Welcome to Roy's Reviews! For my first review, I will take an in-depth look at singer-songwriter Jack Johnson's music. My analysis will be divided into three parts: analysis of a live performance, analysis and history of his style and that of his contemporaries, and also in-depth analysis of one of his songs from a music theory standpoint. I hope you enjoy it!
-Roy
To attempt to classify Jack Johnson’s music as one specific genre or style is virtually impossible. The singer-songwriter’s music mixes a wide variety of influences in a familiar way, yet his blend is unique in itself. The overall style is largely a combination of acoustic folk and modern alternative with hints of pop, rock, blues, hip-hop, and even reggae. This eclectic style of music was popularized around 2000, with his emergence and that of similar artists (Wilson). Jack Johnson’s closest peers are musicians such as John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Joshua Radin, and Ben Harper; however, each has their own unique take on the style (Wilson). However, they do have many unifying characteristics. They are all singer-songwriters who also play guitar, make vocal-centric music, use acoustic guitars and unaffected drums, and draw from mostly the same influences. Each expands off of that base into a broad range of styles utilizing different instruments with a variety of timbres. They are all very skilled at their instruments and at songwriting yet generally don’t show off with flashy solos, with the occasional exception. In general, the music is laid-back, soothing, and fun to listen to. This style of music is a very diverse, entertaining and beloved sub-genre of music, and definitely warrants further study.
Jack Johnson draws influence from a great number and variety of musicians. He quotes Nick Drake, Ben Harper, The Beatles, Bob Marley, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and A Tribe Called Quest among his influences (Johnson Myspace). It is easy to hear the elements that each adds to his sound, such as the acoustic folk of Drake, the songwriting and lyrical skill of Dylan, the political activism of Young and Dylan, the reggae of Marley, the guitar prowess of Ben Harper, and the sheer creativity, catchiness and mass appeal of the Beatles. The other artists blend influences in a similar manner, and draw off even more of their own choosing.
The artists in this genre gain popularity largely by appealing to the fans of their influences. They incorporate enough of the influence’s sound to win over the fans of that particular influence while still being unique. Like all bands, they start small, usually playing coffee shops and small venues until they build up a following, then write and record a CD and tour to support it. Jack Johnson took a bit of a different route; he started as a Hawaii-based surfer and filmmaker who picked up songwriting to provide music for his films. He began writing songs during his college years, having played the guitar since age fourteen. Eventually, he was introduced to G. Love and Special Sauce frontman G. Love for a day of surfing. G. Love ended up recording Jack’s song “Rodeo Clowns� for his album Philadelphonic. It became the first single from the album; Jack sang and played on the track. Jack then recorded a four-track demo, which caught the ears of Ben Harper's producer and right hand man, J.P. Plunier. Plunier worked with Jack on his debut album Brushfire Fairytales in early 2001, with Harper and his lap steel guitar making a guest appearance. The album solidified Johnson’s popularity; since then, he has released three studio albums, sold tens of millions of copies, and toured the U.S. and internationally numerous times (Wilson). His peers have had similar success stories; for example, Joshua Radin was “discovered� by actor Zach Braff, who used several of Radin’s songs on the soundtrack of the television show Scrubs (Brown). From there, his popularity blew up much in the same way that Johnson’s did. Each artist in turn influences the other; each has a unique sound that spawns a myriad of imitators. Jack Johnson’s sound is particularly distinctive, and can be clearly heard in the sound of many followers and imitators. For example, it is a very popular trend to play acoustic covers of his songs; many people post videos of themselves playing the covers on Youtube (Youtube.com). The throng of fans and followers is a testament to Johnson’s influence and skill.
Performance is the area in which Jack Johnson’s true skill shines through most clearly. He is one of very few artists who sounds better live than on recording; his voice and performance are flawless the entire time. As the headlining act in the show, he typically plays a set that lasts anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours. The songs are played from memory without any sheet music, which is an impressive feat considering that he has a backlog of over a hundred songs to remember. He has obviously had many years of vocal and guitar lessons and practices regularly, as it is a rare occurrence for him to miss a single note in the entire set. He demonstrates his skill and mastery of his instruments mainly through his flawless performance rather than through solos, which are utilized by some of his peers such as John Mayer. Johnson’s expressiveness is not demonstrated in the soulful solos or emotive vocals of his counterparts, but rather in more subtle flourishes of his songwriting and the moods created by his songs. For example, his music is often described as “chill� and relaxing, and this shows vividly once again in his live shows. The atmosphere at the concerts is a relaxed, inclusive, welcoming one, and is clearly a reflection of Johnson’s music. It is a very loose atmosphere, and the audience is very much in tune with Johnson and what he is doing. He plays off of that connection, interacting with the crowd extremely well and even augmenting some of his songs to get more of a crowd reaction. During the course of a normal show, he performs a variety of his songs and the occasional cover, even asking the crowd for requests. This is common for this genre; one of the requirements is to be able to perform and interact extremely well during live shows. A key way that the groups attract a following is through charismatic, energetic live shows, and this holds especially true for Jack Johnson.
