Copious Notes

Switchfoot is guitarist Drew Shirley, bassist Tim Foreman, guitarist and vocalist Jon Foreman, drummer Chad Butler and keyboard and guitar player Jerome Fontamillas.

After two side projects by frontman Jon Foreman, it was easy to start wondering if Switchfoot was still a priority for the singer-songwriter and his fellow band members.

The group delivers the answer to that question Tuesday, and it is an emphatic yes.

Foreman’s forays of the past two years included a series of seasonal solo EP’s and the duo Fiction Family that he formed with Nickel Creek guitarist Sean Watkins. Both were outstanding efforts — the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer quartet of EP’s topped my list of Christian music last year. But Hello Hurricane shows Foreman still rocks, as hard as ever, with his bandmates. If anything, it sounds like maybe after getting some acoustic side projects out of his system, he was ready to rock. Hello Hurricane boasts the most blazing lineup of any Switchfoot album since the band’s early years.

That’s not news to anyone who has heard the leadoff single, Mess of Me, which launches an arsenal of distorted guitar, something we hear a lot on the album. On recent albums, Switchfoot has perfected an approach to the aching ballad, something we do get here with a few selections such as Always – the prettiest thing Switchfoot has done since 24 on The Beautiful Letdown (2004). But this is at its essence a rock record with the guitars, drums, and Foreman’s voice pushing the top of the envelope.

Lyrically, this is a familiar Switchfoot blend of introspection, activism, and spirituality. Mess of Me, for instance, is the latest reiteration of, “This is your life, are you who you want to be?” and This is the Sound is the most forceful of several challenges to the status quo. While Switchfoot has trended toward the mainstream martket, Christian fans should cotton to statements of faith such as Your Love is a Song and Yet.

And the album is a cause for fans in general to rejoice that while Foreman has taken on different forms over the years, the mothership of Switchfoot is as vital as ever.

Switchfoot’s This is the Sound rocks the new Blackberry commercial.

During the past year, there have been public signs that Christian pop music is on the rise.

Last spring on American Idol, a pair of openly Christian ­contestants vied for the title and one of them, Kris Allen, won. Your TV doesn’t have to be on long to hear the rumblings of Switchfoot, one of Christian music’s top bands, on commercials for BlackBerry’s new Storm2 smartphone. Late in the summer, when Christian rockers Skillet released their latest, Awake, it perched itself atop iTunes’ rock album charts and at No. 3 overall.

Pretty good stuff for a niche genre, eh?

But beneath the surface, there have been rumblings for some time.

Late in the summer, Gospel Music Association president and CEO John Styll stepped down, saying he was sacrificing his salary in an effort to stabilize the ­organization, which has laid off a number of staffers. Then, in October, the GMA held an all-star fund-raiser - we’re talking Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith ­heading a lineup that included Casting Crowns and other chart toppers - billed as “Save the GMA.”

Even though that $1,000-a-head event apparently was a success, raising more than $350,000, there were rumors late last month that the GMA was closing its doors.

The association’s troubles come on the heels of other setbacks in Christian music, such as the shutdown of the print edition of the industry’s ­flagship ­publication, CCM Magazine, which was founded by Styll, and ­attendance drops at some festivals.

Christian music also has faced the double whammy of the ­economic downturn and the ­effects of a rapidly changing music ­marketplace less dependent on major labels for distribution and increasingly challenged by problems such as digital music piracy. (Yes, people are stealing Christian music. Go figure.)

These are problems affecting the music industry as a whole, and you know that if the top of the pops is getting battered, the foundations of a niche genre really must be getting shaken.

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Ichthus Farm looked peacful Friday afternoon. It won't look that way next Friday. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

Ichthus, has it really been 10 years?

The first year I covered the Ichthus Festival was 1999. The festival, which returns next week with its 40th edition, had just made the move out from the campground in Wilmore to the Ichthus Farm on U.S. 68, just outside town. It was still primarily run by student volunteers from Asbury College and seminary, and Christian pop was in the midst of tasting a steady stream of mainstream success.

In the ensuing 10 years, a lot of bands have crossed the stage: That’s about 30 headliners over the past decade, and lots of acts on the under-cards that certainly made a mark. So, with this personal anniversary and 10 years at the farm in mind, here’s my list of best-and-or most memorable performances at Ichthus over the past decade.

1. P.O.D., 2000: Before Satellite put P.O.D. atop the rock charts in 2001, the San Diego band came to Ichthus to play a late Friday afternoon set. Many people knew who they were before the set, but everyone was aware by the time it was over.

We said the Boys from the South played “the kind of show that makes you wonder whether the performers dropped dead when they walked off the stage.”

The band, which usually tours with hard-core mainstream metal bands, played an impassioned set, primarily from the album The Fundamental Elements of Southtown, seemingly fueled by the embrace of a Christian crowd.

Michael W. Smith on stage, in the snow, at Ichthus 2005. Photo courtesy of Ichthus.

