SWITCHFOOT

The video for “Mess of Me” has just been added into rotation at MTV2 and fans can vote for it on Fuse’s “No. 1 Countdown” at: http://www.fuse.tv/ontv/shows/no-1-countdown/.

The band has been playing sold-out shows since the release of Hello Hurricane last fall. They’ve just added several more North American dates between now and April 21^st, when SWITCHFOOT kicks off an international tour that will take them to Australia, Japan and the U.K. (See below for North American shows.) After the group returns, they’ll play Journey’s Backyard BBQ in Sacramento, CA on May 8^th. SWITCHFOOT is partnering with Macbeth and Journey’s to offer a very special contest where one lucky winner will win a trip for two to see the band play the BBQ; complete details on the “Switchfoot Roadie for a Day” contest can be found at: http://z7f1.modlife.com/macbeth/contest.

The sixth annual Switchfoot Bro-Am will be held on Saturday, June 26^th, at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, CA. The event will feature surfing contests, a live art mural created by local artists and a live concert.  Line-up to be announced shortly. It will benefit San Diego area chapters of StandUp for Kids, a non-profit organization dedicated to making a difference in the lives of at-risk and homeless youth (www.standupforkids.org). Last year’s Bro-Am was the most successful to date, drawing over 7,000 attendees and raising close to $100,000 for StandUp for Kids.

“The Bro-Am really sums up our connection with San Diego, the surfing and music communities coming together to make a difference,” says Chad Butler,SWITCHFOOT’s drummer, who is featured on the cover of this month’s DRUM! magazine.

“The Switchfoot Bro-Am began six years ago as an implausible dream: a dream that three of our favorite things (surfing, music, and the local community) could collide for a day in a way that gives back to the town that has given us so much,” adds lead singer Jon Foreman, who performed Feb. 27 for Help Haiti Live, a benefit for Compassion International’s Haiti disaster relief fund, at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

Recorded with producer/bassist Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Rilo Kiley, Eminem, and Pink), Hello Hurricane is SWITCHFOOT’s first album on Atlantic Records. Numerous songs from the record have been tapped for use in major marketing campaigns (Verizon Wireless’ BlackBerry® Storm,overstock.com, the Samuel Goldwyn Film “To Save A Life”) and television programming (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “One Tree Hill,” Fox Sports’ “NHL Music Nights,” ESPN’s college football coverage and WWE’s “TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs” pay-per-view). Hello Hurricane was a critic’s pick in USA Today’s Fall Music feature and Alternative Press hailed the title track as “an uplifting, hope-giving affirmation of resurgence.” In recent months, SWITCHFOOT has performed on “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

SWITCHFOOT is Jon Foreman (vocals/guitar), Tim Foreman (bass), Chad Butler (drums), Jerome Fontamillas (keys/guitar) and Drew Shirley (guitar).

THE HELLO HURRICANE TOUR CONTINUES:

Date    City/State                               Venue

3/24     Adrian, MI                               Merrilat Sports Center

3/25     Detroit, MI                               Royal Oak Music Theatre

3/27     Cincinnati, OH                          The Underground

3/29     Birmingham, AL                       WorkPlay Theatre

3/30     Fayetteville, AR                        George’s Majestic Lounge

4/11     Tucson, AZ                              KFMADAY Festival w/ Muse, 30 Seconds To Mars,

Silversun Pickups

One of America’s hardest working live acts, Skillet – who spent the first part of 2010 touring alongside Atlantic labelmates Shinedown – is currently co-headlining the “Awake Tonight” tour with TobyMac, which kicked off to several sold out shows last week, and will also be headlining a number of upcoming summer festivals.

The “Awake & Alive Tour” celebrates the continuing success of Skillet’s acclaimed new album, “AWAKE,” which reached the #1 spot on the iTunes Store’s “Top Albums” chart within 24 hours of its release last summer.  The album also made a blockbuster debut on the SoundScan/Billboard 200, entering the chart at #2.  The album continues to reign as a favorite, ascending the upper half of the Billboard 200.

