Switchfoot checks in with Q1043

Jon Foreman and Chad Butler did an interview at New York's radio station, Q1043.

Be sure to download/listen to it here


There are quite a few new tidbits we've never heard from Switchfoot before, including Jon's mini-conversation with the late Les Paul, as well as the fact that....


Switchfoot is debuting their lead single on switchfoot.com sometime this week, according to Jon. We'll keep a sharp look-out and let you all know as soon as we hear news!


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Also, pre-orders for "Hello Hurricane" will be starting any day now... keep your eyes peeled.

Goodbye to Oregon and Washington, Hello Hurricane.

New Daily Foot videos:

Washington, July 30



Oregon, July 31



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New Drewcast videos:

Sale on lead singers



Seattle welcomes thedrewcast



Backmasking?

Final Video Wrap of "Switchfoot Week;" several shows canceled

Before we go on, here is the news from the official Switchfoot.com website, as well as from their Twitter and Myspace:

7.01.09: Kent, WA July 11 Festival cancelled, new Seattle show added

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the festival in Kent, WA on July 11th has been cancelled. You can contact (here) for refund information. For those of you in the Seattle area, we have some good news. We have just confirmed a show with Blue October on July 30th at the Moore Theatre. Please click here for ticketing information

This is unfortunate news. But hey, a new show within the area is opening up! That's good news. :)

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Now, here's a video reel of some of the remaining good moments that haven't been recapped from over the weekend and last week, which has been dubbed by some "Switchfoot Week" in San Diego.

First, here's a video of "Only Hope" from the Del Mar Fair show. Switchfoot brought up Sara Watkins and Karl Denson, and Sara sang a verse!



Now, here's a hi-quality video of "Mess of Me" performed live at the Bro-Am



Another good-quality video of "Bullet Soul" from the Bro-Am



"Awakening" from the Bro-Am



"Dare You to Move" at the Bro-Am, featuring the old-school live arrangement. That's a treat for sure! I also like Jon's vocalizing at the beginning; epic!



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And finally, more rehearsal news from the Switchfoot twitter feed:

July 1, 2009

- Had a fun AM surf, now rehearsing a new tune called "always," while drew's guitar gently weeps ;) -tf http://yfrog.com/0kam5j



^Looks like Drew is going to be getting some attention on this track. What do you all think? :)

Switchfoot Rehearsing new songs for Tour!

The Switchfoot Twitter update says it all, but first, here's a gem from earlier:

June 2, 2009:

- At home depot, fiction family just started playing: when she's near. Nice. -tim

^Awesome! Now that's reaching a new demographic. hehe. I kid, I kid.


And now, the latest update:

- Evening glass-off surf session with chad, always good to jump in the ocean. Starting up tour rehearsals next week, new songs to play!!

^Fantastic. I am really looking forward to the tour now, although I did find out today that I will once more be barred from attending the Switchfoot Bro-Am this year. I am bummed, but hope you all have fun! (whoever is going that is)

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Next, we've got a pretty awesome interview with Jon Foreman, from an Italian website.

Jon Foreman
A string stretched towards the infinite

There is a constant tension between contingency and eternity in Jon Foreman’s music. In more than ten years of career as a leader of Switchfoot, Foreman has earned platinum records and Grammy nominations. As a soloist, last year he showed himself through the intimate songwriting of a series of Eps inspired by the cycle of seasons. A path focused on the willing to compare everything with his own questions. In this exclusive interview, every word has a distinct weight: that of experience faced up to its roots.

In Italy both your name and the name of your band are not so popular as they are in the U.S.... If you had to use a single sentence to introduce yourself to someone who doesn’t know anything about your music, what would you say?
Guitar driven music for thinking people.

After ten years with a successful band, what prompted you to challenge yourself with a soloist experience? What does it take to always look for something more and to keep one’s own questions alive?
I’m frightened by the unknown but I’m also drawn in, I want to know what’s on the other side. In some ways, these EP’s came from this drive. But mostly the songs determined their own fate, I was just following the loose threads.
I suppose most of the best questions in my life come from pain. When we experience elements in life that are beyond our experience are often we encounter what’s most important, maybe even The Other. Fear can kill these questions if you’re not careful.


There are plenty of biblical references, often inspired to verses taken from the Psalms, in the lyrics of your Eps. The Dylan-esque songwriting model (the one evident in songs like “Every Grain Of Sand”) seems to have deeply impressed you. Nowadays what makes those words still capable to reach the heart?
I’m not exactly sure what gives words their power. An old song can lose it’s power no matter how true it is. I feel like the role of a songwriter / prophet / lover / friend / human is to seek and tell the truth in ways that are appropriate to his/her unique situation.
In the Judeo-Christian story of creation you have a God who speaks words into being. Whether you’re writing a song or offering encouragement to your girlfriend - you are entering into the creative, relational god-like realm where words have incredible power.

