In the House of God Forever

As I drove across the vast, nearly endless plains states on my way home from Colorado, a bank of dark clouds stretched away to my south, like a dark companion without beginning or end. A hole formed in the underside of the cloud at an angle that allowed me to see through it and up to the clear blue sky above. And I could see through that brief window that above the clouds there was the bright arc of a rainbow.

The stereo hummed along and soft voices began to sing wordlessly in gentle harmony, giving the whole scene a soundtrack that underscored its unique beauty. The thoughts of a covenant sign hidden by darkness but revealed as a promise of safety came to me, and then the voices that filled the car sang these words:

God is my shepherd
I won't be wanting
I won't be wanting.
He makes me rest
In fields of green
With quiet streams.

Even though I walk
Through the valley
Of death and dying
I will not fear
'cause you are with me
You are with me.

Your shepherd staff
Comforts me.
You are my feast
In the presence of enemies
Surely goodness
Will follow me
Follow me
In the house of God
Forever.

Fiction Family in Portland last night

Let's start off by admitting that the picture on left is totally ripped off from the Fiction Family blog. The pictures that Krista and I took were more, um, artistic. But the smears of color were certainly beautiful.

Yesterday was one of those days where it seems like everything goes right. I took seven-year-old Z in for an MRI and she performed well, looking at the doctor in strained disbelief when he kep asking her if she was scared. "Why should I be scared?" she asked. She appeared to have fun and told me she almost fell asleep during it (Doc says all is well and nothing to worry about).

Then Krista and I met up and went into Portland where she had a couple of appointments, and I worked, with a brief break in a sunlit park to eat a street food burrito. Then we checked into a ridiculously fancy hotel that is having a sale because of the economy, so the overall price was about how much it costs to keep our house warm overnight. We grabbed some Lebanese food and then headed over to the Aladdin theater to see Fiction Family!

Molly Jenson opened the show. She did a fine job, she has an easy way of interacting with the audience and setting us up for what would come later. Sean Watkins came out and joined her on one song, and she ended her set with "You Are My Sunshine" which involved perhaps the funniest moment of the night when the sound/light guy made a shining sun appear on stage behind her and we all burst into laughter while she tried to sing the song in a serious, mournful way. She made good sport of it and we had a big sing along.

Then our fictional family took the stage, and I will say that the whole concert had a bit of the feeling of a very talented family hanging out together and doing an impromptu talent show. "Jon-boy, go get your banjo!"

Krista and I were talking last night and we both admitted that this show was better than the last Switchfoot show we went to (I KNOW... sacrilege... put down those rocks, my friends, do not kill me over this brief lapse). It was just fun, and you could tell the musicians were having fun, too. They sang some FF songs (this is from memory and not in order, folks... When She's Near, War In My Blood, Closer Than You Think, Betrayal, Throw It Away, Mostly Prove Me Wrong, and one they haven't recorded yet that made me laugh out loud and sit there with a goofy grin on my face called, I think, Rob Me or something along those lines). Sean sang a couple of songs as well, and (special treat!) his sister Sara was there, too, and they sang one of the best of the Nickel Creek songs, Somebody More Like You. Jon sang Resurrect Me and also Your Love Is Strong. the whole gang also teamed up for a fascinating, stripped down version of Radiohead's Idioteque.

Overall, it was a great mix. The Watkins siblings are superior musicians, and watching Sean play guitar was amazing, and of course Sara is ridiculously good on the fiddle. And Jon's vocals are always exceptional. I'm interested to see how this all plays out on the next Switchfoot album, as it's pretty clear that Jon is picking up some tricks from Sean.

It was a concert that made you feel good. It was a concert where you walked away thinking, it was fun to sit there and listen to my friends make music, and sing along and have a little conversation, and you were sad at the end of the night to say goodbye and it felt almost rude to walk out the back door instead of hanging around to say good night to all your friends on stage.

So goodnight Jon, Sean and Sara... and yes, Drummer Guy and Bass Player, Jon never introduced us but I assume we would be friends also. Good job everyone, and I hope that the next time you all are in Portland you'll stay with Krista and I. She'll get out her guitar and A will play piano and Z will sing and I will stand around with a goofy smile on my face or something.

I mean it... you guys better call us.

Adios!

As for the rest of you, you still have a chance to catch the end of the tour if you're on the west coast. Here are the shows yet to play:

TONIGHT at 7-- San Francisco

FRIDAY at 7-- San Diego

SATURDAY at 7-- West Hollywood

Listen to the new Fiction Family album for FREE

Fiction Family has put up the entirety of their new album on Rhapsody so you can listen to it for free.

The album releases January 20th. In the meantime you can download When She's Near on Fiction Family's website.

Billboard recently ran an article on Fiction Family, too, and you can see that here.

When She's Near -- Fiction Family

On February 4th Krista and I will be going to see Fiction Family in concert in Portland. Here's their first video:


Fiction Family - When She's Near from ATO Records on Vimeo.

Fiction Family

Fiction Family, the new band made up of Switchfoot's Jon Foreman and Nickel Creek's Sean Watkins is releasing its first album January 20th.

In the meantime, you can get a free download of the song "When She's Near" by signing up for their e-mail updates here.

They will be playing in Portland on February 4th. I hope to see you there. I hope to see me there, as well.

Summer Is Here

Jon Foreman's Summer EP released this week, the fourth of his seasonal EPs.

I've only had a chance to listen to it a couple of times at this point, but overall I like it, and a couple of songs are great. I particularly like "A Mirror is Harder to Hold." So many of the songs on the other EPs seemed to be about dysfunction and loss in relationships, it's nice to have one that is about trying to keep it together. And I like the almost mariachi style music. It's a fun song.