2. Michael W. Smith, 2005: This was the final set on the day that changed Ichthus forever. Friday of the 2005 fest was warm and sunny until the evening, when severe thunderstorms ripped through, shredding the campsite and scuttling an evening lineup of TobyMac and Audio Adrenaline. The next day, temperatures plunged into the low 40s.

By the time Smith took the stage, snow was falling over Ichthus.

He was playing piano wearing gloves with the fingertips clipped off and a winter cap from his merchandise table. The worship set with Watermark was seen by few, but will never be forgotten by those who stuck it out.

The next year, Ichthus moved to June.

3. Audio Adrenaline, 2006: After this show, Audio A made one more Central Kentucky stop, at Rupp Arena, before breaking up for good in 2007. But this was the last time we saw together the core of the group, which formed at Kentucky Christian College.

Ichthus was Audio Adrenline’s first festival when the band was starting out, looking to be heard. Many, many hit songs later, playing the festival-closing main-stage gig, it was clear that the band remembered where it came from and appreciated that playing Ichthus for the last time was closing a major chapter in its career.

TobyMac in his 2002 Ichthus performance. Photo by Janet Worne.

4. TobyMac, 2002: Up until this year, Toby has played every Ichthus since releasing his first solo album — well, he’s been scheduled to play, as he’s been rained out twice. Those have included some great sets such as a Saturday night throwdown in 2007.

But his first solo gig at Ichthus, under chilly rainy skies with fans standing ankle deep in mud, was noteworthy in its scrappiness.

Not too far removed from his headlining days with dc talk, this slot and these circumstances could have seemed like a comedown to Toby. But he and his band attacked their set with an energy that warmed the soggy amphitheater. Giving it up for crowds like this is probably a big reason why Toby has returned to headliner status.

5. The Ascenxion Band, 2006: Contemporary Christian music fans known so much about everyone on stage at Ichthus, it is rare to find an act that can totally catch you by surprise. But that’s what Ascenxion did when they took the stage at Ichthus 2006.

The “all-star” act of Nashville session players was basically a set of unknowns to festivalgoers. But they quickly had everybody’s attention with stellar musicianship.

Ascenxion has returned to the fest each year since and delivered fabulous performances. But the surprise of that first outing made that set unforgettable.

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot at Ichthus 2007. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

6. Switchfoot and Relient K, 2007: A dream lineup of crossover acts topped the ’07 fest with sets that showed why the bands have such broad appeal. Striking in the showcases were often goofy Relient K’s virtuosity and how clearly Switchfoot’s social justice and personal responsibility messages rang through the rock ’n’ roll.

7. Jennifer Knapp, 2001: The bluesy rocker’s amazing Ichthus set is one of the main reasons I keep wondering whatever happened to her.

8. David Crowder Band, 2008: Is there a group better tailored to bring worship music to a crowd of 18,000?

David Crowder performs at Ichthus 2008. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

What’s amazing is how Crowder can have you laughing at a keytar (one of those guitar-looking contraptions with a keyboard) one minute and lost in a song like O Praise Him the next.

9. OC Supertones, 2001: The ’Tones were a big act in ’01, big enough that they were invited to play the Dove Awards that year. Problem was, the Supertones were also booked to headline Ichthus the same night.

They played the Doves, but the next night, they came to play Ichthus. There was no room on the main stage, so they played the second stage (there was only one, back then) giving fans as intimate a Supertones show as they could ask for, back then.

John Varnadeau (Xanadu) of Atlanta, Georgia, dances with Family Force 5 on the Main Stage at ichthus in Wilmore, Ky., on Saturday, June 14, 2008. Photo by Emily Spence | Staff.

10. Family Force 5, 2008: What better band for a Saturday afternoon party than the boys from Marietta, Ga. The band that has quickly become a fan favorite put an any early punctuation mark on Ichthus ’08 with its late afternoon set featuring bright renditions of well-worn tracks from its album Business Up Front, Party in the Back and some new stuff.

This year, FF5 closes out the proceedings Thursday night. Will it be another set for the decades?

Third Day in concert. Photo by Dale Manning | Essential Records.

There is probably more video footage of Third Day out on the market than any other band in Christian rock.

The guys popped out one of the first really noteworthy Christian concert DVDs back in 2001 with Third Day Live: The Offerings Experience, and the band has offered numerous DVDs since, including the video accompaniments to the their 2007 two-disc greatest hits package. If this were just a bunch of concert videos, it could get a bit stale. What has made the band’s videos fresh is they are not “just concert videos,” and we don’t get the same things twice.

That is true on the band’s latest DVD Live Revelations, which comes packaged with a concise live CD, including several concert versions of songs from last year’s Revelation album and a cover of U2 and B.B. King’s When Love Comes to Town, performed by Third Day, Jars of Clay, Switchfoot and Robert Randolph.

The footage for the DVD was shot during a Southeastern swing of the Music Builds tour with that mind-blowing quartet of acts, though the focus is squarely on the quartet of musicians who make up Third Day.

