Categories
CD Reviews

Album Review: “Fiction Family”

A few weeks ago I introduced you to Fiction Family. Having spent over a decade touring and recording with their respective bands — Switchfoot and Nickel Creek — both Jon Foreman and Sean Watkins have strayed from their well-known sing-along choruses and strong guitar accompaniment to a more stripped down, darker release. While it takes a few listens to fully understand the depth of this disc, Fiction Family proves the versatility and staying power of both musicians in a time when not many bands are leaving their comfort zones.

Calling themselves Fiction Family (despite Foreman’s wish for the Real SeanJon) the Watkins and Foreman project formed after a few chance encounters at a local coffee shop in their San Diego hometown. After the urging from friends to collaborate over the years, they decided to give it a shot — never expecting a completed release. Taking turns singing lead vocals and alternating between multiple instruments including guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion, baritone, ukulele, piano, organ, mandolin, steel guitar and 12-string guitar, the 12-song self-titled debut will be released January 20 on ATO Records.

A major deviation from each musician’s more well-known projects, Fiction Family presents an emotional musical journey for the listener. Lacking flow at times, the disc presents itself more as being experimental — tossing out the rules and expectations throughout the recording process. In fact, in some instances, Foreman and Watkins didn’t even make the tracks together. While one was touring, the other would add parts to a song, then leaving their product for the other to work on when he got off tour. Which, at times works better on some songs than others.

Beginning the album with first single, “When She’s Near” (listen to it here) the listener hears bells, tambourines and light guitar strumming before Foreman’s voice enters. Almost soporific, Foreman’s singing style doesn’t belt out as vigorously as many Switchfoot fans may be used to. Not a complete loss, Foreman’s singing does blend well with the musical accompaniment throughout many of the tracks on Fiction Family.

Most of the album revolves around relationships and, like often in life, are made up of heartbreaking stories (see “Betrayal,” a melancholy song that walks you through a friend murdering his best friend with a fitting, almost funeral-like horn feature at the end of the song) and brutal honesty (see “Not Sure” lyrics, “I’m not sure that I’ll get over you/I’m not sure that I want to”).

“Throw It Away” seems a bit more uplifting lyrically than previous tracks. However, the slow and hushed guitar strumming and string accompaniment accented with Foreman’s saddened vocals beg the listener to question as he sings, “Throw it away/Give your love/Live your life/Each and every day/Keep your hands wide open/Let the sun shine through/’Cause you can never lose a thing/It belongs to you.”

There are strong sections on Fiction Family, but also some peculiar segments as well. One example is “Please Don’t Call It Love” where there is an unexpected haunting close, reminiscent to what it may sound like when walking into a haunted house. Either way, fans of Switchfoot and Nickel Creek will surely enjoy the album and embrace the uniqueness and new roles of each musician. If anything is certain of the release, Fiction Family presents an anomaly, the listener never really knows what to expect. But, after all, isn’t that what music is all about in the first place?

In addition to their Jan. 20 release, Fiction Family is currently involved in a 21-date nationwide tour. Visit their Web Site for the tour dates and to listen to “When She’s Near,” an exclusive track off the album click here or watch the video of it below.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2487723&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=1&color=00adef&fullscreen=1
Fiction Family – When She’s Near from ATO Records on Vimeo.

Categories
CD Reviews Features

You Sing, I Write’s Fall Album Preview

It’s that time of the year again — the leaves are changing colors, you can find candy corn in all your local grocery stores and now it’s the appropriate time to carve some pumpkins. Fall just may be my favorite time of the year, except for the fact that I have to put all my summer flip-flops away. Wearing sneakers and boots instead of sandals is a huge adjustment, but I digress. This fall there are many albums hitting the shelves or more aptly, iTunes — many from bands I’ve covered for the blog, as well as some others you should definitely check out. Below is brief list of some albums I’m especially looking forward to.

Antony and the Johnsons – out this week 10/7
Another World
I recently received a copy of Antony and the Johnsons‘ EP — a five-song piano-filled disc of deep, emotional ballads. At first listen, the EP gives off an incredibly relaxing and soothing feel. But, when listening more closely to the lyrics the perception is quite different. Called an EP of “political- and eco-minded songs” by Rolling Stone, I couldn’t agree more.

