-
Augustine of Hippo
: For other uses, see Augustine, Augustinus and Saint Augustine.
http://wn.com/Augustine_of_Hippo -
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has been a major figure in music for six decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was at first an informal chronicler, and later an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of his songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" became anthems for the American civil rights and anti-war movements. His early lyrics incorporated a variety of political, social and philosophical, as well as literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed hugely to the then burgeoning counterculture. Initially inspired by the songs of Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Hank Williams, and the performance style of Little Richard, Dylan has both amplified and personalized musical genres, exploring numerous distinct traditions in American song—from folk, blues and country to gospel, rock and roll, and rockabilly, to English, Scottish, and Irish folk music, embracing even jazz and swing.
http://wn.com/Bob_Dylan -
Brand New Heavies
The Brand New Heavies are an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing, a suburb of London, England.
http://wn.com/Brand_New_Heavies -
Charlie Peacock
Charlie Peacock (born Charles William Ashworth, August 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, record producer, session musician, author, and advocate for social justice. He is often noted as a unique musical and lyrical voice, intelligent, innovative, and difficult to categorize. His resume includes touring artist, much-recorded songwriter, record producer, record company president, seminary student, jazz pianist, and Sr. A&R; consultant to mega-music publisher, Sony/ATV.
http://wn.com/Charlie_Peacock -
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. Grohl began his music career in the 1980s as the drummer for several Washington, D.C.-area bands, including the hardcore punk band Scream. In 1990 he became the drummer for grunge group Nirvana. Following the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in April 1994, Grohl formed Foo Fighters as frontman and songwriter. In addition to leading Foo Fighters, Grohl has also been involved in other musical projects, including Queens of the Stone Age and his heavy metal side project Probot, and has performed session work for a variety of musicians, including Killing Joke, Tenacious D, Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy and Slash. Most recently, Grohl formed Them Crooked Vultures with Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, Eagles of Death Metal) and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin).
http://wn.com/Dave_Grohl -
Hello Hurricane
Hello Hurricane is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was co-produced by the band and Mike Elizondo, after initially self-producing their work, as well as test runs with producers such as Ken Andrews and Charlie Peacock. The album was recorded mainly in the band's Spot X Studio in their hometown of San Diego, California. It was originally to be released on October 6, 2009, but was pushed back to a November 10, 2009 release on their independent record label, the Atlantic-distributed lowercase people records.
http://wn.com/Hello_Hurricane -
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003), born J. R. Cash, was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Although he is primarily remembered as a country music artist, his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly and rock and roll—especially early in his career—as well as blues, folk, and gospel. Late in his career, Cash covered songs by several rock artists, among them the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails and the synthpop band Depeche Mode.
http://wn.com/Johnny_Cash -
Jon Foreman
Jonathan Mark Foreman (born October 22, 1976) is the lead singer, guitarist, main songwriter and co-founder of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. He started Switchfoot in 1996 with drummer Chad Butler and bassist Tim Foreman (Jonathan's brother).
http://wn.com/Jon_Foreman -
Keith Green
Keith Gordon Green (October 21, 1953 – July 28, 1982) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, musician, and Contemporary Christian Music artist originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Beyond his music, which shook the Christian world and recording industry, Green is best known for his strong devotion to Christian evangelism and challenging others to the same. Often considered controversial for his frequently confrontational lyrics and spoken messages, some notable songs written by Green and/or his wife, Melody Green, include "Your Love Broke Through," "You Put This Love In My Heart," and "Asleep In The Light." Green is also known for numerous popular modern hymns, including "O Lord, You're Beautiful" and "There Is A Redeemer."
http://wn.com/Keith_Green -
Mandy Moore
Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer.
http://wn.com/Mandy_Moore -
Matt Thiessen
Matthew Arnold Thiessen (born August 12, 1980) is a Canadian-American musician, known for being co-founder, lead singer, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the Christian rock band Relient K. With Relient K, he has released six full-length albums, including three that were certified Gold, and three that peaked in the top twenty on the Billboard 200. Outside of his work with Relient K, Thiessen maintains a low-profile side project called Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes. In 2009, he co-produced and collaborated on Owl City's chart-topping album Ocean Eyes.
http://wn.com/Matt_Thiessen -
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and philanthropist. Referred to as the King of Pop, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. His contribution to music, dance and fashion, along with a much-publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. The eighth child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in the mid-1960s, and began his solo career in 1971.