Artists can be grouped into this genre due to social practices as well. In general, the typical artists in this genre are young, white men in their twenties or thirties. However, there is the occasional exception, such as indie-alternative goddess Ingrid Michaelson. She layers her soothing vocals over moods and stylings similar to those of Jack Johnson, only based off of piano instead of guitar. There is a decent amount of race diversity in this genre; Ben Harper is mixed race, Damian Marley is Jamaican, and there are many others of different ethnicities. However, the music draws in fans, and thus followers, who are mainly college-age and white. Johnson’s is an exception; his music has been featured in everything from surf documentaries to Curious George, and is universally adored by many different demographics. The most universal characteristic is that all artists in this genre tend to be politically active and on the liberal side of the political spectrum. Jack Johnson, for example, is very involved in environmental efforts, and the others are all engaged in similar political efforts much like their forebearers and idols, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. It is hard to tell if this movement is truly counter-culture; the music itself is very mainstream and doesn’t push musical limits, but the views of the musicians often run opposite to much of society. Protest songs are very common to this genre, such as Johnson’s “All At Once,� an outcry against climate change, or songs like his “Sleep Through The Static� and John Mayer’s “Waiting On The World To Change,� both of which protest the Iraq War. This otherwise eclectic genre is unified by few characteristics; this is the most common trait to all of the musicians in the genre.
Jack Johnson is one of few musicians who makes truly unique music. He and his contemporaries do an excellent job of blending their vast array of influences to create music that is creatively different, yet at the same time universally accepted by a wide audience. He is an exceptional musician and songwriter, and has helped to pioneer a vastly successful genre.
Works Cited:
Brown, Marisa. "All Music Guide: Joshua Radin Biography."
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll (accessed 11/10/08).
Geocities.com. “Jack Johnson Interviews."
http://www.geocities.com/jackjohnsononline/interviews.htm (accessed 11/10/08).
Johnson, Jack H. "Jack Johnson Myspace."
http://www.myspace.com/jackjohnsonmusic (accessed 11/10/08).
Wilson, MacKenzie. "All Music Guide: Jack Johnson Biography."
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wvfrxqukldde (accessed 11/10/08).
Youtube.com. “Official Jack Johnson Channel.�
http://www.youtube.com/user/officialjackjohnson?ob=4 (accessed 11/10/08)
Over the last eight years, I have been to countless concerts, shows and festivals. However, through it all, one concert sticks in my mind as the most memorable: the Jack Johnson and Mason Jennings concert at River’s Edge last summer. The music was excellent, the performance was flawlessly executed, and the combination of the music and the crowd created a wonderful atmosphere.
On Sunday, June 22, Jack Johnson’s World Tour 2008 came to Somerset, Wisconsin, to River’s Edge Campground. River’s Edge is a campground and water-tubing park perched on the banks of the Apple River, and one of few places large enough to accommodate the massive crowds brought by Jack’s tour. Their outdoor stage was on the edge of a gigantic field, ringed by Port-A-Potties and a chain-link fence on one side, the Apple River on another, and various vendors and political action groups’ booths on the final side. The weather was flawless, a gorgeous summer evening with a light breeze, warm temperatures and few clouds. People started filing in from a day on the river at 4:00 P.M. when the doors officially opened. The concert was open to anyone willing to pay the $40 ticket price or, in my case, lucky enough to win the tickets off of the radio. Approximately 15,000 people were there when we arrived two hours before the opening bands started; by the time Jack started playing, the crowd had swelled to almost 25,000. The music officially started at 6:00 with little-known indie-electronica band Money Mark. Their forty-five minute set gave way to Minneapolis-based folk singer-songwriter Mason Jennings at 7:00. Mason played until about 8:30, when setup started for Jack’s set. Jack started playing at 9:00 and played a two-hour set, concluding at almost 11:00 P.M.
One of the most fascinating things about the show was the sheer variety of people in the crowd. Jack’s laid-back, relaxing blend of acoustic folk and modern contemporary alternative styles is almost universally beloved; even a metalhead like me can enjoy it as a break once in a while. There is no specific demographic that he targets; his music manages to unite many different listeners. His music attracted everyone from entire families with young kids to teenagers just looking to “chill,� to old hippies with long hair and tie-dyed clothes, to soccer moms, to just your average, everyday people. There was really no race or gender divison in the crowd; there were people of all races in typical proportions, and a fairly even balance between male and female fans. The crowd felt united as almost one entity, with everyone included. I distinctly remember one point during the concert where a young child was sitting on his grandfather’s shoulders, both singing along together to every word of the song. The crowd did separate itself a little bit, but more for practical reasons than differences among concertgoers. There were about 15,000 people standing directly in front and to the sides of the stage, packed in and singing along to everything. Further back, there were families sitting on their blankets munching on roasted corn from the vendors, and even further back were old people relaxing in their lawn chairs. However, despite the apparent division, there were really no in-group or out-group sections forming; everyone appeared to be enjoying the concert equally. That was one of the most remarkable parts of the concert, his music’s ability to unite. Before the concert and during Money Mark’s performance, people seemed a bit testy and frustrated, but by the time Jack’s set was over, everyone was best friends with the people around them. Through his music and interactions with the crowd, Jack managed to create a link, a bond not only between him and the crowd, but the between the members of the crowd as well. Throughout, there was an all-enveloping aura of relaxed well-being, a tranquil feeling of happiness and content. That may have had something to do with the veritable haze of smoke, marijuana and otherwise, that engulfed most of the crowd, but it likely had more to do with the music. That was perhaps one of the most shocking parts of the concert, the rampant cigarette and drug use. I personally don’t smoke, and at the concert, I found it impossible to get away from people with cigarettes. To do so, one would have to move away from the stage toward the back of the crowd and sit with the families, which I was not about to do. People in the main part of the crowd would unabashedly light up, and I believe I counted seven bongs, three crack pipes and zero police officers. I also made the mistake of using one of the Port-O-Pots, and the person before me must have been toking it up in there because when I opened the door, a cloud of smoke came rolling out that reeked of pot. A fair number of people in the crowd were intoxicated but, surprisingly, no one caused any disturbances; there were no fights, nothing. That, perhaps, best attests to the calming power of the music.
