California band to perform at PAC

Switchfoot will be bringing their Christmas act to the Paramount Arts Center on Dec. 3.

Aptly entitled “This Our Christmas Tour,” the Grammy-winning band is on tour to support their album “This Is Our Christmas Album,” which features holiday songs they wrote, such as “California Christmas,” “Looking for Christmas,” “Scrappy Little Christmas Tree,” “Midlife Christmas” and “New Year’s Day” and holiday songs they didn’t write such as “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” “Christmas Time is Here,” “The Christmas Song” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

“Christmas is an emotional treasure chest for a songwriter to pull from,” said lead singer Jon Foreman. “It’s a season stretched tight with contradictions: celebrating the free gifts of love and grace with an outburst of materialist capitalist consumption. An emotional roller coaster of family and friends, hopes and scars — bringing out the worst and the best in all of us.”

The band describes their holiday sound as “California surf-rock holiday cheer.”

The band says their West Coast sound was inspired by bands ranging from The Beach Boys to Black Flag and describes their albums as “the California Christmas album you never knew you needed.”

Switchfoot started in 1996 in San Diego, California, which is well known for being a surf town and they have been involved in surfing all their lives.

The band’s name comes from the surfing term for switching your foot stance opposite of your natural stance on a surfboard.

Switchfoot consists of Foreman (vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass), Jerome Fontamillas (keys, guitar) and Chad Butler (drums).

The band came to prominence after four of their songs were featured in the movie, “A Walk To Remember.” After the success of the movie, Switchfoot went on to put out 12 albums and sell 10 million copies worldwide and capture a Grammy for their 2009 album “Hello Hurricane.”

They have sold five million concert tickets and have performed in over 40 countries.

Switchfoot has raised over $2 million dollars to aid kids in their community through their BRO-AM Foundation.

It is dedicated to giving back to the San Diego community by heightening the profile of and providing grants to nonprofit organizations that provide services to homeless, at-risk and disadvantaged youth, with a special focus on programs related to music, art and surfing.

For ticket prices and more information, go to www.paramountartscenter.com.