http://wn.com/Michael_Jackson -
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.
http://wn.com/Miles_Davis -
Phil Keaggy
Philip Tyler Keaggy (born March 23, 1951, in Youngstown, Ohio) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 50 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets. He is a seven-time recipient of the GMA Dove Award for Instrumental Album of the Year, and was twice nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album. He has frequently been listed as one of the world's top-3 "fingerstyle" as well as "fingerpicking" guitarists by Guitar Player Magazine readers' polls.
http://wn.com/Phil_Keaggy -
René Descartes
René Descartes (; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) (Latinized form: Renatus Cartesius; adjectival form: "Cartesian"), was a French philosopher, mathematician, physicist, and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the "Father of Modern Philosophy," and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day. In particular, his Meditations on First Philosophy continues to be a standard text at most university philosophy departments. Descartes' influence in mathematics is also apparent; the Cartesian coordinate system—allowing geometric shapes to be expressed in algebraic equations—was named after him. He is credited as the father of analytical geometry. Descartes was also one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution.
http://wn.com/René_Descartes -
Sean Watkins
Sean Charles Watkins (born February 18, 1977) is a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is a member of the contemporary folk band Nickel Creek, the duo Fiction Family and the supergroup Works Progress Administration.
http://wn.com/Sean_Watkins -
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Judkins (born May 13, 1950), name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris, known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist. Blind from shortly after birth, Wonder signed with Motown Records' Tamla label at the age of eleven, and continues to perform and record for Motown to this day.
http://wn.com/Stevie_Wonder -
Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( or ; ) (5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a deeply religious Danish Theologian who took an interest in the new culture developing in the first half of the nineteenth century. The Age of Reason had replaced the age of faith established by the Holy Roman Empire. Kierkegaard devoted his life to the affirmation of the Lutheran faith against Reason and all forms of speculation in the realm of Christianity. In 1842 he heard every philosopher say, "Everything must be doubted," so he began doubting everything until he heard the philosphers say, "One must not waste time on doubting, but must just begin straight away on philosophy." He had been brought up to believe that "even an ordinary person endeavors to do what he says, though it may happen that he does something else through ignorance, because he does not understand himself. Yet this cannot happen with the philosopher." Four years later he wrote, "it should immediately be borne in mind that the issue is not about the truth of Christianity but about the individual’s relation to Christianity, consequently not about the indifferent individual’s systematic eagerness to arrange the truths of Christianity in paragraphs but rather about the concern of the infinitely interested individual with regard to his own relation to such a doctrine".
http://wn.com/Søren_Kierkegaard -
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns Eliot OM (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965) was an American-born English poet, playwright, and literary critic, arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. The poem that made his name, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock—started in 1910 and published in Chicago in 1915—is regarded as a masterpiece of the modernist movement, and was followed by some of the best-known poems in the English language, including Gerontion (1920), The Waste Land (1922), The Hollow Men (1925), Ash Wednesday (1930), and Four Quartets (1945). He is also known for his seven plays, particularly Murder in the Cathedral (1935). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
http://wn.com/T_S_Eliot -
Tim Foreman
Timothy (Tim) David Foreman (born August 15, 1978) is the bassist for the band Switchfoot. He was born in Lake Arrowhead, California but grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and Virginia Beach, Virginia. He and his family later moved to San Diego, California, where he now resides with his wife Andrea (whom he married in 2001) and their son, born in April 2005.
http://wn.com/Tim_Foreman
-
California (pronounced ) is the most populous state in the United States and the third-largest by land area, after Alaska and Texas. California is also the most populous sub-national entity in North America. It's on the U.S. West Coast, bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and by the states of Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, Baja California, Mexico, to the south. Its 5 largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, and Long Beach, with Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose each having at least 1 million residents. Like many populous states, California's capital, Sacramento is smaller than the state's largest city, Los Angeles. The state is home to the nation's 2nd- and 6th-largest census statistical areas and 8 of the nation's 50 most populous cities. California has a varied climate and geography and a multi-cultural population.
http://wn.com/California -
San Diego (), named after Saint Didacus (Spanish: Diego de Alcalá), is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California, after Los Angeles, with a population of 1,359,132 (Jan 2010) within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of San Diego extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 2,880,000. Also, this is part of a megalopolis (the San Diego and Los Angeles metropolitan areas) with a population of about 22 million. It is located on the Pacific Ocean at the southernmost end of the west coast of the continental United States.