Yes, there is concert footage, and if you set this DVD next to that 2001 effort, you’d say, they’ve come a long way, baby. That first disc was great, but it was a few fairly static cameras, including one set behind David Carr’s drumkit that kind of bounced to the beat. This footage is sharp, sweeping and up-close, like an early shot from the foot of the stage of guitarist Mark Lee and bassist Tai Anderson jamming. It’s great concert videography.

But the two things you will remember about Live Revelations are the trip home to the band’s home in Atlanta and the trip to Houston after the devastation of Hurricane Ike, last Fall. The Atlanta footage is striking in how its takes the guys out of the spotlight and really puts them at home with their families. Driving from the tour bus to see his family, Carr talks to his wife in a disjointed cell phone call trying to figure out if he should head home or to his kid’s soccer game. We see Lee at the park with his children and feeding his eight-week-old daughter a bottle.

They are scenes any overworked mom or dad who’s come home from work not to a hug but an equally overworked spouse holding out the baby and saying, “take this,” could appreciate. And you appreciate that these wives are left at home alone for days and weeks at a time while their rock-star husbands are on the road. It takes a little effort to feel sorry for rock stars, but Jonathan and Andrew Erwin’s homecoming footage definitely stirs up some empathy.

The Erwin Brothers also capture some of the intent of the tour, and the fact the band considers its work a ministry, following the musicians as well as their tour mates to a Habitat for Humanity build in Nashville and then through the struggle to figure out how to handle that theme in devastated Houston. We see a conversation between Carr and Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman as they discuss how its hard to tell someone who just lost their home they need to go build homes for other people. That story comes back into the arena as the concert is dubbed Music Rebuilds, with all proceeds going to rebuilding efforts, and frontman Mac Powell sings the Hurricane Katrina anthem Cry Out to Jesus for America’s latest natural disaster victims.

It’s all a lot more extra-musical emotion than you’d ever expect from a concert video, and there are also insights into a band struggling to figure out how to present its newest music on tour.

Yes, there is also some levity and great music, so don’t avoid this thinking it’s a video of lamentations. But it is also an insightful documentary. When The Offerings Experience came out, Third Day was still a band on the rise, not yet established at the upper echelon of Christian rock. Now, they are there, and Live Revelations unveils the artistry, skill and sacrifices it took to get there.

Note: This being Good Friday, I should mention there is a wonderful rendition of Thief, the band’s great account of the crucifixion of Jesus told from the point of view of the thief who declared faith in Christ while dying next to him, on the DVD. I also always think of Jars of Clay’s Liquid as a great Easter-time Christian rock song.

Sean Watkins and Jon Foreman, aka Fiction Family.

Review: Fiction Family, Fiction Family

When you’re listening to new music and names like Lennon and McCartney, Difford and Tilbrook, and Neil Finn start rushing to mind, you know you have something good in your earbuds. When you mix that songwriting prowess with the instrumental dexterity of leaders of two of the most accomplished bands currently open for business, you have the first unqualified triumph of our young year.

Fiction Family is the collaboration of Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman, who le blog credited with the best Christian music of 2008 as a solo artist, and Nickel Creek guitarist and singer Sean Watkins. The duo reportedly met at a gig played by their respective bands plus R.E.M. and Wilco, which is to say Fiction Family was born of some great music.

The story is that this album has been in the works since 2006, with Foreman and Watkins exchanging ideas they worked on during their bands’ tour breaks. That means the disc is populated with two lead voices and a wide variety of instrumental ideas, from the sublime acoustic skips of songs such as War in my Blood to a jarring cacophony at the end of Please Don’t Call it Love by a spooky, airy organ. In some ways, this self-titled debut is somewhat reminiscent of The Beatles Revolver album, which combined the sublimeness of Here, There and Everywhere and the arty excursion of She Said She Said.

Christian market fans may be surprised to find little in statements of faith from Foreman. There’s more provocation of thought here, which has always been a hallmark of Switchfoot and Foreman’s solo stuff, in songs such as Look for Me Baby, a little banjo and bass flight that closes the album.

But Fiction Family also seems to be exposing Foreman to new audiences, as the duo is getting played on stations like Lexington adult rock outlet WUKY-FM 91.3 and has shots on NPR music shows such as Mountain Stage and World Cafe.

As much as any effort, Fiction Family seems likely to open a new chapter in Foreman’s career.

New Fray will be released in the Christian market: Beliefnet’s Joanne Brokaw reports The Fray will be releasing its next album to both the mainstream and Christian markets, on Feb. 3. It is a bit of an unorthodox move in the current marketplace, where Christian bands are usually driving toward the mainstream. Though The Fray’s debut, How to Save a Life, was a purely mainstream release, the band did catch many Christian music fan’s ears. In a video with the band’s single, lead singer Isaac Slade reportedly says this is how the group wants to release its music for the remainder of its career.