The Howls, The Romany Rye, The Silent Comedy and Jon Foreman & Friends will perform at the seventh annual Switchfoot Bro-Am Presented By Hurley. Ultimate Ears, the official music partner of the event, will be premiering clips from SWITCHFOOT’s upcoming album, Vice Verses, at onsite listening stations at the surf contest/beach concert, which will take place on Saturday, June 18th, at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, CA. The weekend’s activities were conceived by GRAMMY® winning rock band SWITCHFOOT to give back to their local community and benefit the San Diego and Oceanside chapters of StandUp For Kids (www.standupforkids.org), a national nonprofit volunteer outreach organization dedicated to making a difference in the lives of at-risk, homeless and street kids.
While admission to the beach event is free, funds will be raised from sponsorships, beach vendors, an Auction Night Soiree (set for June 16th at a private La Jolla Farms residence) and a post-concert after-party held June 18th at the Belly Up Tavern in nearby Solana Beach. Johnny Rzeznik (Goo Goo Dolls), Fiction Family and Little Hurricane will play the after-party, which will be hosted by SWITCHFOOT.
For the first time, Bro-Am is working with Square, a San Francisco-based company revolutionizing everyday transactions. At the Auction Night Soiree and at Moonlight Beach, volunteers will be wearing T-shirts that say, “Square Up for StandUp For Kids— Ask Us How To Donate,” and they’ll have iPhones enabled with card readers on hand, allowing attendees to donate directly to StandUp For Kids right then and there.
Tickets for the Auction Night Soiree and the Belly Up after-party are on sale now at www.switchfoot.com/c/bro-am. Through an alliance with SWITCHFOOT’s e-commerce provider, Bandfarm, fans purchasing tickets to Auction Night Soiree will be invited by Dympol’s Charitable Checkout application to add a donation for StandUp For Kids to the shopping cart. In return, fans who decide to give will get an exclusive Fiction Family download and digital gift cards from Hurley equal to the value of their donations. When fans activate their Hurley gift cards they also have the opportunity to get the band to publicly thank them on their Facebook pages.
Since its inception in 2005, the Bro-Am has raised more than $400,000 for San Diego-based children’s charities. Last year’s event was the most successful to date, drawing over 7,500 attendees and raising more than $135,000 for the local chapters of StandUp For Kids.
“We are so grateful that our friends The Howls, The Romany Rye and The Silent Comedy can join us for an incredible day of music and surf that will benefit a remarkable group of kids,” says SWITCHFOOT’S Jon Foreman.
David Bakelman, CEO, StandUp For Kids, notes, “StandUp For Kids is again proud to be chosen as the recipient of the proceeds from this year’s Bro-Am. Jon, Tim, Chad, Jerome and Drew show the true commitment of impacting homeless youth in Southern California.”
San Diego-based Sustainable Waves will again provide cutting-edge solar-powered sound and staging for the Switchfoot Bro-Am. By using solar power rather than a diesel generator or grid power, the Bro-Am will avoid emitting approximately 1,000 lbs of CO2 into the atmosphere (the equivalent of not driving your car approximately 1,100 miles or the annual sequestration of 66 trees).
Four-person surf teams secure their participation via sponsorship donation to StandUp For Kids. This year’s teams will include riders representing Hurley, Billabong, Surfer Magazine, Transworld Surf, Surf Ride, Jetpilot, AKA, Shaper Studios Surfboards, Macbeth, Surfline.com and members of SWITCHFOOT. For the second consecutive year, the Bro-Am will feature a junior division in the surf contest. The beach day will also feature a nerf surf jousting exposition and an expression session. For additional details about the Switchfoot Bro-Am Presented By Hurley, please visit http://www.switchfoot.com/c/bro-am.
Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman has
announced he will join the all-star cast of musicians gathering for
“Help Haiti Live,” in Nashville on February 27th, 2010 to benefit Compassion International’s Haiti disaster relief fund. The concert is sponsored by Gaylord Entertainment Company and will be
streamed live at HelpHaitiLive.com.
With extraordinary need still existing in the devastated country,
Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas,
Big Kenny, Mat Kearney, Jars of Clay, Jon Foreman, Brandon
Heath, NEEDTOBREATHE, Dave Barnes, and Matt Wertz
will participate in a concert at Nashville’s famed and Gaylord-
owned Ryman Auditorium. Produced to inspire live concert and
on-line audiences to financially support the relief work of
Compassion International in Haiti, all talent and production fees
have been donated, along with streaming services (Livestream.com),
allowing proceeds to go toward Compassion's disaster relief fund
(more details below). Gibson Guitars has donated a guitar to be
signed by the evening’s performers and auctioned off, with bids
starting today at HelpHaitiLive.com/auction. For artist and venue
information please click here.
Tickets range in price from $25-75 and can be purchased at
Ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster locations, as well as through
The Ryman box office: 800-745-3000 or ryman.com.
Event details include:
Nashville/Ryman Auditorium, 7:30pm cst:
Host: Big Kenny (plus performance)
Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas
Jars of Clay
Mat Kearney
Jon Foreman
Brandon Heath
Dave Barnes
NEEDTOBREATHE
All net proceeds from HelpHaitiLive.com will go to Compassion International’s Haiti disaster relief fund. All money raised in
response to the Haiti earthquake will be used immediately to
re-equip Compassion's local support structure and to provide for the immediate needs of Compassion-assisted children and families.
Compassion has been meeting the physical and spiritual needs of
Haitians for more than forty years and will continue to serve them
in this time of extreme need. Already Compassion International has
supplied more than 15,000 families with clean water, food, blankets, temporary shelter, medical supplies and counseling. Donations will
lay bricks, feed, educate, clothe, heal and rebuild Haiti for many
months to come.