http://wn.com/San_Diego -
The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
http://wn.com/United_States
- A Walk to Remember
- About.com
- acoustic music
- AllMusic
- Alternative rock
- Atlantic Records
- Augustine of Hippo
- Awakening (song)
- backing vocals
- bass guitar
- Billboard 200
- Bob Dylan
- Brand New Heavies
- California
- Call + Response
- CCM Magazine
- Chad Butler
- Charlie Peacock
- Christian rock
- Columbia Records
- Cover version
- cowbell (instrument)
- Dare You to Move
- Dark Horses
- DATA
- Dave Grohl
- Dave Matthews Band
- Dirty Second Hands
- Dove Awards of 2005
- Drew Shirley
- drum kit
- EMI CMG
- emo rock
- Fiction Family
- Fold Zandura
- frontman
- GMA Dove Award
- GMA Dove Awards
- GMA Music Awards
- guitar
- Habitat for Humanity
- hard rock
- Hello Hurricane
- human trafficking
- Independent music
- Indie (music)
- indie rock
- Industrial music
- Invisible Children
- iTunes Store
- Jerome Fontamillas
- JIVE Magazine
- Johnny Cash
- Jon Foreman
- Keith Green
- keyboard instrument
- lead vocals
- Legacy Recordings
- Live in San Diego
- Lo-fi music
- lowercase people
- Mandy Moore
- Matt Thiessen
- Meant to Live
- Mess of Me
- Michael Jackson
- Miles Davis
- Mortal (band)
- MySpace
- New Way to Be Human
- Nickel Creek
- Nothing Is Sound
- Oh! Gravity.
- Oh! Gravity. (song)
- ONE Campaign
- Only Hope
- percussion
- Phil Keaggy
- podcast
- post-grunge
- power pop
- Rebuild
- Red Distribution
- Relient K
- René Descartes
- RIAA certification
- rock music
- rootkit
- Ruth (band)
- San Diego
- Sean Watkins
- Sony BMG
- SonyBMG
- Sparrow Records
- Spin (magazine)
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Stevie Wonder
- studio album
- Søren Kierkegaard
- T. S. Eliot
- The Beatles
- The Best Yet
- The Boston Globe
- The Hollow Men
- The Legend of Chin
- This Is Home
- Tim Foreman
- Tommy Walker
- U2
- United States
- Up In Arms Tour
- VH1
- Vice Verses
- We Are One Tonight
- Youtube
Switchfoot Filmography
- (#1.115) (2009) (actor, plays Themselves - Musical Guest)
- (#1.185) (2009) (actor, plays Themselves - Musical Guest)
- 39th Annual GMA Dove Awards (2008) (actor, plays Performer)
- Call + Response (2008) (actor, plays Themselves - Musical Guest)
- (2007-01-23) (2007) (actor, plays Themselves)
- (2007-01-04) (2007) (actor, plays Themselves - Musical Guest)
- A Tribute to Les Paul (2007) (actor, plays Themselves)
- (2006-01-27) (2006) (actor, plays Themselves)
- (2005-11-09) (2005) (actor, plays Themselves)
- (2005-09-13) (2005) (actor, plays Themselves - Musical Guest)
- (2005-11-21) (2005) (actor, plays Themselves - Musical Guest)
- (#2.26) (2005) (actor, plays Themselves - Musical Guest)
- (#6.72) (2005) (actor, plays Themselves - Musical Guest)
- (2005-11-25) (2005) (actor, plays Themselves)
- (2004-05-21) (2004) (actor, plays Themselves - Musical Guest)
- (2004-11-23) (2004) (actor, plays Themselves - Musical Guest)
- (2009-11-12) (2003) (actor, plays Themselves)
- (#2.102) (2003) (actor, plays Themselves - Musical Guest)
Switchfoot
Releases by album:
Hello Hurricane |
The Beautiful Letdown |
Oh! Gravity. |
Nothing Is Sound |
Learning to Breathe |
New Way to Be Human |
The Legend of Chin |
Vice Verses |
Album releases
Hello Hurricane
(Released 2009)
-
Needle and Haystack Life
-
Mess of Me
-
Your Love Is a Song
-
The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)
-
Enough to Let Me Go
-
Free
-
Hello Hurricane
-
Always
-
Bullet Soul
-
Yet
-
Sing It Out
-
Red Eyes
The Beautiful Letdown
(Released 2007)
-
Meant to Live
-
This Is Your Life
-
More Than Fine
-
Ammunition
-
Dare You to Move
-
Redemption
-
The Beautiful Letdown
-
Gone
-
On Fire
-
Adding to the Noise
-
Twenty-Four
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Monday Comes Around
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Dare You to Move (alternative version)
-
Meant to Live (acoustic version)
Oh! Gravity.