Ray LaMontagne – 10/14
Gossip in the Grain
You heard him and song, “You Are the Best Thing” from my previous “Song of the Week” post two weeks ago and from what I’ve heard on his MySpace and other reviews, Gossip in the Grain is an album to definitely give a listen. LaMontagne has that classic singer-songwriter feel, but offers the listener something unique as well. I haven’t been able to stop playing “You Are the Best Thing” over the past few weeks and if this is any indication as to how his album sounds, LaMontagne will be the talk of the town pretty soon.

Brett Dennen – 10/21
Hope for the Hopeless
I was lucky enough to catch Brett Dennen‘s performance this summer on John Mayer’s tour and he blew me away. Brett has such a skill for songwriting and aptly gets the message in his lyrics across to the listener, not always an easy task for a musician. Check out a live performance of his first single, “Make You Go Crazy” — which features Fela Kuti on the album — below. Stay tuned for his music video for the song with Mandy Moore within the upcoming weeks.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycqhqDKq5a0]

Fall Out Boy – 11/4
Folie a Deux
The kings of long song titles are back with their fifth studio album on Election Day. Avid advocates for Obama, while the disc apparently has no politically charged songs, if it’s anything like their last album, Infinity on High, Fall Out Boy are sure to surprise and make every die-hard FOB fan content.

Switchfoot – 11/4
The Best Yet
It’s surprising that Switchfoot doesn’t have a “best of” album yet, being that they’ve released six albums and have been touring for the better part of the last 10 years. However, this November ‘Foot cans can look forward to The Best Yet, which features 18 hit singles including “This Is Home” from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian movie soundtrack as well as radio hits “Meant To Live” and “Dare You to Move.” In addition to the songs, the deluxe edition will feature 14 videos which includes MTV hits as well as rare, never before released videos.

To listen to a stream of “This Is Home” for Windows, click here.
For QuickTime, click here.

Taylor Swift – 11/11
Fearless
Taylor Swift has become a personal favorite of mine as of late. Maybe it’s my desire to move to Nashville and cover more country artists and emerging musicians. Whether you like country or not, you can’t deny her crossover power between genres. Not only is she a respected country artist, but pop fans love her as well. Her first single off the album, “Love Story” is that perfect story-book tale of a Romeo and Juliet romance. Down to the appropriately catchy banjo accompaniment, the song is full of that hopeless romantic vibe that draws many music fans to her. Check it out on YouTube.

All-American Rejects – 11/18
When the World Comes Down
I featured their first single, “Gives You Hell” last week on the blog and it’s undeniably catchy. A bit more of a mature sound than their previous two albums, AAR have grown up and their musicianship and solid guitar riffs can be heard throughout. This album is one I’m personally looking forward to and planning on picking up for myself. Check out “Gives You Hell” below.

http://media.imeem.com/m/61tvnwcGSh/aus=false/

David Cook – 11/18
TBD
I recently read an article which reported that Cook will be working with frontman Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace for his release expected in late November. I caught Maida’s performance a few months ago at the Mercury Lounge and I can only imagine the creativity he will bring to Cook’s debut since winning American Idol.

Categories
CD Reviews

Jon Foreman’s Solo Seasonal Journey

In addition to keeping up with my blog, I’ve been contributing to a bunch of music Web sites, trying to get my name out there and keep up my writing skills. My most recent album review is a compilation of Switchfoot frontman, Jon Foreman’s four seasonal EP’s; Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer. It was just about this time last year that he released his first EP of his solo project, Fall. You can read my full review at inReview.net.

Jon Foreman fans will be happy to learn that he’s releasing a compilation album entitled, Limbs and Branches, which features the 10 most popular songs from his four EP’s voted by fans, as well as two new songs, “Broken From the Start” and “Over the River.” The album will be available October 28.


If you haven’t yet, check out my interview with Jon from last year here as he talks about his solo project, where he finds his inspiration and the next Switchfoot album.

To listen to Jon’s music be sure to check him out on MySpace or visit his Web site.

