In honor of Father's Day, Switchfoot drummer Chad Butler has shared a video and journal entry recognizing the impact of his father, who fronted a rock band through Chad's childhood. You can read the full entry here.
 
"My earliest childhood memories involve traveling in a mustard yellow 1975 Dodge van filled with electric guitars and bearded hippies," Chad Butler says. "My dad was the singer in the band, and my mom and I crossed the U.S. in that van with him, watching and singing along each night as he played concerts all across the country."
 
The drummer continued to expand on his unconventional childhood and how it shaped his role as an adult in one of the most respected alt rock bands of our time. "I never dreamed of repeating my dad's rock n roll lifestyle. Music seemed such an unlikely professional pursuit that I decided early on that I would follow a more conventional path," he explains. All that would change in the mid-90s when brothers Jon and Tim Foreman would invite Chad to play drums with them, rounding out the original three piece lineup of Switchfoot.
 
Chad Butler has now spent over 20 years traveling the world with Switchfoot, often following in his father's footsteps by bringing his own family on the road. He concluded "This is my musical bloodline, this is the heritage that I bring to my kids, this is my family's adventure, and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

 

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