(Released 2006)
-
Oh! Gravity.
-
American Dream
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Dirty Second Hands
-
Awakening
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Circles
-
Amateur Lovers
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Faust, Midas, and Myself
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Head Over Heels (In This Life)
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Yesterdays
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Burn Out Bright
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4:12
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Let Your Love Be Strong
Nothing Is Sound
(Released 2005)
-
Lonely Nation
-
Stars
-
Happy Is a Yuppie Word
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The Shadow Proves the Sunshine
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Easier Than Love
-
The Blues
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The Setting Sun
-
Politicians
-
Golden
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The Fatal Wound
-
We Are One Tonight
-
Daisy
Learning to Breathe
(Released 2000)
-
I Dare You to Move
-
Learning to Breathe
-
You Already Take Me There
-
Love Is the Movement
-
Poparazzi
-
Innocence Again
-
Playing for Keeps
-
The Loser
-
The Economy of Mercy
-
Erosion
-
Living Is Simple
New Way to Be Human
(Released 1999)
-
New Way to Be Human
-
Incomplete
-
Sooner or Later (Soren's Song)
-
Company Car
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Let That Be Enough
-
Something More (Augustine's Confession)
-
Only Hope
-
Amy's Song
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I Turn Everything Over
-
Under the Floor
The Legend of Chin
(Released 1997)
-
Bomb
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Chem 6A
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Underwater
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Edge of My Seat
-
Home
-
Might Have Ben Hur
-
Concrete Girl
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Life and Love and Why
-
You
-
Ode to Chin
-
Don't Be There
Vice Verses
-
Afterlife
-
The Original
-
The War Inside
-
Restless
-
Blinding Light
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Selling the News
-
Thrive
-
Dark Horses
-
Souvenirs
-
Rise Above It
-
Vice Verse
-
Where I Belong
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:02
- Published: 25 Oct 2009
- Uploaded: 23 Nov 2011
- Author: SwitchfootVEVO
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:00
- Published: 21 Sep 2011
- Uploaded: 23 Nov 2011
- Author: Switchfoot
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:48
- Published: 13 May 2008
- Uploaded: 23 Nov 2011
- Author: blacktreemedia
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:28
- Published: 03 Nov 2009
- Uploaded: 22 Nov 2011
- Author: Switchfoot
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:16
- Published: 07 Nov 2009
- Uploaded: 23 Nov 2011
- Author: SwitchfootVEVO
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:45
- Published: 25 Oct 2009
- Uploaded: 23 Nov 2011
- Author: SwitchfootVEVO
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:49
- Published: 31 Jan 2007
- Uploaded: 23 Nov 2011
- Author: DreamsOfShrinking
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:16
- Published: 13 Apr 2008
- Uploaded: 23 Nov 2011
- Author: chryssanthemum
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:53
- Published: 25 Oct 2009
- Uploaded: 23 Nov 2011
- Author: SwitchfootVEVO
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:29
- Published: 29 Jan 2008
- Uploaded: 22 Nov 2011
- Author: djconstella
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:15
- Published: 27 Oct 2011
- Uploaded: 23 Nov 2011
- Author: Switchfoot
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:28
- Published: 25 Oct 2009
- Uploaded: 23 Nov 2011
- Author: SwitchfootVEVO
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:04
- Published: 16 Jun 2010
- Uploaded: 22 Nov 2011
- Author: Switchfoot
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:58
- Published: 21 Dec 2009
- Uploaded: 22 Nov 2011
- Author: wereawakeningonline
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:36
- Published: 10 Feb 2008
- Uploaded: 22 Nov 2011
- Author: SwitchfootR0CKS
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 29:01
- Published: 31 Mar 2008
- Uploaded: 22 Nov 2011
- Author: UCtelevision
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:39
- Published: 04 Oct 2008
- Uploaded: 20 Nov 2011
- Author: reecefreeman
-