Produced by Howard Benson (Three Days Grace, Daughtry, Flyleaf), “AWAKE” is highlighted by the electrifying single, “Monster.”  The track is currently a top 5 smash at Active Rock outlets nationwide, while also scoring top 20 airplay at Mainstream Rock.

What’s more, “Hero” – the second mainstream single from “AWAKE” – has been featured in an array of high-profile promotional campaigns, including WWE’s annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view and is set to arrive at Active Rock outlets this week.  Likewise, “Hero” has already hit the top spot on the Christian CHR and Rock charts, and now, after being the most-added it’s first week out, the second Christian radio single “Awake & Alive,” is already Top 10 at Christian rock and Top 15 at CHR.

Founded in 1996, Skillet has earned rapturous praise for their inspirational and intense approach to hard-edged alternative rock. Continually gaining praise in the Christian market, the mainstream is following suit, with Hit Parader celebrating Skillet for “(bringing) to mind the kind of slick, studio-savvy work that made vintage Aerosmith and Bon Jovi so much fun to listen to.” “Skillet…continually push their musical muscle with soaring guitar work interspersed with their take on 80’s hair-metal ballads,” declared Mix.

In addition to cumulative album sales in excess of 1.6 million, Skillet has racked up a wide range of honors throughout their extraordinary career. Frontman John Cooper and producer Brian Howes recently collected two BMI Music Awards for “The Last Night” and “The Older I Get,” both featured on 2006’s Grammy Award-nominated “COMATOSE.”  That album proved Skillet’s most popular work to date, achieving RIAA gold certification.  “COMATOSE” followed the band’s 2003 label debut, “COLLIDE,” which launched Skillet into the mainstream while also garnering their first Grammy Award nomination.

For up-to-the-minute news and information, visit www.skillet.com or www.myspace.com/skilletmusic.

• Nathan Kriebel (Brookston, IN)
• Danielle Rivoire (Hicksville, NY)
• Scott Whang (Plymouth Meeting, PA)

Congratulations to our winners! In the next few weeks, each of you will receive a copy of Passion’s newest album, featuring new anthews of praise from David Crowder*Band, Chris Tomlin, Kristian Stanfill, FEE, Christy Nockels, Hillsong United, and more! Thanks so much to all who entered!

Be sure to check back in the coming weeks when we feature more giveaways:

• 3/9-3/15: Demon Hunter’s The World Is A Thorn (Solid State Records)
• 3/16-3/22: Adie Camp’s Just You & Me (BEC Recordings)
• 3/23-3/29: Manafest’s The Chase (BEC Recordings)
• 3/30-4/5 Sho Baraka’s Lions and Liars (Reach Records) –tentative
• 4/27-5/3: The Letter Black’s Hanging on By a Thread (Tooth & Nail Records)

To enter send an email to tcmcontest@gmail.com and provide us with the following info:

“DEMON HUNTER GIVEAWAY” as the title of the email

Your name

Your mailing address

BONUS: A question you’d like us to ask in our upcoming Q&A with one of the artists involved. (You don’t have to ask a question to be entered. We’d just love you more.)

That’s all it takes! We won’t sell your name! We just want you stopping by the site and we figure winning stuff from us creates loyal fans? Right?

Winners will be notified by email and announced on our site Tuesday, March 16^th.

NOTE: IF YOU ARE ON TWITTER, FOLLOW US (@CManifesto)! IF YOU’RE ON TWITTER, RETWEET THIS CONTEST!

CONTEST OFFICIALLY ENDS ON March 15^TH, 2010 AT 11:59PM EST. ANY ENTRIES RECEIVED AFTER THIS POINT WILL BE DISCARDED.

THIS CONTEST IS LIMITED TO RESIDENTS OF US & CANADA ONLY.

Top Cow creators who will be exhibiting at Emerald City ComiCon include Ron Marz (Witchblade), Phil Hester (The Darkness), Michael Broussard (The Darkness), William Harms (Impaler), Eric Basaldua (Witchblade Annual) and Joshua Ortega (Necromancer).

