Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman Opens Up About New Song With Buddy Guy

On Thursday (April 10), Jon Foreman joined Loudwire Nights to dive into Switchfoot‘s latest song, “Last Man Standing,” which features guitar legend Buddy Guy.

“I wrote most of the song thinking through what would I want to sing alongside Buddy Guy,” Foreman told Chuck Armstrong, host of Loudwire Nights. Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

“I wanted to write a song deserving of this man that had taught me how to play guitar when I was in junior high. ‘Last Man Standing’ is an homage to a true legend. It’s my attempt to say thank you to Buddy Guy — I feel like it tells the truth about his story.”

Foreman said the idea to even write a song for Guy came about because of his friendship with Guy’s drummer and producer, Tom Hambridge.

“After one of the [shows] where Buddy played in San Diego, I’m hanging with Tom and he says, ‘You know, we should write a song for Buddy,'” Foreman recalled.

“‘We should write a song and see if Buddy would record it.’ I jumped at the opportunity.”

Foreman said that evening he wrote most of what would become “Last Man Standing,” and now that the song is out in the world, he told the Loudwire Nights audience it’s still surreal to him that Switchfoot have a song with Guy.

“I would love to, at one of these festivals that we’re playing on the same bill, I’d love to play it together,” Foreman shared.

“That would be the final chapter for this song for me. But it’s good to have it out there and to hear people’s responses to it. I think it’s such a great collaboration.”

READ MORE: Phil X Celebrates New Album, Shares Unforgettable Bon Jovi Story

He explained that one of the reasons he loves the song is because it feels like a juxtaposition where fans get to hear different sides of Guy.

“I’ve never heard his voice sound like this. I hope he likes it as much as we do.”

What Else Did Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• How working with Buddy Guy has opened his mind to other unexpected collaborations: “I think at this stage in my life and our career, we’re looking for those things that feel like milestones, joys that we haven’t yet experienced … I got to maybe hit up, you know, Bob Dylan or somebody.”
• Why he enjoys creating and touring on his solo music: “It’s all the songs that you don’t want to play with the Marshall half stack and a Les Paul, you know? It’s the whisper rather than the shout.”
• What’s next for Switchfoot: “We’re going to put out a record that we’ve made with Mike Elizondo. I’m so pumped. I feel like it’s the first record in a long time that I’ve been excited about riffs and the guitar. Who knows, Buddy Guy and the track we made with him had to have had an influence on picking the guitar back up and saying, ‘Okay, what else can we do with this?'”

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Jon Foreman joined Loudwire Nights on Thursday, April 10; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.