Iran files complaint over purported US drone
Al Jazeera
-
Euro crisis summit: The night Europe changed
BBC News
-
Defense Authorization Act Will Destroy The Bill Of Rights
WorldNews.com
-
Before Voting, If Only Death Had Been Before Their Own Eyes
WorldNews.com
-
Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza civilians
Sydney Morning Herald
- 53rd Grammy Awards
- A Walk to Remember
- About.com
- acoustic music
- AllMusic
- Alternative rock
- Atlantic Records
- Augustine of Hippo
- Awakening (song)
- backing vocals
- bass guitar
- Billboard 200
- Bob Dylan
- Brand New Heavies
- California
- Call + Response
- CCM Magazine
- Chad Butler
- Charlie Peacock
- Christian rock
- Columbia Records
- Cover version
- cowbell (instrument)
- Dare You to Move
- Dark Horses
- DATA
- Dave Grohl
- Dave Matthews Band
- Dirty Second Hands
- Dove Awards of 2005
- Drew Shirley
- drum kit
- EMI CMG
- emo rock
- Fiction Family
- Fold Zandura
- frontman
- GMA Dove Award
- GMA Dove Awards
- GMA Music Awards
- guitar
- Habitat for Humanity
- hard rock
- Hello Hurricane
- human trafficking
- Independent music
- Indie (music)
- indie rock
- Industrial music
- Invisible Children
- iTunes Store
- Jerome Fontamillas
- JIVE Magazine
- Johnny Cash
- Jon Foreman
- Keith Green
- keyboard instrument
- lead vocals
- Legacy Recordings
- Live in San Diego
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Coordinates | 29°25′″N98°30′″N |
---|---|
name | Switchfoot |
landscape | yes |
background | group_or_band |
origin | San Diego, California, United States |
genre | Alternative rock, hard rock, power pop, post-grunge, Christian rock, emo rock |
years active | 1996–present |
label | Rethink, Columbia, Sony BMG, lowercase people, Atlantic |
website | |
current members | Jon ForemanTim ForemanChad ButlerJerome FontamillasDrew Shirley |
past members | }} |
Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drums, percussion), Jerome Fontamillas (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), and Drew Shirley (guitar, backing vocals).
After early successes in the Christian rock scene, Switchfoot first gained mainstream recognition with the inclusion of four of their songs in the 2002 movie A Walk to Remember. This recognition led to their major label debut, The Beautiful Letdown, which was released in 2003. It went on to sell over 2.6 million copies and produced the band's best-known singles, "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move". They have since been noted for their energetic live shows, and their seventh studio album Hello Hurricane received a Grammy award in 2011 for Best Rock Gospel Album.
According to Jon Foreman, the name "Switchfoot" is a surfing term. "We all love to surf and have been surfing all our lives so to us, the name made sense. To switch your feet means to take a new stance facing the opposite direction. It's about change and movement, a different way of approaching life and music."
History
Formation and early years (1996–2002)
Switchfoot was founded in 1996 as Chin Up, consisting of Jon Foreman and his brother Tim, along with Chad Butler on drums. After playing only a few shows, the band was contacted by music industry veteran Charlie Peacock and eventually signed to his indie label Re:think Records under the current moniker, Switchfoot. Re:think went on to distribute the first three Switchfoot albums, The Legend of Chin, New Way to Be Human, and Learning to Breathe. Because Re:think was bought out by Christian giant Sparrow Records before Switchfoot's first release, however, the band's and Peacock's intentions of being marketed outside of the Contemporary Christian music scene and reaching a wider audience were put on hold. Consequently, the band was mostly marketed exclusively to Christian radio and retail outlets early in their careers, a time Jon Foreman has described as when "half of who we were was lost."Of Switchfoot's first three albums, Learning to Breathe was the most successful, being certified gold by the RIAA, and receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Gospel Album.
Later on in 2002, Switchfoot's music was featured prominently in the movie A Walk to Remember, starring singer and actress Mandy Moore, who sang Switchfoot's song "Only Hope" during a scene in the movie. In addition to Moore's cover of "Only Hope", Switchfoot’s songs “You”, “Learning to Breathe”, and “Dare You to Move” were showcased in the film, as well as their own original version of "Only Hope" towards the end of the film.
