Jack Johnson:
The Icon of Beachside Rock
Jack Johnson, my personal favorite musician/singer/songwriter, has been the guy that I listen to whenever everything else gets old. He brings me back to memories of way back when my dad had to pick me up from grade school every day in his Jeep, when we would drive around listening to Jack Johnson for hours. It doesn’t matter what kind of day I am having, but when I listen to him everything goes out the window and there is not a worry in my mind. Just as much as I love and appreciate his music, I also love how he was brought into fame, and especially where he started.
Before Jack Johnson became the 21st century icon of beachside rock, he was a champion surfer on the professional circuit. The sport was second nature to the Hawaiian native, who began riding waves as a toddler and, by the age of 17, had become an outstanding athlete on the Banzai Pipeline. However, Johnson was also testing other creative outlets such as film and music. A serious surfing accident during his first professional competition convinced him to devote more time to those landlocked hobbies. After studying cinematography in college, he turned his full attention to music, writing pop songs punctuated by a smooth and easy voice and a mellow, beach-bum demeanor. The combination proved to be particularly monumental, as Johnson's first five major label albums all reached platinum status.
While studying film at the University of California in Santa Barbara, Johnson partnered with friends Chris Malloy and Emmet Malloy and produced a surfing documentary, Thicker Than Water. Although the project spotlighted Johnson's talent as a director, it also showcased his enthusiasm for songwriting, and the accompanying soundtrack featured several of his own tunes. Thicker Than Water was made 2000's Video of the Year by Surfer Magazine and cleared the path for a second surf documentary, The September Sessions. Meanwhile, Johnson began receiving similar notice...