Categories
Q&A

Audio Interview with Tim Foreman of Switchfoot

As promised, here’s the MP3 format of my interview with Tim Foreman a few weeks ago. Special thanks to my friend Tom for making this possible! I interviewed Tim after Switchfoot’s Rutgers show while the guys were hanging out and chatting with fans. There is a bit of background noise, but I think you should be able to hear him pretty well regardless. Listen to Tim talk about the upcoming album, their Music Builds Tour and the writing process behind latest song, “This Is Home” here.

Categories
Concert Reviews

Switchfoot Rocks Rutgers

The energy was high all night – from opening band Luna Halo joking with the crowd when introducing themselves as Switchfoot to Switchfoot’s encore performance, hardly a seat in the house was inhabited, as many were dancing and jumping along in the aisles.

I’ve seen Switchfoot several times over the past few years and every time they’re better than the last. The music, the atmosphere, the unexpected. Frontman Jon Foreman always is a crowd pleaser and the band never disappoints.

The opening chords of “Meant to Live” began shortly after 9 p.m. at the Rutgers Athletic Center, drawing screams from the crowd as the band quickly segued into their first song of the night, “Oh! Gravity,” of their latest album of the same name. The energy was intense and stayed like that until the end of their nearly 90-minute set.

Switchfoot performed 14 songs throughout the night, many of their old, classic, fan-favorites such as Jon’s solo acoustic encore performances of “Only Hope” and “Dare You To Move” as well as a new song, “This Is Home,” which will be featured in the upcoming movie The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. When Jon announced the new song screams were heard throughout the RAC, as to which point he joked, “You haven’t even heard it yet, you can’t scream!” The song started out with a solid keyboard feature from Jerome Fontamillas before Jon began singing. Despite having only begun playing the song recently on tour, many fans already knew all the words and could be heard singing along while swaying their cell phones in the air, slowing the night down for a while.

Highlights of the night included edgy guitar-based song, “Dirty Second Hands” and slower number, “On Fire.” Towards the end of “Dirty Second Hands” Jon stole the cymbal from drummer Chad Butler and ferociously hit it with a drumstick, spinning in circles for the remainder of the song. Jon then started off “On Fire” on harmonica before walking into the crowd, climbing up the bleachers, all while singing and taking pictures with fans before finishing the song.

It’s hard to tell the crowd favorite, as everyone surrounding me was singing along to each song word for word. The audience was diverse, made up of college students as well as parents with young children and other New Jersey natives. While some songs featured in their set didn’t stray too much from their album, others brought new life on stage, such as “Gone” which was prefaced with a cover of Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love” to which Jon told the crowd, “I can safely say this is the only Beyoncé cover we’re going to do all night.” After a few bars of the song, Switchfoot went into “Gone,” where Jon’s singing took a pause to an almost rap-like number as he spoke the words to most of the song, jumping on and off the drum kit a few times.

After jumping into the crowd to grab a sign from a fan, titled “We Are One Tonight” Jon placed it next to a nearby speaker before playing the song, joking, “This is incase I forget the lyrics.” Soon after, a fan ran up and tossed him a mug, which right after catching he put some water into and then drank from. Jon later told the crowd, “The reason we decided to be an independent band is because of all you guys singing along.”

The Switchfoot fan base is an extremely dedicated group and after every show the band takes time out to sign autographs and talk with fans. After Saturday’s show the guys could be found hanging out next to the stage with fans while Jon played a 15 minute set of songs from his recently released EP’s as well as some older Switchfoot songs such as “Amy’s Song.”

Luna Halo opened the night and was, by far, the best supporting band I’ve ever come across in concert. Based in Nashville, the band has a strong rock sound and frontman Nathan Barlowe has a stage presence like none other I’ve seen. Playing nearly a 40-minute set, Luna Halo’s performance had everyone standing up and clapping along, not always an easy feat for an opening band. His facial expressions and stage antics while playing guitar was entertaining in itself, at one point he was rolling around onstage while playing guitar. The music was solid with strong, but not overpowering, guitar and drum accompaniment, never concealing Barlowe’s vocals.

