Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson
Jack Hody Johnson (born May 18, 1975) is a Hawaii-born musician, filmmaker,surfer, and player who has achieved commercial success and a dedicated following from the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales in 2001 all the way up to his latest album; Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George which was released in 2006. His music genre is best described as acoustic/soft rock/adult alternative and he is well noted for his soothing style of singing.

Introduction to Music
As a young man, Jack Johnson learned to play the guitar. Jack Johnson learned how to surf and skate from his father's best friend Alex Conell. Alex also taught Jack to play the guitar at age 14. Jack was a professional surfer until an accident at Pipeline in which his front teeth were knocked out and he received more than 150 stitches to his mouth and forehead. While he was recovering in bed, he spent his time writing songs and playing guitar. But Jack didn't seriously pursue a career in the arts until his college years, after a crazy frat party, at the University of California, Santa Barbara. While in school, he met his wife Kim, a Carlsbad, CA, native who double-majored in Math and Fine Art. They welcomed a son, Moe, in 2004. Jack Johnson also played rhythm guitar for the party band "Soil," and graduated with a degree in film. In his time off after graduating, he traveled.

Music
While striking friendships with Garrett Dutton of the blues/hip-hop group G. Love & Special Sauce, Johnson recorded the song "Rodeo Clowns." It was first released on G. Love & Special Sauce's album Philadelphonic and then reprised on Johnson's second album, On and On (2003).

Folk/reggae musician Ben Harper also took Johnson under his wing after hearing his music. Johnson's first album, Brushfire Fairytales, was produced by Harper's producer and fellow surfer, JP Plunier, and was released in 2001. For the album, Johnson formed a regular backing band, consisting of Adam Topol on drums/percussions and Merlo Podlewski on bass. Fairytales helped launch Johnson's music career and he gained much publicity from his subsequent tour with Harper.

After touring for almost two years, Johnson recorded On and On to generally favorable reviews in late 2003. It was produced by Mario Caldato, Jr., best known for his work with the Beastie Boys. Many of the album's songs had previously been released on bootlegs, such as J.O.A.T. and B.O.A.T., but now received the accompaniment of a full band.

His third studio album, In Between Dreams, also produced by Caldato, was released on March 1, 2005. For the album, Johnson started his own label called Brushfire Records. A studio, The Mango Tree, was built in Hawaii by Johnson's brother to facilitate the new record label. More than a year later, the album was still on the charts, where it was positioned at #3 (March 21, 2006).

Also released in 2006 was Johnson's Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George, a soundtrack album for the animated feature-length adaptation of the H.A. and Margret Rey children's books. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, making it the first animated film soundtrack to do so in over ten years. The album, credited to "Jack Johnson and Friends," includes the playing of Johnson regulars Topol and Podlewski, as well as guest appearances by G. Love, Harper, Costa, and Kawika Kahiapo. It was produced by Johnson and Robert Carranza,

Johnson was featured on the Sublime tribute album Look at All the Love We Found, and was on Handsome Boy Modeling School's White People, released in 2004. In 2005, he appeared on the Black Eyed Peas album Monkey Business on the track "Gone Going," which was in effect a remix of Johnson's own song "Gone" from On and On.

In February 2006, he won a BRIT Award for Best International Newcomer, beating out The Pussycat Dolls, John Legend, Arcade Fire and Daniel Powter. In May 2006, In Between Dreams surpassed one and a half million sales in the UK.

In late 2006, the DVD version of A Brokedown Melody, the 2004 surfing documentary directed by Chris Malloy, was released. As with Thicker than Water, Johnson directed the film (which starred renowned surfer Kelly Slater) and helped create the soundtrack album, which was released a month before the DVD.

Recently, he has covered John Lennon's "Imagine" for the CD Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. He was also on Live Earth at the Australian leg in Sydney on July 7, 2007.

Jack is currently in the studio working on his fifth full length album, entitled Sleeping Through the Static, which will be produced by JP Plunier, who produced his 2001 album Brushfire Fairytales. It is expected to be released February 5, 2008.