The Beautiful Letdown (2003–05)
Following the exposure that came from A Walk to Remember, Switchfoot attracted attention from multiple record labels and ultimately signed with the major record label, Columbia Records/SonyBMG. Their major label debut, The Beautiful Letdown, under Columbia Records/Red Ink, represented the band's evolution from the predominantly lo-fi, indie rock sound of their early albums, toward a more layered, synth-influenced sound that helped launch the band to mainstream popularity. This shift sonically could be attributed to the fact that the album was the first to include keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas, formerly of industrial bands Mortal and Fold Zandura. Fontamillas had been touring with Switchfoot since 2000, following the release of Learning to Breathe.The Beautiful Letdown has since been certified double platinum, selling more than 2.6 million copies, on the strength of constant touring and the huge mainstream radio hits "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move". A live DVD depicting one of the band's live concerts, Live in San Diego, went platinum as well, and a third single, "This Is Your Life" was released to radio. In addition, the song "Gone" received major airplay on Christian radio stations as well.
Following the runaway success of The Beautiful Letdown, a compilation titled The Early Years: 1997-2000 was released, which featured Switchfoot's first three indie albums released under Re:think records including the original artwork for all the albums. This collection has since been certified Gold, with total sales of over 500,000 copies.
Switchfoot also received five 2005 Dove Award nominations, and won four, including Artist of the year.
Nothing Is Sound (2005–06)
In 2005 prior to the release of Nothing Is Sound Switchfoot announced that guitarist Drew Shirley (previously the guitarist for All Together Separate) had become the band's fifth member after touring with the band since 2003. Nothing Is Sound, was released on September 13, 2005, and with Shirley's inclusion saw Switchfoot's sound become even more densely layered and guitar-heavy, resulting in an album that was edgier and darker than any of their previous work. "Stars" was released as the first radio single to promote the album, and was a solid hit on mainstream and alternative rock radio stations. "We Are One Tonight" was released as the second single in early 2006,and was also featured in ads for the 2006 Winter Olympics.
The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, an all-time high for the band, while bassist Tim Foreman attracted headlines by speaking out against the copy-protection used by the label and providing fans a detailed workaround on the band's message board, which was quickly deleted by Sony. This copy-protection is known as Extended Copy Protection, which has been identified by leading anti-virus companies as a trojan horse and a rootkit.
During the Spring 2006 leg of the Nothing Is Sound Tour, the band introduced "a video diary of life on the road" in the form of free video podcasts available via iTunes and streaming online on Youtube.com. In addition to featuring snippets of upcoming songs and live performances, the videos gave fans an inside look at the more casual and humorous aspects of the band members' touring lives, as well as featuring footage of the band working on their follow-up to Nothing Is Sound.
Oh! Gravity. (2006–07)
Switchfoot's next album, Oh! Gravity., was released on December 26, 2006 to considerable critical acclaim. It entered the Billboard chart at #18 and peaked at #1 on iTunes' Top Albums chart.Before the release of the album, Switchfoot e-mailed a newsletter on June 2 which contained a free download of the song "Daylight to Break", a statement from Foreman implying that the band wanted to have a new album out by the end of the year, as well as a thanks to their fans for helping keep the band together for ten years. The band tried to involve their fans in the creation of the album, setting up a webcam in their recording studio and running a contest for a chance to play the cowbell in the studio with the band.
To promote the album, the band first released the song, "Dirty Second Hands", as a "preview" single via iTunes on September 26. The title track "Oh! Gravity" was also released to iTunes on October 21 and was sent to radio on October 31 as the lead single for the album, seeing limited success at alternative and modern rock radio. The album's second single, "Awakening", was released in early 2007. Although it saw virtually no play on mainstream radio, the accompanying band-funded music video song received over one million hits on YouTube in less than three months. Along with preorders of Oh! Gravity came a 3 song EP called Oh! Switchfoot. The short cd included songs: “The Sound in My Mouth”, “C’mon C’mon”, and “Oh! Gravity (Acoustic)”.
Major label independence, The Best Yet (2007–08)
Later, on August 10, 2007, Jon Foreman revealed that the band had severed ties with Columbia Records in order to release music as an Indie band. "Neither party has any hard feelings," he said of the split a few months later. "I think for us, the reason why we signed with Columbia was because of the people that were there. So it's very understandable when all those people are gone, you don't hold any real bad feelings or good feelings towards a company name. I think that's part of the problem with the corporate entity as a whole is that there's no true responsibility." Later in October, the band announced that they had created a new record label called lowercase people records, in order to better make a direct connection with their fans.Subsequently, Foreman began working on his own set of solo EP's (one named after each season of the year); the first of these was released on November 27, 2007, the last on June 10, 2008. Each of Jon’s EP’s contained six songs. At the end of this, he released a sort of “best of” album called Limbs and Branches. Foreman wrote two additional songs for this called “Over the River” and “Broken from the Start.” Once all four EP’s were released, they were released again on vinyl in limited quantity. Foreman also began a side project with Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek originally called "The Real SeanJon" but later renamed "Fiction Family".