Despite the audience not being too familiar with some of their songs, Luna Halo had the audience singing along to their cover of A-Ha’s “Take On Me” while lead singer Nathan joked with the crowd dancing along to their performance, saying, “I feel like Bon Jovi tonight. It’s great!”


Be sure to check Wendy Hu’s Flickr page for more photos of the show. For more information on Switchfoot check out their website and to listen to Luna Halo check out their MySpace.

Categories
Q&A

Q&A with Tim Foreman of Switchfoot

I was lucky enough to chat with Tim Foreman a bit after Switchfoot’s performance this past Saturday at Rutgers. He filled me in on the new album, their upcoming summer tour as well as the writing process for their newest song, “This Is Home,” which will be featured in upcoming movie The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. You can check out the music video for “This Is Home” on their website here. I’ll be posting my review of that concert as well as the MP3 format of the interview within the next week, so check back and let me know what you think!

How’s the new album coming along?
It’s good. There are a lot of songs right now. Honestly, over 100 in various stages of demo and we’re going to try to narrow it down from there. We wanted to make a big mess for ourselves. We even went into the studio way back in August and tracked 15 songs and kind of just cast in a wide net to catch a lot of fish and then throw the best, tastiest ones on the record.

When are you expecting it to come out?
I’d say maybe by the end of this year. If not, then early next year.

What can fans expect?
We want to do something different. As far as what that is, that’s kind of what this stage is still about. Kind of experimenting.

How do you pick out of 100 songs what will go on the record?
Well you look for the songs that resonate with you because you’re going to be playing them every night for the next, could be two years, 10 years, whatever. So you want to believe in them. So you have to believe it. And then from there, you’re looking for a common thread between all the songs. And then sonically too, certain songs just lend themselves to new ideas and fresh sounds and other ones don’t. Trying to find a cohesive thematic and also musical thread throughout the record.

You guys are doing the Music Builds Tour too where $1 from every ticket goes to Habitat, right?
Yeah, that’s how we did the fall tour. This tour there’s a few different ways that the money is going to go to them. Tickets, one way and also tour merchandise. It’s just kind of a dream come true. It’s a really diverse bill, a bunch of bands that have never toured together from Robert Randolph to us. Then there’s going to be a side stage with a bunch of more punk rock type bands. The goal is to have the most diverse line-up possible but all with the commonality of trying to make a difference.

When is that starting?
It starts late August.

How was the process writing “This Is Home” for Narnia? When you write for a movie is it different than writing for a record?
It is because you’re trying to put yourself . . . I mean sometimes you’ve already written a song and it just happens to line-up with the theme of a movie like A Walk to Remember for instance. With this, it was actually specifically writing for the movie. I know Jon was trying to capture the longing that C.S. Lewis often writes about. Maybe we’re created for a place that we’ve never even seen. This magical world called Narnia kind of captures that longing. He was trying to capture that in “This Is Home” and I think he really nailed it. It’s a very nostalgic tune.

Categories
Concert Reviews

Jon Foreman’s Acoustic Central Park Show

Working and interning in NYC has it’s pros and cons, but that’s an entirely different post in itself. Today was definitely one of the perks of working in NYC, being that Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman had an impromptu performance in Central Park. Lucky for me, it was a few blocks from my internship so I took a late lunch to check it out and decided I had enough time to go back and finish what I was working on before Jon showed up to perform. A little advice for non-New Yorkers . . . don’t try to catch a cab at 5:30 on 6th Avenue, it’s nearly impossible. After many failed attempts I noticed one of those bicycle drawn carriages (is there a proper name for them?) so yes, I felt like a tourist trying to get to 65th Street and Central Park West in one of those, but hey, I got there in time to catch a few songs so it all worked out!

I arrived shortly before 6 p.m. as Jon was just finishing up “Let Your Love Be Strong” on guitar with violin and cello accompaniment. He then went into “Your Love Is Strong” from his most recent EP – Spring – and the “part two” of his previous song. About 50 or so fans and New Yorkers passing through Central Park surrounded Jon under a giant oak tree, just sitting on the ground listening and taking pictures. At times, it was somewhat reminiscent of sitting around a campfire and requesting songs to sing along with him. In fact, I think that’s what he wanted as right after he sang “The Cure For Pain” from Fall he said, “Let’s play a song everyone knows” as he began “Dare You To Move” – a song he said he wrote while living in his parent’s house.