Nowadays faith and art are considered to be almost incompatible with each other: so it happens that specific music categories are created (e.g., the so-called “christian-rock”), as if to imply that believers have nothing to say to men as men, but should at most talk to an audience of people having their same faith. On the contrary, your experience seems to have something different...
All of us among the living have this in common: death is coming. It’s in this tragi-comic state where we seek meaning and hope. These are where my songs come from. This is the common ground. The hoping, the searching, the dreaming, the living, the dying. These are my peers: atheists, christians, agnostics, surfers, students, homeless and millionaires.
It’s unfortunate and all too predictable to believe that the only folks for me to love are the ones that I agree with. This type of thinking fuels racism, fascism, and fear. And you can see this horrible strain of intolerance in both the right and the left. Yet music is one of the only guests who makes it into our minds uninvited. I treasure many songs written by people with different understanding of life. I expect that open minded folks would hear my songs in the same context: simple expressions of truth, beauty, pain, and hope.

Read the rest HERE

Switchfoot/Blue October Crazy Making Tour Dates; Andy Barron submitting "Hello Hurricane" art today!

First off, straight off Switchfoot's Myspace page:

Jul 26 2009 8:00P Stir Cove Council Bluffs, Iowa
Jul 27 2009 8:00P Fillmore Auditorium Denver, Colorado
Jul 28 2009 8:00P The Salt Air Salt Lake City, Utah
Jul 31 2009 8:00P The Crystal Ballroom Portland, Oregon
Aug 1 2009 8:00P San Jose Civic Auditorium San Jose, California
Aug 5 2009 8:00P The Wiltern Los Angeles, California
Aug 6 2009 8:00P House of Blues Las Vegas, Nevada
Aug 8 2009 8:00P Marquee Theater Phoenix, Arizona
Aug 9 2009 8:00P Abraham Chavez Theater El Paso, Texas
Aug 13 2009 8:00P L’Auberge Casino Lake Charles, Louisiana
Aug 14 2009 8:00P Verizon Theater Huston, Texas
Aug 15 2009 8:00P House of Blues Dallas, Texas
Aug 16 2009 8:00P House of Blues Dallas, Texas
Aug 20 2009 8:00P 4th St. Live Louisville, Kentucky
Aug 21 2009 8:00P The Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia
Aug 22 2009 8:00P House of Blues Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Aug 23 2009 8:00P Rams Head Live Baltimore, Maryland
Aug 27 2009 8:00P House of Blues Atlantic City, New Jersey
Aug 28 2009 8:00P Terminal 5 New York, New York
Aug 29 2009 8:00P Hampton Beach Casino Hampton Beach, New Hampshire
Sep 4 2009 8:00P New York State Fair-Chevrolet Court Syracuse, New York

How about you? Disappointed that your town was skipped over this time? All ramped up to buy tickets already?

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But, thanks to twitter, we now know that Mr. Andy Barron is "going to a fancy office to look at some SF artwork I did to see if they likey."

I'm sure they'll love it Andy. :)

Switchfoot/Blue October Tour to be called "Crazy Making Tour"

Here's the tour teaser poster, as posted on Blue October's Myspace page. Looks like Switchfoot will be co-headlining with Blue October, with the bands Ours and Longwave opening up.



So the tour dates will be announced Thursday, May 28th. That's tomorrow. We'll keep you posted as soon as we get more information!


I think I've just gotten 10 times more excited for this tour. I don't know why, but I just am. Should be amazing, especially now that we see that Switchfoot will be at least co-headliners. Regardless of your views on Blue October's music, you can't deny this will give Switchfoot a huge promotional push as they ready their new album this September.

And it is quite conceivable that by the time this tour kicks off, we might be talking about a brand new Switchfoot single. If that's the case, imagine the kind of boost it would get from a pretty high-profile co-headlining tour like this. Thoughts?

Switchfoot announces a tour with Blue October throughout the U.S. this summer

This just in from the Switchfoot Twitter feed:

OFFICIAL TWEET: Switchfoot is excited to announce that they will be joining Blue October on a US tour this summer http://www.switchfoot.com

AND

here's the scoop from Switchfoot.com

Switchfoot is excited to announce that they will be joining Blue October on a US tour this summer.

Tour dates will be announced on Thursday May 28th, with a PRESALE for our FRIENDS OF THE FOOT starting on Monday June 1st at 10am local venue time.

General onsale will be on Friday June 5th at 10am local venue time. Ticketing links and full show info will be posted shortly.

Color me stoked. I remember hearing Blue October's singles, "Hate Me" and "Into the Ocean" endlessly on the radio a couple years back. Not a huge fan, but I must say that it's pretty sweet that Switchfoot gets another run with a pretty big band in the adult contemporary/modern rock genre. (see 3 Doors Down Tour last year).

We'll see what comes of this. What are your thoughts on the band? On Switchfoot's decision to go on an actual tour this summer?