You can hear clips from the song for free at the link above, and can buy the album there or on iTunes.

Other things I like about summer: The sparrows fighting at the bird feeder, the flowers in bloom, the trees adding inches every few days, the way the sky wears every blue it can find with darker shades all the way past ten.

Jon Foreman's "A Mirror Is Harder to Hold" (lyrics)

A Mirror Is Harder to Hold

You could stay a while longer

We could stay up and talk about last summer

We could go down to the water, watch the sunset goin’ under

Its not that I’m a stranger to lonely moments

I’ve had my share of those

Please don’t go please don’t leave me alone

A mirror is so much harder to hold

I could try to point a finger

But the glass points in my direction

Sure you’ve got your sharp edges but my wounds are from my own reflection

You’ve got nothing I could ever hold against you

Ive got fatal flaws to call my own

Please don’t go, please don’t leave me alone

A mirror’s so much harder to hold

I met a man who was looking for perfection

Said he’d never met a girl who was good enough

His eyes are getting old like they’d love to love again

Such a lonely man

Such a lonely man

I see him in my reflection taking steps toward me these days

So I hold you that much closer and pray we don’t throw this away

It’s not that I’m a man who couldn’t love you

I know what these arms are for

Please don’t go please don’t leave me alone

A mirror’s so much harder to hold

A mirror’s so much harder to hold

Please don’t go please, don’t leave me cold

A mirror’s so much harder to hold

Switchfoot Update (ocean city)

Dan shares some thoughts about last night's Switchfoot concert on his blog.

He also sent this picture of Jon Foreman buying his ice cream, as if to prove that his reporting yesterday was both accurate and timely.

Our Man in Ocean City

BHR's roving reporter, Dan, just called in to report from the Switchfoot concert in Ocean City.



Dan said that while waiting in the concession line he noticed Jon Foreman in line ahead of him, and that he ordered a large chocolate ice cream cone. Dan points out that this was very soon before Foreman was to take the stage. My theory is that this was to get Jon's energy up for the concert. Dan will report back to let us know if, indeed, Jon showed enormous energy during the concert or complained of stomach pains.



More news to come from Dan, but we wanted to make sure to get this Important Bulletin out to you as soon as possible.

New Switchfoot Song

Here's a video of the new Switchfoot song, which they played last week at the Dove Awards. Apparently this song will be appearing on the Prince Caspian soundtrack.

This is why there is a video of Prince Caspian clips running in the background. At one point it looks like Aslan is about to chomp Jon's head off, which is a touch disconcerting. But I like the song.



Via Switchfeed.

Spring Has Sprung

Dan wrote me today to make sure that I understood that Jon Foreman's Spring EP had been released. Apparently I was asleep at the wheel, enjoying the actual reality of spring, which means that around our house we see things like this:

So, once I recovered I went online and downloaded the album. I haven't really listened to the whole thing closely yet, so I can't give a good review, but I will say I'm pleased that "Your Love Is Strong" is on the EP. I first heard the song last summer at an acoustic Switchfoot concert. Jon said it was a sequel of sorts to the song "Let Your Love Be Strong" from the "Oh! Gravity" album. I like the instrumentation on the EP version of "Your Love Is Strong" and think it sounds great.

Anyway, I'll include more thoughts and let you know which songs are my favorite on the album when I get a chance. In the meantime, I've included the lyrics to both "Your Love Is Strong" and "Let Your Love Be Strong" below. Enjoy.

"Your Love Is Strong" Lyrics by Jon Foreman

Here are the lyrics to Jon Foreman's "Your Love Is Strong" from his Spring EP.

Winter by Jon Foreman

Jon Foreman's Winter, the second of a planned four EP release, came out last month. I managed to download it from our hotel in Bangkok and I've been listening to it here in Krabi, enjoying the irony of listening to the Winter album while wearing shorts and staring out over the Tha Lane Bay.

One of the nice things about Jon's seasonal releases is that I wasn't tired of "Fall" yet... I was still listening to it nearly every day. So having some more thought-provoking, enjoyable music is a treat.

I particularly like three of the songs on the new EP:

1) "Learning How to Die." See the post below for lyrics. This song gave me a deeper insight into the "Fall" album, actually. I realized (maybe I'm late to the party here) that the theme of Fall wasn't only the season, but also seems to be associated with THE Fall of humanity. It has a lot of songs about things not working out, temptation, giving in to temptation, and grief. Winter seems to be dealing with the fallout from Fall, just like the seasons, of course. "Learning How to Die" shows the inevitability of our separation from one another, the end of all living things and the necessity of embracing that in our current lives. It's beautifully written, lyrically and musically.

2) "White as Snow" takes the words of David, King of Israel that he wrote when he had committed adultery and murder. Jon sings it with a lot of feeling, and you can feel real remorse about the past and hope for the future. Again, this is one of the results of our Fall, that sometimes we turn to God for forgiveness, hope, repentance and restoration.

3) "Somebody's Baby." This was, to me, the most powerful and affecting song on the album. It's a love ballad to a homeless woman. It tells her story in a way designed to make you love her and wish you could step into her life and help her start over.

One of the things I've always appreciated about Jon Foreman (and Switchfoot for that matter) is that they aren't satisfied to keep doing the same songs over and over. What I mean is, each album has a new sound and pushes into new territory stylistically and thematically. This EP is no exception.

There you have it. If I knew enough surfer language I would say something profound like "This album is epic." But I don't. So I'll just say, I really like it. And I think you will like it, too. And I'm looking forward to Spring.

Learning How to Die Lyrics by Jon Foreman

Here are Jon's handwritten lyrics for "Learning How To Die." Enjoy.

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