With their new status as an independent band, Switchfoot embarked on their 2007 fall tour, playing shows with Relient K and Ruth. The tour, dubbed the "Appetite for Construction Tour", was designed to benefit Habitat For Humanity, with the bands donating one dollar per ticket sold to the cause. In addition, Foreman wrote the song "Rebuild" with Matt Thiessen from Relient K, and released it as a way to raise additional money for Habitat. By the end of the tour, the bands had raised over $100,000 for Habitat for Humanity. With no album to promote, the band continued touring for philanthropic causes, booking a short national tour in March through May titled the Up In Arms Tour), partnering with and benefitting the organization To Write Love on Her Arms.
Later that year, Columbia Records/Sony Music, released the first ever Switchfoot greatest hits compilation album titled The Best Yet, a sort of "final farewell from Sony". In an interview with the Philippine music channel, MYX, when asked about the beginnings of their new project, Switchfoot replied that they were planning on going into the studio and completely changing up their sound. In fact Jon Foreman responded “We’re kind of going to tear the whole thing apart and start from scratch on this next record… so who knows? Maybe we’ll come back as a rap band.”
Hello Hurricane and Eastern Hymns for Western Shores (2008–2010)
Prior to the label split, Foreman had announced in a March 17, 2007 MySpace blog that Switchfoot had begun pre-production for a new album, saying that "the new SF record is underway." Later, on October 12, 2007, Foreman also announced that the band had begun construction of their own studio in their hometown of San Diego. It was completed in the spring of 2008, and the band began recording their follow-up to 2006's Oh! Gravity.
In March, the band wrote and recorded a new song called "This Is Home" for the film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The song was included on the film's official soundtrack and an accompanying music video was also filmed, with footage from the film.
In April, the band announced that instead of one studio album, they had actually been at work on 4 albums-worth of material, and had decided at the time to release them one after another, starting with the first one on November 10, 2009, titled Hello Hurricane.
Upon completion of Hello Hurricane, the band began searching for "the right partners" to distribute the songs globally. On August 7, 2009, the band announced that lowercase people records was licensing the album to Atlantic Records, ensuring "these tunes are heard around the world." To help promote this new release, the band took a hands-on approach with their lead single, "Mess of Me", by hiding copies of the single all across the world and encouraging fans to share it around by finding the discs and making copies of their own to hide. Through this, the single spread all across the world in grassroots fashion in advance of a traditional radio release, which saw the track hitting the Top 15 of Modern Rock radio. This was followed by the release of "The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)", which went on to become the band's first Top 10 Modern Rock hit since "Dare You to Move".
On December 1, 2010 it was announced that Hello Hurricane had been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album. It won the Grammy on February 13, 2011.
Late in 2010, Switchfoot announced, via newsletter, that they would be releasing an EP of songs that they wrote and recorded between Nothing is Sound and Oh! Gravity. It was called "Eastern Hymns for Western Shores". For the longest time the masters of these tracks were thought to be either lost or stolen. Once found, Switchfoot announced that the EP would be available as part of their holiday fan pack which also included a Switchfoot calendar, poster, sweatshirt jacket, and limited edition post cards, one for each of the songs on the EP. In their newsletter the band described these songs as showing their “darker” side. The EP included five never before heard songs along with a different cut of the Oh! Gravity song “Dirty Second Hands".
Vice Verses (2011-present)
Switchfoot has finished working on their next studio project, titled Vice Verses. According to Butler, the core of the record will rest thematically in the idea of the polarity of life. A release date of September 27, 2011 was announced on AllAccess, with "Dark Horses" hitting modern rock radio on July 20.
