Out Today...

Today marks the release of supergroup Switchfoot's 5th studio album "Nothing is Sound." The band has absolutely nothing to with East Texas except that I and my family absolutely adore the band. I still find it remarkable that I discovered their music in a sort of back-handed way.

I was looking for a CD by a band called "Pushstart Wagon" at a local CD Warehouse. I was told they sounded a lot like another band I was following at the time called "Plankeye."I wasn't really clear on the name of the band and when I saw Switchfoot's "The Legend of Chin" in the bargain bin, I thought I had found what I was looking for. Instead, I discovered what sounded like mid-90's college rock with a unique jazz influence. Really mature music for a young 3-piece band. We liked them so much, my wife and I drove to Dallas to see them at the Bronco Bowl with Third Day and All-Star United. Switchfoot was the opening band and we happened to be on the front row.

Now, some 8 years later, they've grown beyond their college rock sound to cutting edge modern rock. The Beautiful Letdown was a mult-platinum release and their songs "Meant to Live, Dare You To Move and This is Your Life" have been in commercials, movies and TV spots across the country and around the world. I've seen the band on the David Letterman Show, twice at the Cornerstone Festival and tonight they're going to be on the Conan O'Brien Show. They are easily my youngest daughter's favorite band. They are good role models for teens and young adults. What they have as a band is unique in rock-n-roll. You don't have to fit the stereotype of promoting sex, drugs and whatever else to make it. They've proven it.

So, tonight I'll be sitting up waiting for their spot on Conan. If you've not heard the new single "Stars," it might be worth sitting up late tonight, too.