This year, Emerald City ComiCon will have available four Top Cow exclusives: an ECCC 2010 limited edition wrap-around variant of Angelus #2 (by Marz and Stjepan Sejic), an ECCC 2010 limited edition variant cover of The Darkness #83 by Whilce Portacio (with interior story by Hester and Broussard), a limited edition Witchblade ECCC print by Broussard and Sunny Gho, and the official ECCC 2010 t-shirt featuring the art of Broussard. The latter two exclusives will be available at the official Emerald City ComiCon booth.

Also available at the Top Cow booth (#304) are free preview books, prizes and other giveaways. Fans interested in sketches from the artists should stop by at the beginning of each day to acquire a sketch ticket.

For more information on the show, please visit www.emeraldcitycomicon.com. You can also receive up-to-date information including an Emerald City ComiCon signing schedule by following Top Cow on Twitter: @TopCow (www.twitter.com/topcow).

Diaz is no doubt one of the breakout artists of 2009. With his hit single “More Beautiful You,” Diaz held the #1 spot at radio for four weeks in a row and to date, the song has received more than 110,000 single downloads and over 375,000 MySpace plays, along with over 135 million radio impressions and over 60,000 spins. The music video alone has received well over 500,000 online views. Diaz’s CD, More Beautiful You, is his fourth to date and is his first signed with INO Records.

It doesn’t end there. “More Beautiful You’ continues to receive airplay across the nation not only at Christian radio but also on mainstream stations across the U.S. The single has hit Top 30 on Billboard’s mainstream AC chart, and is currently top 12 on Clear Channel’s new on-line program.

Diaz is already making another mark at radio with his next radio single, “Stand For You,” the #1 most added song  as of the first reporting week of the new year. Penned by Diaz, “Stand For You” shares the important message about standing up for Christ in a world that wants to water Him down. The song is quickly climbing the Christian charts, as it is already Top 10 at Soft AC/Inspo and Top 20 AC.

Steve Turley of WCLN, Fayetteville, NC, knew it was a hit when he first heard the song, stating, “‘Stand For You’ was a song I couldn’t wait to add. Talk about a song that relates. I’m sure we all agree that instead of complaining about how bad things are getting, we need to be proactive in influencing our culture.

“Jonny Diaz puts into words what so many are already thinking,” Turley shares. “Great song with timely lyrics.”

To further promote the theme of the song, Diaz and INO Records have teamed with Tangle.com for the “Stand For You” video contest, where participants create their own video to show how they stand up for the Word of God. The contest is currently in full swing and further details can be found at http://jonnydiaz.com/contest.

“More Beautiful You” music video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ks3R2BwyO0

“Stand For You” performance video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af-4-eY13OM

“Stand For You” story behind the song:

http://inorecords.com/jonnydiaz/JonnyDiaz_newsingle.mov

With just 41 days until Opening Day, MLB Network recently announced it will once again televise the Spring Training series 30 Clubs in 30 Days, with hour-long features on each of the 30 Major League clubs previewing the 2010 season. The new season of 30 Clubs in 30 Days will provide extensive coverage of each team with field reports, interviews, predictions and inside access to every club’s training camp as Opening Day approaches. A preview of the new season can be viewed on MLB Network’s web site.

30 Clubs in 30 Days premiered on Wednesday, March 3 at 5:00 p.m. ET with the Detroit Tigers, followed by the New York Yankees on Thursday, March 4 at 5:00 p.m. ET (check www.mlbnetwork.com for updates).

Sold out and packed crowds helped TobyMac kick off the AWAKE TONIGHT tour with Skillet last week, which runs through April 11.  For tour dates and more information on TobyMac, go to: http://www.tobymac.com

“their best overall album” –New Release Tuesday

“epic”– Soul-Audio

“the best of what Christian music has to offer” — The Christian Manifesto

“in the hard-act-to-follow category”– Cross Rhythms

“passionate”– Jesusfreakhideout

Listen for the album’s debut single, “Rediscover You,” now impacting Christian Hit Radio.Also check out the band at Dare2Share events this month. For more information on The Saving One and list of upcoming tour dates, visit: www.starfieldonline.com or www.myspace.com/starfield.