Style and influences
Since Switchfoot's first release in 1997, the band's sound has evolved significantly. The style of the early albums with independent label Re:think Records consisted primarily of guitar-driven alternative rock, characteristic of a three-man lineup, though they also incorporated string arrangements with slower songs. Switchfoot's frontman and guitarist Jon Foreman cites his musical influences as U2, The Beatles, and Keith Green, and has said that he admires the vocal "strength and vulnerability" of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. Guitarist Drew Shirley cites U2, Miles Davis, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tommy Walker, Phil Keaggy, Michael Jackson, Dave Matthews Band, and the Brand New Heavies, while bassist Tim Foreman pays tribute to Stevie Wonder. Chad Butler also cites Dave Grohl as an influence for The Beautiful Letdown. "We've never fit in any of the genre boxes," says Jon Foreman. "I think that diversity is our strength".With regard to their lyrics, Foreman notes "we try to make music for thinking people", which can be characterized by his allusions to the works of philosophers like Søren Kierkegaard and Augustine of Hippo in the songs "Sooner or Later (Soren's Song)" and "Something More (Augustine's Confession)" respectively. "Meant to Live", the band's runaway hit, was inspired by T. S. Eliot's poem "The Hollow Men", while "Stars", the lead single off Nothing Is Sound, briefly "looks at things from the Descartes perspective," according to Foreman.
Switchfoot and Christian music
Switchfoot is often referred to as a Christian rock band, mostly due to their continued involvement with the Christian rock scene. The band has always philosophically disagreed with this label: "For us, it's a faith, not a genre," says Jon Foreman. "We've always been very open and honest about where the songs are coming from. For us, these songs are for everyone. Calling us 'Christian rock' tends to be a box that closes some people out and excludes them, and that's not what we're trying to do. Music has always opened my mind—and that's what we want".In addition to the general market, they also distribute their music to Christian markets, and play at larger Christian festivals. Though they hold this position, they have not alienated their Christian fans. As in their indie days, they are still distributed to Christian retail outlets through Sparrow Records/EMI CMG, featured on Christian radio and charts, as well as being presented with Dove Awards, even after having been signed to the mainstream Columbia Records from 2003–2007 and currently, Atlantic Records. "[Signing to Columbia was] a realization of something that we'd wanted to be from the beginning," Foreman explains. "When we were signed to re:think Records [an indie label], the goal was to get the music out to everybody. [But] when Sparrow [a Christian label] bought re:think Records, it was evident that our music wasn't going to be in the hands of everybody. As a Christian, I have a lot to say within the walls of the church. But also, as a Christian, I've got a lot to say just about life in general ... So to be able to be on Columbia and on Sparrow felt like the realization of the two sides of what we had to say. It's a dream come true to be able to have songs that are outside of the box."
Following the release of The Beautiful Letdown, the band temporarily stopped playing at Christian festivals and doing interviews with Christian organizations, as they found the speculation about their faith to be distracting from the music. Three years later, Switchfoot began going back on this policy, headlining at large Christian-based music festivals, and agreeing to be featured on the June 2006 cover of CCM Magazine after declining the opportunity for years. Yet in many ways they used the opportunity to describe their split from the CCM industry. This has caused some, such as Spin writer Andrew Beaujon, to take the view that "their lyrics often have two different meanings, one meaning for a Christian audience and one meaning for the rest of us. They try to relate to two different groups of people at once".
Other projects
Switchfoot has been involved in a number of humanitarian causes, including DATA, the ONE Campaign, the Keep A Breast Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Invisible Children, and To Write Love on Her Arms.In addition to supporting those causes, they founded the Switchfoot Bro-Am Surf Contest, a benefit contest and concert to raise money for various organizations serving homeless kids in the band's hometown of San Diego. Also, before recording Nothing Is Sound, the band made a trip to several South African villages in January 2005, which inspired the album's song "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine". Seeing an orphanage filled with infants who all lost their parents to AIDS, befriending orphans in the streets, and getting involved with a children's choir called the "Kuyasa Kids" moved them to start an organization called lowercase people. The organization originally published a quarterly online magazine for music, arts and social justice. They have also produced a CD by the Kuyasa Kids to help raise money for the children's communities.
In 2008, Switchfoot also got involved in the musical movement to spread awareness about 21st century slavery and human trafficking, performing "Awakening" for the documentary film Call + Response.
Jon Foreman has also released several solo projects, and is also involved in an acoustic collaboration called Fiction Family with Sean Watkins of the band Nickel Creek.
On Saturday, July 31, 2010, Switchfoot performed live at the 2010 Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree final arena show: "A Shining Light Across America" in Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. Jon and Tim Foreman were both Boy Scouts in their youth, and were honored by the opportunity to perform at the Scouts' 100th Year Anniversary event.
Discography
Awards
;Orville H. Gibson Guitar Awards
References
External links
Category:Alternative rock groups from California Category:American post-grunge musical groups Category:American hard rock musical groups Category:Christian rock groups from California Category:Musical groups established in 1996 Category:Musical groups from San Diego, California Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Switchfoot
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