour, because again, it’s a philanthropic effort by the band. They have such great hearts. But supporters of “To Write Love On Her Arms” will hear a lot more about Switchfoot because of this tour. Jamie, the founder of TWLOHA, is a great guy, and by the way, idolizes Jon Foreman. Just a thought…

Fourth: Of course, Jon Foreman’s Spring and Summer EP’s

With songs like “Your Love Is Strong,” hopefully a re-worked version of “Revenge,” and "Love Isn't Made" confirmed for the Spring EP, the next two Jon ep’s look to be just as great as the previous two. And as we are likely to hear more never-before-heard songs on these ep’s, we will not have a shortage of Jon Foreman brilliance to listen to this summer and throughout the year.

Love Isn't Made


Fifth: And, of course of course, the new Switchfoot record

“Running From Me,” “Blood Is Soil,” “People Put Your Hands Up,” and “Fluorescent” are several working titles we have heard about already from various places. I’m excited to hear “Running From Me” get the full-band Switchfoot treatment.

Here’s a video of it being played for the first time ever by Jon at a gig:




Man, the acoustic version already sounds sweet.

With new sounds, and possibly a great label behind it for support, the new Switchfoot record looks to be their most exciting yet, when you combine all the different aspects surrounding it. (independently released, ATO-backed, new sounds, etc.)

Jon Fall EP release date...?

So word is on the street, that Jon's Fall Ep is set for release November 27, of this, the 2007th year. I'm looking feverishly for any official confirmation, but none has been found yet. I'm thinking this will probably be an itunes release... not sure though.

I did find this however:


January 15, 2008
- Matthew West - Something To Say - Sparrow Records - EMICMG
- Jon Foreman - Fall & Winter EP - Sparrow Records - EMICMG
- Number One Gun - The North Pole Project - Tooth and Nail - EMICMG
- Once Nothing - First Came The Law - Tooth and Nail - EMICMG
- Ricky Dillard & The New Generation - 7th Episode Live In Toronto CD/DVD - EMIGospel - EMICMG
- Various - High School Musical 2: Dance Party - Walt Disney - EMICMG


So it looks like Sparrow will be distributing Jon's ep's on the Christian side, Lowercase People Records will be handling it overall, and Credential... oh yeah! Credential recordings! What happened to them? maybe they just signed a distributor's deal or something? We'll see in time... the Sparrow thing makes more sense to me though...

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Make sure you request Switchfoot on TRL here! If we flood them with requests, we just might be able to get this ball rolling!

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