Although it was hard to see what the crowd favorite was, almost everyone could be heard singing along to “Dare You To Move” and the next song, the infamous “Only Hope” from 2002’s hit film A Walk To Remember. Jon finished his Central Park set with “Learning To Die.” He prefaced the song by explaining that he used to think death was an inconvenience and how our culture verges on us thinking we’re invincible. However, after experiencing death he realized that “we’re all apt to it. It’s a startling realization that life is not about the understanding of living, but how to learn about dying and having to give yourself away.”

After his set, as all of the Switchfoot shows I’ve been to, Jon took pictures and signed autographs for his fans. The last segment of his four season EP’s is due out June 10. Be sure to check out his MySpace for some songs from his Spring EP and check back next week for a concert review from Switchfoot’s upcoming show Saturday, May 3 at Rutgers!

Categories
CD Reviews

Jon Foreman- Winter EP Review

Everyone is searching for that one record to listen continuously to, without ever getting tired of. For most of last year that album for me was John Mayer’s Continuum. I would bring my CD player (yes, I still used that until my recent iShuffle birthday gift from friends . . . call me old school, but I still would so much rather pick up the latest album from a music store than buy it off iTunes) back and forth on my hour-long bus rides to my internships in New York.

Currently, I’ve been listening to Jon Foreman’s latest EP, Winter, and as of right now, I can’t stop listening to it – on bus rides to my job in the city, at work and when I’m at home working on my blog. With all the music on the radio and surrounding the music industry today, Jon’s latest EP’s Fall and Winter are a breath of fresh air. Winter is probably the most pure, acoustic-sounding record I’ve ever listened to. From guitar, cello and violin features to harmonica, horns and bass clarinet accompaniment the listener really gets the feel that she is right there watching him play these songs live from his home, which I think was what he was trying to get across in these “home recordings.” I’ll write a review of his latest EP, Winter below, but be sure to check out the songs for yourself on his MySpace or purchase each EP for $5 on his website, jonforeman.com.

While the EP has its more somber songs, such as dealing with the thought of death or a homeless woman who dies alone, it definitely is a compilation of songs that makes you think, whether its about your own life or the lives of others in this world. Jon is a great storyteller throughout his songs and when the last chord is finished you’re left thinking about that song well after it’s over, a feat that demonstrates just how great a musician he is.

“Learning How To Die” starts off the EP with a simple bass clarinet and acoustic guitar with Jon shortly joining in and singing, “I’m gonna miss you, I’m gonna miss you when you’re gone.” It seems to be the story of a conversation with a friend who is talking about death while he doesn’t want “to talk about the end, and how every living thing goes away.” Very simple rhythm, but so deep in meaning.

The next track, “In Love,” may be my favorite song on the EP, mainly because of the beautiful intro. It sounds like it’s from a part of another culture, almost Middle Eastern or Asian sounding with the instruments played, first strings and then the bass clarinet coming in right before he chants, “In love, in life, in love, in you, in love, in death my love.” It’s just a very relaxing, calming song to listen to.

“White As Snow” seems to be a type of a prayer song he sings. The piece begins slowly with a string feature while Jon starts off the song by singing, “Have mercy on me oh God/according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion/blot out my transgressions.”

Stand out song on the EP is “Somebody’s Baby” – a tale of a homeless woman struggling to get by in life alone, who later dies alone, strangely enough on her birthday. The lyrics are so moving while the strings and soft guitar rhythm featured throughout definitely help with the songs deep, somber feel. Lyrics such as “When the people don’t want you, they just throw you money for beer” get this feeling across. Even though she may be homeless and completely alone Jon sings, “she’s somebody’s baby, somebody’s baby girl/she’s somebody’s baby, somebody’s baby girl and she’s somebody’s baby still.” He continues with the heartbreaking story while singing, “She dreams about heaven remembering hell as a nightmare she visits and knows all too well.” By far the most emotion-filled song on Winter, Jon demonstrates this feeling throughout the lyrics of the song.

