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