Nashville, Tenn., September
30, 2008 – Acclaimed
Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman
releases Limbs and Branches Oct. 28 on lowercase people records /
Credential Recordings / EMI CMG.
The full length, 12-song recording features two new tunes, “Broken From the
Start” and “Over the River,” as well as the most popular hits from his widely
acclaimed Fall,
Winter,
Spring
and
Summer solo EPs that have sold the equivalent of 150,000 copies
to date.
Each EP serves as a chapter of Foreman’s
stripped down, intimate and direct vision. It is one that begins with a foray into death
and decay, but eventually transforms into reflections on growth and
rebirth. All four discs were produced by
Foreman with GRAMMY-nominated Charlie Peacock serving as the executive
producer.
The EPs have been heralded as “Brilliant Sonic
Works of Art,” “Impassioned,” “Brutally Honest” and “Fresh, New
Sounding” in reviews covering a wide media spectrum from MTV, Performing
Songwriter, and Plugged In to PopMatters, The
Album Project and Relix,
to Philadelphia Daily News, San Diego Union
Tribune and Orlando Sentinel.
In addition to
the critical acclaim, Foreman has developed a unique following with the
best-selling EPs beyond his role as the lead vocalist for the multi-platinum
selling rock band Switchfoot. Gathering
over 1.4 million spins on his MySpace page, fans also helped select the songs
for Limbs and Branches through www.JonForeman.com, including the current
radio single, “The Cure For
Pain,” from Fall. This
song was also used in the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy.
“For the past few tours we’ve done as a
band [Switchfoot], I’ve made a habit of playing a set after the show,” said
Foreman prior to the release of Fall. “Many of these ‘after shows’ have been
incredible experiences, a chance for spontaneous acoustic music that is
completely juxtaposed to the rock band environment: no booking agent, no light
show, no amps or guitar techs – just Dylan covers, some sing-a-longs, and
honest stories. These projects are an
attempt to create a musical conversation that mirrors that experience.”
What began as impromptu solo performances
by Foreman at coffee shops, bars, café’s and alleys around Switchfoot’s touring
worldwide has continued following the release of the EPs and expanded into
noteworthy performances at SXSW, New York
City’s Central Park, Koffeehouse 2008 “Evening of Independence” Music Festival, Tribeca Film Festival
(NY), Fishmouth Live Event and more.
Inspired by his frequent, impromptu solo
sets, Foreman is a man still journeying towards self-discovery, unafraid of
questioning anything in his path. Some
people write songs to get famous or gain respect, but Foreman writes songs to
understand himself.
“I write questioning songs,” he says. “I’m
interested in reading philosophy and trying to figure things out. The melodies
come to me quite easily so it’s the poets, philosophers and psalmists that help
me put the melodies where they belong. The songs assist me in the challenge of
knowing who I am, so the shoulders of great writers are a good place to start.”
Called a “master songwriter” by the press
following the release of his EPs, Jon Foreman is currently recording songs with
Switchfoot for its highly anticipated new album slated for a spring 2009 release.
“I really feel that the next Switchfoot album will be our defining record,”
relates Foreman. He’s also on the groundbreaking 23-city major market “Music
Builds” Tour with Switchfoot that benefits Habitat for Humanity.
More information about Jon Foreman can be found at www.jonforeman.com.
Limbs
and Branches track listing: 1) Your Love Is Strong • 2) Behind Your
Eyes • 3) The Cure For Pain •
4) Resurrect Me •
5)
Southbound Train • 6) Broken From The Start * • 7) House Of God,
Forever • 8) Instead Of A Show • 9) A Mirror Is Harder To Hold •
10)
In My Arms • 11) Learning How To Die • 12) Over The River *
(* New songs)
What the critics have
been saying:
“Brooding, sensitive folk pop… from the likes
of Damien Rice and David Gray.” – Philadelphia Daily News
“…a great American
songwriter… an exquisite craftsman.” – Lexington Herald-Leader (5 out of 5 star
review)
“Switchfoot
lead vocalist/guitarist has channeled his inner Vivaldi to take the power of
four to a new level by recording a quartet of six-song EPs...” – San Diego
Citybeat
“The EPs are a return to a renewed emphasis on Foreman’s
remarkably and consistently perceptive lyrics, as well as the types of
soundscapes which best frame his impassioned vocals.” – PopMatters
“…these are
songs meant to be played stripped-down, solo or with friends, giving Foreman
another club in the bag when it comes to musical versatility…. We’re just lucky
Jon Foreman chose to document them for us.” – The Tennessean
“Jon Foreman in
the last couple of years has mastered the skill of being brutally honest in the
lyrics he sings, yet never letting the poetic element suffer.” – The Album Project (in a 5 out of 5
review)
“…Switchfoot
frontman Jon Foreman’s seasonal series, showcase an eclectic musical mind with
a gift for meaningful, relatable lyrics…” – Dallas Morning News
“It appears he’s gone out on his own, into nature, into a stark,
jutting precipice, to think about life, heaven and the pursuit of happiness -
him and his guitar. The product is earthly introspection compacted into 4 album
EPs.” – RCRD LBL
“Foreman’s solo material is
more introspective in tone and folksier in style than Switchfoot’s full-bodied
guitar rockers…great songwriting shines through even the most stripped-down
musical setting.” – Toledo
Blade
“What’s great about Jon Foreman is his
originality of ideas, and the way he takes conceptual music styles and makes
them tangible.” –
Aced Magazine