With a whopping 51 songs, including five rare bonus tracks, the compilation is a three-disc set of the first three Relient K albums, RELIENT K, THE ANATOMY OF THE TONGUE IN CHEEK (GOLD EDITION/RIAA certified gold), and TWO LEFTS DON’T MAKE A RIGHT BUT THREE DO (GOLD EDITION/RIAA certified gold), and includes hits like “My Girlfriend,” “Sadie Hawkins Dance,” “Chap Stick, Chapped Lips and Things Like Chemistry” and more.  On top of all that, the  iTunes® version includes three music videos (“My Girlfriend,” “Chap Stick, Chapped Lips and Things Like Chemistry,” “Pressing On”).Gotee is also offering an exclusive pre-order through musichristian.com (http://musichristian.com/sys/product.php?PRODUCT=782229 ).

With the title track from their critically acclaimed project,  FORGET AND NOT SLOW DOWN continuing its success on Christian CHR radio (currently #11) and  ”I Don’t Need a Soul”  recently going for adds at both Christian rock (currently #18) and mainstream rock radio, Relient K will spend some time performing in Japan in early April, and then opening for Paramore in late April through mid May.

For tour dates and all information on Relient K, please visit:

www.relientk.com

www.myspace.com/relientk

www.twitter.com/relientk

What We Want, What We Get showcases Barnes at his best yet as he explores a range of texture and melodies with songs expressing a wide range of emotions. The most accessible and inspiring of all of his projects, he explains, “When I decided to make this record I really wanted to write songs that people could quickly assimilate in to their own life. I’m excited because I think this record is the most ‘easily digestible’ of anything I’ve ever written.”

Just a few years into Barnes’ musical career, which started with an EP in 2002 that led to opening some shows for fellow singer/songwriter Matt Wertz, Barnes began to build his own audience. He also began to obtain fans in respected artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Marc Cohn, Vince Gill, Amy Grant and John Mayer, something for which he is very grateful. “The thing that fires me up, and still blows me away, is when I am able to meet someone I’ve admired and has inspired me, only to find out they feel the same way about what I do. Respect is a pretty heavy currency in my little world, and it has hugely impacted my music.”

Encouraged by these artists as well as influenced by Stevie Wonder, Doobie Brothers, Indigo Girls, and authors Donald Miller and Frederick Buechner, Barnes was more than eager to create What We Want, What We Get. The project’s theme reflects how Barnes deals with expectations of life. “I’ve been very blessed but still struggle with a head full of dreams,” he shares. “Be it good, be it bad, what do we do when we don’t get what we expected?”

He also co-produced this new project, partnering with Ed Cash (Steven Curtis Chapman, Amy Grant) who has also co-produced all of Barnes’ full-length releases.

Known for honest lyrics and not hiding his feelings behind metaphors, Dave Barnes continues to approach his subject matter directly. His first radio single, titled “God Gave Me You,” is a beautiful up-tempo love song for all ages: God gave me you for the ups and downs / God gave me you for the days of doubt / For when I think I lost my way / there are no words here left to say, it’s true / God gave me you.

“God Gave Me You” is already making a huge impact at CHR radio, capturing fans in both promoters and the radio listener. The single debuted this week on Billboard’s CHR charts at #28, with more adds coming in weekly.

No matter what, Dave Barnes is just enjoying every minute of every day. “What really blows my mind is that every day is a constant invitation from God, for us to participate is His will for our lives,” he says. “Yet something that the devil loves to do is to pull us into thinking that there’s just that one chance, that one choice, and when you’ve made that choice you’ve made it for the rest of your life. And the beauty of what God says is, ‘No! Every second of every moment, of every day, of every year of your life, I’m inviting you to do this, and You can participate or not.’ Every moment God gives us is another chance,” he concludes.

Sure, Dave Barnes never did become Spiderman, swinging from tall buildings by the thread of a web, but we’re glad he has become entangled in something much more spectacular.

What We Want, What We Get song listing:
1. Little Lies
2. God Gave Me You
3. What I Need
4. What We Want, What We Get
5. Chameleon
6. Somebody’s Someone
7. Look So Easy
8. Same for Me
9. My Love, My Enemy
10. Amen