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Jack Johnson

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Jack Johnson was born on May 18, 1975 in Hawaii and grew up on the North Shore of Oahu. He started chasing after waves as a little kid and by the time he was 17, he was an outstanding athlete on the Pipeline and was on his way to become a professional surfer until he suffered an accident. However Johnson had a couple of creative outlets: film and music. Johnson started playing the guitar at the age of 14. During his college years as a film student at University of California at Santa Barbara, Johnson began writing songs. After graduating from college, Jack did some traveling and directed, along with Chris Malloy and Emmett Malloy, the surf cinema documentary entitled Thicker Than Water. Johnson steered away from a blossoming pro sports career and stuck with music. Garrett Dutton, also known as G. Love of G. Love and Special Sauce, took notice of Jack Johnson and included him on the recording of "Rodeo Clowns" to be released on their 1999 album Philadelphonic.


Johnson's four-track demo also caught the ears of Ben Harper's right hand man, J.P. Plunier. Jack Johnson’s debut album, Brushfire Fairytales (Enjoy Records), was produced by Plunier and featured Harper’s lap steel guitar work. Brushfire Fairytales, released in 2001, was used to aid the Thicker Than Water soundtrack. After touring for almost two years, Johnson released his second album, On and On, which generated favorable reviews. His third studio album, In Between Dreams, was released on March 1, 2005. Over a year later, it is still in the charts, and in March 2006 it was able to reach #3. He even won a Brit Award in 2006 for Best International Newcomer, beating The Pussycat Dolls, John Legend, Arcade Fire and Daniel Powter.


Jack Johnson’s work is featured as part of the soundtracks of the surf films September Sessions and Thicker Than Water. Johnson appeared 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”. On his music video for the song “Taylor” there is a guest appearance from actor Ben Stiller. Among his influences he cites Nick Drake, The Beatles, Hendrix, Tribe Called Quest, Dylan, Ben Harper, Radio Head, G. Love and Special Sauce, Otis Redding, Neil Young, Marley, Kurosawa, and Tom Curren.




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