Celebrating the music that sparks your soul

The Stories

I believe we all have demons trying to bring us down. Sometimes they get through and make us feel numb. They make us feel that nothing in our lives is worth anything and that we’re not worth anything. When it happens, that’s depression. The song “Get Up” was written by Brent to his friend and band mate Eric about his struggle with depression. I’ve struggled with depression since I was about 13 years old. I told my mom that I couldn’t feel happiness anymore. My friends, family and my love of music have helped me heal and have become my medication.

That’s why I incorporated the songs “Devil” and “Get Up” into this artwork for the band. I also wrote them a personal letter on the back expressing how thankful I am for the music they’ve created and how it’s helped me with my depression. When I showed Brent the work he gave me a big hug and said, “You did this? No way! That’s amazing!” I’ve never felt more pleased with my work in my entire life than at that moment. Giving this to Shinedown made me the happiest girl in the world at that moment. It all still feels like a dream.

Devil – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AsPY1bQx70
Get Up – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcohgARJTWQ

“Shinedown’s music is so inspirational and hopeful. I’ve always liked “Simple Man”, the original and their version. But now it means soooo much more to me, after seeing them play it with Machine Gun Kelly at Rock USA in Wisconsin. It was such an emotional performance because the crowd was so into it and every single person there was singing along with them, I felt this overwhelming energy between the band and the crowd. It was like the most powerful moment I’ve experienced in my life, and I was crying because it was just so moving. And now, every time I hear that song I start to tear up again because it brings me back to that incredibly vivid memory.”

See the moving performance here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDWEFkFh4eI

I’ve been to 24 Shinedown shows, the first one was in 2001 when they were opening for 3 doors down. I fell in love with “Burning Bright”, it was a song I could relate to, especially when going through tough times. And it’s still my favorite song to this day. That’s what I love about great music, everyone relates to it and interprets it differently depending on what they’re going through in life.

I’ve been bringing my son to rock concerts since he was 12. And it’s been great to be able to share my love of music with him at such a young age. I’ve never felt awkward, or uncomfortable bringing him to a Shinedown concert because they play a really clean show. I’ve never had to worry about what he’s gonna see or hear like at some other hard rock concerts. Shinedown shows aren’t overly sexual, there’s not a lot of cussin’ and they’re really positive. I just love that about them!

Burning Bright – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO2QId331PE


The more the light shines through me
I pretend to close my eyes
The more the dark consumes me
I pretend I’m burning bright
The more the light shines through me
I pretend to close my eyes
The more the dark consumes me
I pretend I’m burning

Shinedown

I’ve basically converted my entire family into Shinedown fans. I took my 3 kids to their first Shinedown concert in 2009. I took my husband to his first real rock concert, Shinedown in 2012. And they’ve been big fans ever since. We love to see them in concert. We’ve seen them in big venues with all the pyrotechnics, but I think they’re just as great in smaller places, just focused on the music. We chose “I’ll Follow You” for our wedding. We played it, in the chapel, as I walked up the aisle to get married and for the recessional as we walked out together.

They are such great guys and have this charisma that draws people to them. When we met them they seemed to be genuinely interested in talking and interacting with their fans. I mean you just don’t always see that with people these days.

“I was in my early 20’s, it was the season of life when everything was new. I was just married, we moved from a stable, rural community to the big city. I had lots of hopes and dreams as I was trying to prepare for whatever my future was going to be. That was when my Brother-in-law gave me Switchfoot’s Learning to Breathe CD. He gave it to me at his parents house which was in a really rural area of Pennsylvania, I mean Amish country. And I remember walking through the wide open fields on a cold, winter’s day and I couldn’t stop listening, because not only was the music impacting me, it was the first time lyrics from any band had really resonated with me. The first song on the CD is “Dare You to Move”, when I listened to it I felt like the words were challenging me to be better, calling out to me, in my soul, to be my best self. The songs compelled me to be more reflective and the message of each song continued to challenge me even after I stopped listening. I’ve been following them ever since.

During another transitional time in my life, I was basically re-inventing myself, I wanted to be a better husband, a better father, I wanted a better path for my career. My wife and I had recently adopted a child with special needs and we spent a month on the beach, in New Jersey at the Ronald McDonald House during her treatments. Our necessities like food and housing were covered so it gave me the opportunity, everyday to walk on the beach, sometimes for hours, and I would listen to Switchfoot’s music over and over and over. The songs were motivating me to be more, to find my purpose. They were asking questions like ‘This is your life, are you who you want to be?’, and instead of giving me the answers they were encouraging me to think deeply. I really felt like I was being healed, internally, I felt vulnerable and raw. It was probably one of the most defining times in my life, resulting in stronger personal relationships and the decision to pursue a career that would help others enjoy life more.”

Switchfoot was the first band I totally fell in love with. Before my cousin introduced me to them when I was 12, I listened to a lot of country music. When I heard “Your Love is a Song” my life changed. I think I liked it so much because there was a more subjective take on the lyrics, and even though it wasn’t directly a Christian song, I loved the message it carried. The lyrics of the country music I was listening to before weren’t subjective at all. Ever since then they’ve been a constant in my life. Their music has helped me through hard times in middle school and depression through high school. On my worst days I would pull out “The Blues” and “Sing it Out”. A lot of Switchfoot songs talk about hard times but often highlight hope.