Overall, the EP has strong vocals and guitar sound from Jon, already familiar to many Switchfoot fans, but there is much more openness and honesty showcased from him on this EP. From “Behind Your Eyes,” a soothing acoustic guitar-driven track of wanting to see life through another person’s eyes to “I Am Still Running,” a song with lyrics such as “build me a home inside your scars/build me a home inside your song/build me a home inside your open arms/the only place I ever will belong,” Jon showcases his versatility. I’m excited to see what Spring will bring.

Categories
Concert Reviews

Jon Foreman’s One-night NYC Tour

Whether it’s performing to 3,000+ fans in a packed arena or an after show performance to 30 or so people waiting outside the venue, Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman is able to connect with the audience, no small feat for a musician.

Jon entered the small stage at Joe’s Pub last Wednesday shortly after 7:30 with his guitar and harmonica while friend and fellow musician, Keith Tutt, accompanied him for the night on cello. I’ve never been to such an intimate performance before, and Joe’s Pub is definitely a great place to get that up close and personal feel. The room was dimly lit by candles provided on each table throughout the venue as well as soft lighting on the performers. The stage at Joe’s Pub is surrounded by tables and red plush couches on the lower level as well as more seating a level above where those in attendance can order dinner and drinks while listening to the night’s performance.

Jon’s set opened up with a question, which later seemed to be the theme of the night, on the topic of cereal from Spencer, a young boy from New Jersey who was eating with his family right in front of the stage. Spencer asked what each performer’s favorite cereal was while Jon later joked, “I’m going to have a great time tonight because I love cereal too.”

First song of Jon’s set was “Southbound Train” from his EP, Fall. Keith began the song on cello while Jon joined on guitar and later harmonica. From the very beginning, Jon’s vocals were strong and well-blended with Keith’s accompaniment on cello. I couldn’t get over how rich and full Jon’s voice was throughout the night, never fluctuating or getting lost in the guitar or cello sound.

Jon joked that he wanted to start off the night with three songs in the key of D so he could get all of his head gear (aka harmonica) out of the way. While a few of the songs I didn’t recognize, they seemed to be a preview of what is to be expected from his future EP’s, Winter, which will be released Jan. 15 while Spring and Summer will be out later this year. Throughout a little over an hour set and 15 songs, Jon sang most of the songs from his latest EP, Fall, as well as some classic Switchfoot hits such as “Dare You to Move” with guest singer Anthony from Bayside and an encore performance of “Only Hope,” which ended the night.

One song performed, “Learning How To Die” from his upcoming EP Winter, was explained as being about death and how a lot of us aren’t learning how to live, we’re learning how to die. Another song, “War in My Blood” is a song he’s written with Sean of Nickel Creek, a project they call The Real SeanJon. “I’ve got some things going on with my friend Sean from Nickel Creek,” Jon said. “Our goal is to get sued by Puffy. Puffy, if you’re here tonight please sue us,” he joked.

Perhaps the most emotional song of the night was “Somebody’s Baby,” which Jon explained is about a homeless woman that lives by his house whom he saw one day brushing her teeth outside. The lyrics and tone of the song are very somber when listening, especially after hearing the story behind the song beforehand. When listening to the lyrics during his performance and realizing the woman dies in the song, the mood is definitely a little heavy throughout the room. After he performed “Somebody’s Baby,” Jon told the audience, “I warned you it’s sad,” and then began playing Hank Williams’ song, “Your Cheating Heart” – not entirely a happy song either. This song had a very simple guitar rhythm to it as well as a nice harmonica feature.

“‘The Moon is a Magnet” is kind of a tongue twister for your fingers,” Jon said before playing it and I definitely could see that while watching him play. He then played two songs, the first song being “Let Your Love Be Strong,” from Switchfoot’s latest album Oh! Gravity, which he described as being the question in the pair of songs while the second song played is the sequel to that song, or the answer to it.

