Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman Talks About Buddy Guy Collab ‘Last Man Standing’

Interview: Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman Talks About Buddy Guy Collaboration For ‘Last Man Standing’

By Martine Ehrenclou

The multi-platinum Grammy winning rock outfit, Switchfoot, recently released a single with blues legend Buddy Guy called, “Last Man Standing.” A blistering fusion of rock and blues, built on searing guitar and powerful vocals between Buddy Guy and Switchfoot’s frontman Jon Foreman, the new song is a collaboration of true greats. Their fiery vocal and guitar exchange is anchored by Chad Butler’s driving drums, Tim Foreman’s steady bassline, and a groove that effortlessly bridges generations of rock and blues. The song is produced by Switchfoot and multi Grammy winner Tom Hambridge.

Perhaps part of the reason the song turned out so well is that Buddy Guy is Jon Foreman’s guitar hero. He learned to play guitar by watching Guy perform. Lead singer, guitarist and primary songwriter for Switchfoot, Foreman claims that Buddy Guy shaped his musical journey. And that kind of passion surfaces in the new song. There is a certain kinetic energy to it, as if everything fell into place to make that song a hit.

I caught up with Jon Foreman by phone from his home  Southern California.

After letting Jon know how much I loved the new song “Last Man Standing,” I asked him how it came about with Buddy Guy.

Jon said, “I’ve been a Buddy Guy fan since I started playing guitar back in junior high. I’ve seen him several times. I’d become friends with his drummer. After watching Buddy Guy play at the local venue, I’m hanging out with Tom (Hambridge) after the show and he says, “You know, we should write a song for Buddy.” I couldn’t agree more. I said, “Absolutely.” And went home that night and basically the whole song, four minutes later, there it is. It wrote itself. I honestly think it was writing itself while I was watching him play that night. You’re open to what’s happening in the room and it’s so powerful. It’s just like, you’re just basically transmitting what you feel. The song was pretty immediate. And then the next day, Tom came into the studio and we tracked a version of the song, it was enjoyable. And then months later, to hear Buddy Guy actually singing the words that I wrote to and for him, it felt like the transmission was complete, a full circle.”

I asked him to continue.

Jon added, “When I wrote it, I was thinking, ‘Here you have the last man standing for blues. He’s seen everything. He’s been through a lot.’ Even if he never did anything other than hear it, it was my chance to pay homage to someone that had given me so much.”

I wanted to know about Buddy Guy as his guitar hero.

Jon explained. “You can picture me with a mop of blonde hair in high school. I’ve got a ’68 VW Bug. I’m a surf brat, and my soccer coach happens to be somebody who’s world-famous in the surf culture, Rob Machado. And I go to soccer practice this one day, and Rob says, “You need to go downtown this weekend, Buddy Guy and BB King are playing, and you need to buy your tickets and go down.” And I bought my tickets. I even took a date, which is pretty rare for me.”

Sharing further, Jon explained that growing up he was a surfer and was involved in the surf culture, which included listening to punk rock. After listening to all the punk bands, seeing Buddy Guy and BB King transformed how he viewed playing guitar. He said, “Going to see these two icons, it made me appreciate the guitar in a completely different way. And from that day forward, I was the weirdo who wanted to play the blues, the surfer that wanted to play the blues instead of all the Epitaph bands. It totally changed my perspective on what I wanted to do with the guitar.”

“In what way?” I asked.

“Punk rock especially, it’s just an attack of sound, proliferation of notes on the drums, the guitars. And the blues is antithetical to that approach in that you have one note and the purity of that one note ringing out. BB King’s a great example, but also Buddy Guy. I mean, just one note is all you need. And so instead of playing 16th notes every bar, I began to think, “Well, how do they do that? How do they play just one note and that’s all you need? That’s all I want. I just want that one note.” I think that approach was set in stone listening to them play that night in San Diego.”

I asked Jon to elaborate more on his new song “Last Man Standing.”

“It’s almost like you don’t believe it’s going to actually come out until it comes out. You know what I mean?” Jon said.  “Where you’re like, “Yeah, sure, it’s going to happen. All right.” And then it comes out and you think, “Wow, that’s beautiful.”  It was such an honor to think that he even heard the song, but then to hear his vocals singing back in the control room on a song that I wrote for him, it felt completely full circle. And it feels like it was a way to keep the gift in motion. There’s a book called ‘The Gift’ by Lewis Hyde, and he talks about how music is a gift and how you have to keep the gift in motion. I felt like the evening I saw Buddy play, I was given a gift, and then I wrote a song in response. And then to hear Buddy singing that song back to me felt like the gift was complete. Here’s a man who has given me so much inspiration over the years. To think that I could give him a lyric to sing, I’m just filled with gratitude.”

Listen “Last Man Standing”

 

Switchfoot website