I’ve been to eleven Switchfoot concerts in the last 7 years. It’s been so great to look forward to the shows and meet other fans who like the same music as me. Those are some of the best memories of my life. If I could sit down and talk with Jon I’d want to ask him what motivates him to keep writing music after all this time. It just seems like he’s always creating new material, whether it’s for Switchfoot or his other projects.

Several years ago my wife and I starting asking ourselves if we were truly happy. We were both attorneys working in our own law firm. It was a stressful and demanding job. I mean the money was great, but you can make all the money in the world, but if you’re not happy it doesn’t mean anything. So I encouraged her to think about what would really make her happy and she decided to change jobs. I felt like I had to do what I was called to do, and for me that was to plant a new church. But it was a challenging decision, because in order to start the church I was going to have to give up my law firm and take a new job as a prosecutor with the state along with a 50% cut in pay. About a month after planting the church my wife was diagnosed with cancer. Between her fight with cancer and the burden of our financial situation we started doubting our decision. Why are we going through all this, is it really worth it? Listening to the music really reinforced the idea that ultimately you need to keep faith, hope and love. And that’s what Switchfoot is all about. When you go through hard times if you focus on what really matters you can get through anything. And what really matters is following what we are called to do and make a meaningful impact on peoples lives.

Aside from the music and message, another reason we love Switchfoot is because they really embrace their fans just as the fans embrace them. They kind of joke that it’s a Switchfoot family, and it really kind of is that way. We went to three shows in a row on this tour. At the first show we were up front and they recognized us at the meet and greet before the second show. They asked us, ‘what can we do better tonight that we didn’t do last night?’ My wife said ‘there’s this one song I really like, “Dig New Streams”, and you guys didn’t play it last night, I wish you’d play it tonight.’ Now we’ll never know if they played it that night just because she asked, but they haven’t played it at any other show on this tour. So there seems to be a genuine relationship between them and their fans!

“Shinedown has been my absolute favorite band since I was in 6th grade. A lot of my friends would listen to melodies and the overall sound of a song to decide if they liked it. But I was paying more attention to the vocals and lyrics. A couple of years later I found out that Brent went to my high school so I felt an even stronger connection to him. And still, to this day, I 100% believe that Brent is the best lyricist I’ve ever encountered through all the years that I’ve been listening to music.

My mom and I have always been really close and last year she went in for surgery. She ended up with an infection that she never recovered from, and after 5 months in the hospital she eventually passed away. It was during that time, I finally had the chance to hear the song Breathe, and it perfectly encpsulated my emotions and what I was going through. I had wanted to hear that song for a really long time but it was a special release, only available to people who bought tickets a show I couldn’t attend. So, it took a while, but I ended up hearing it at the time in my life when I needed it most.

I really wish she could have listened to Attention, Attention with me, it’s my favorite album of all. It’s 100% about going from a dark place to a happy one, so it’s completely self growth. And even though they obviously didn’t know what was going on in my life, because they’re them and I’m me, we’ve never met. It felt like they somehow knew the situation I was in and had personally extended a supportive hand.”

Learn more about Shinedown – http://www.shinedown.com/

Are you awake,
Or is this goodnight?
If you hear me,
Open your eyes and breathe

Shinedown

“I didn’t always have the best role models in my life. But when it came to seeing Switchfoot’s music videos, listening to them talk and their lyrics, they were a positive influence, better role models to guide me along as I grew up. I mean, I can remember being excited hearing “Learning to Breathe” when I was two years old, so they’ve pretty much been a part of my entire life.

I met John a couple of years ago behind the venue. I was walking to my car and he was coming out of the tour bus. I was able to thank him for all the music the band has made, and let him know how much the lyrics have impacted my life. I told him that his music gave me positive notes when I didn’t have any, and has provided me with what I need during whatever difficult situation I’m in, whether it’s family problems or whatever I’m going through. It was so cool to be have the chance to tell him that.

Switchfoot has the most positive lyrics of any band I’ve ever listened to. They’ve definitely helped me, actually beyond helped me. I’m so thankful to have been able to grow up with their music.”

switchfoot fans

“Before I started elementary school my older brother was into Switchfoot. So I was about 4 years old and I was like, oh my gosh, these guys are so cool, and the music is so awesome.

They were the first rock n’ roll sounding band I’d ever heard, I remember their sound was really distinctive, and even from a young age it broadened my senses because I realized that music doesn’t have to sound a certain way to be good, you know? As I got older and started digging into the lyrics I realized there were all different kinds of messages I could identify with in music. It opened up a whole new world to me, I recognized other values of music, like the therapeutic aspects of music and the ways it can be like a healthy escape.

Their music has helped me get through multiple challenging times in my life. Even recently, last year, my family went through a pretty tough time, it was a confusing time for me. And being a person of faith, and in ministry, when difficult times happen you think about questioning God. Like why is this happening to me? Listening to some of Switchfoot’s songs that dig in to those kinds of issues helped me understand how I was feeling and helped me talk to God about that. They encouraged me to just hold on, to keep hope. You know hope is one of their biggest themes, it’s one of the biggest reasons they do music, to give hope an anthem.”