Anthony from Bayside came out towards the end of the night to share the stage with Jon and Keith, helping out with vocals on “Dare You To Move.” He said that Jon called him at 5:30 to see if he would sing the song with him. Anthony seemed a little nervous at first to help out with the song, but overall, his vocals were really strong and meshed well with Jon and Keith’s performance. Jon then covered his favorite Bad Religion song, “Sorrow” and then segued nicely into “The Cure For Pain” as his voice resonated throughout the venue before his encore performance and one of my favorite songs, “Only Hope.”

Opening act for the evening was Dawn Landes. Playing seven songs for about a 45 minute set, she definitely wowed the crowd with her strong vocals and guitar playing as well as the rest of her band on drums, cello and bass. I especially liked one of their songs, played completely acoustic, adding a tambourine to the mix. It was very simple, but well played with a cameo from the cellist. “Picture Show” was definitely an entertaining number, sounding very circus-esque with funny quips sung throughout. Last song of her set was the “Kissing Song,” which encompassed a strong vocal sound as well as a beautiful strings feature. Her voice and performance definitely has a folk sound to it, somewhat comparable to Feist and Regina Spektor. Her album, Fireproof is due out in stores in March. Check out her MySpace here.

Extremely appreciative the entire night for everyone who came out for his performance, Jon told the crowd that he has been looking forward to Wednesday night for a long time. “This whole project has been a real dream for me. Thanks for being a part of it.”

Be sure to check out Jon’s new EP due out Jan. 15. For more info check out his MySpace.

Categories
Benefit News

Update: Switchfoot Raises Over $100,000 on Tour Benefiting Habitat for Humanity

“We felt we were helping in the best way we could – in light of the fact that this tour was about rebuilding and working in Habitat for Humanity,” Switchfoot drummer Chad Butler says of being on tour while the fires were raging in hometown San Diego.

The “Appetite for Construction Tour” means a lot more to San Diego natives Switchfoot taking the unfortunate fires in California into account.

“It’s surreal to look at the streets where you grew up on CNN from the back of a tour bus . . . I really feel for the people who lost so much,” drummer Chad Butler said. “I’m sure Habitat will be helpful in aiding those families. It’s a reminder that you’re not guaranteed tomorrow.”

Having just wrapped up their tour, “Appetite for Construction” has been very different from past Switchfoot tours, Butler explained. With $1 from every concert ticket going to benefit Habitat for Humanity, over $100,000 has been raised for the organization. All three bands on tour have been helping out at Habitat builds throughout the country while Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Matt Thiessen of Relient K have written a song, “Rebuild,” which fans can purchase at switchfoot.com, donating the money directly to Habitat. Possibly the highlight of every show, each night of the tour all three bands come out on stage and perform this song together.

“Our goal is to encourage people to donate time locally in their own city. One of the most amazing things about Habitat is you don’t need to have any prior experience or expertise . . . they’ll put you to work and you make a difference. I’ve been really excited to see our audience come down to the sites and help out,” Butler said.

Matt Thiessen of Relient K agrees. “One of the best things of this tour is the meaning behind it,” he told the audience at the Nov. 17 NYC show at Hammerstein Ballroom. “One dollar of every ticket goes to Habitat for Humanity. We want to encourage everyone to check out their local chapters and go to some sites. It’s a lot easier than you think. We’re never completely content with where we are in life. We need to be compassionate. Being compassionate is what makes us feel alive.”

Habitat builds aren’t the only thing keeping Switchfoot busy. Their seventh album is already in the works and is expected out late next year. Singer/songwriter Jon Foreman is also working on four solo EP’s, the first entitled Fall just released last month. He’s also collaborating with Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek, calling themselves The Real SeanJon. Foreman explained the EP’s are six songs each and can be purchased on his Website, jonforeman.com.

“A lot of these songs are the more personal songs that don’t really belong on a band record,” Foreman said. “I’ll be doing four EP’s. They’re going to be called Fall, Winter, Summer and Spring. I’m working on Winter now. I haven’t even thought about Spring yet. I’ll think about Spring when it starts getting warmer out.”

Foreman explained the inspiration behind his music as “the specific place where I’m at in life. For me, most of my songs come from the problems in my life. When I’m happy I hang out with my friends and go surfing. That’s not when you write a song. You write a song when you’re depressed, angry and bitter and you’re trying to figure out the world.”