Jack Johnson is very politically active, and his views were well-represented at the concert. He is nicknamed the “Jolly Green Giant� by some, saluting his environmental activism. As a Hawaii-based surfer, he has seen the effects of climate change more drastically than most, and he takes numerous measures to help the environment. For example, he recorded his most recent CD in his new solar-powered, carbon-neutral studio built completely of recycled materials, he encourages concertgoers to carpool to the shows, and he has founded several environmental groups, most notably the All At Once Foundation. He sets strict standards for his shows as far as recycling materials, food waste, and energy usage. He requests fluorescent lightbulbs and water efficient showers backstage, separate bins for waste and recycling (with biodegradable bags), an eco-crew to check tire air pressure for attendees and that all leftover food be donated to local food banks. At the concert, he hosted many other environmental groups who set up tents near the back edge along with the food vendors. When a concertgoer entered the venue, they were handed a “passport� with spaces for stamps from the various organizations. If you went to the organization and listened to their pitch, they would stamp their box on the passport. Once you collect nine stamps, you get free downloads of five exclusive songs, and you can enter also in a drawing, the winner of which gets to meet Jack and watch the show from sidestage. It was a great way to help him get his message across to a larger audience, and also to eliminate the need to spend time preaching his views while onstage. The overarching message of the concert was one of conservation and responsibility, and also of peace and harmony. He brought everyone together through his music, and used that united state to make sure that his message reached everyone.
The music itself was exceptional, starting with Mason Jennings. The opener, Money Mark, was two steps short of unlistenable. All members of the band were visibly drunk, and the music itself was very grating and irritating (coming from a metalhead, that’s saying something). The crowd tuned them out, booed them, walked around, or went and got food during the set; everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief when they were done. Fortunately, up next was Minneapolis native Mason Jennings. Mason plays laid-back folk with a little bit of a country twang to it; picture a modern Johnny Cash with a slightly higher voice, modern alternative sensibilities, and a sense of humor. He played all of his hits, opening with the catchy “How Deep Is That River,� ostensibly a song of faith, and closed with the upbeat, goofy favorite “I Love You And Buddha Too.� Another noteworthy song in his hour-and-a-half set was the downright hilarious “Your New Man,� one of very few upbeat breakup songs. His delivery on the song was flawless; he could tell when he had a punch line coming in the song and he milked them for all they were worth. The crowd loved it; his antics and performance won them over almost immediately. He did a great job of interacting with the crowd, which is no small feat given the sheer scale of the stage and the massive crowd. Along with his great stage presence, his musical performance was amazing as well. His vocals and guitar were always pitch-perfect and on the beat; he didn’t miss a single note the entire show. I bought his CD after the show, and he honestly sounded better live than he did on the CD. To be able to pull off that kind of perfection is remarkable.
After Mason was done, the crowd was clearly in the mood for Jack Johnson. However, this was the only letdown of the entire night. Due to the sheer variety and number of instruments that Jack and his band uses, it took what seemed like forever to set up. In reality, it was only a half hour, but with the crowd chanting “We want Jack! We want Jack!� the whole time, it felt like much longer. However, from his first notes, all of the impatience was swept away. He opened with “Staple It Together,� which is not one of my favorites, but helped set an upbeat mood for the concert. From the very start, we could tell that he was dead-on tonight. He hit everything, his voice sounded amazing, and his guitar was great as always. He was constantly moving around on the stage, yet always managed to make it back to the microphone when he had vocal parts. Honestly, he wouldn’t have even had to; most of the crowd was singing along with everything anyway. From there, he moved through a progression of his hits and favorites, executing each flawlessly and even embellishing some. For example, in his song “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing,� he paid tribute to The Cars by replacing the third verse in his song with the opening verse from “Just What I Needed.� At first I was surprised and confused because it was completely unexpected, but then I realized that he had done it not only to pay tribute, but also because the two songs have almost the exact same theme behind the lyrics. That impressed me, that he was able to just pull it out of nowhere like that and have it work so perfectly. One of the best moments of the night was during the song “Bubble Toes.� There is a part where he does a lyricless vocal line, which ends up being the song’s hook. The entire crowd sang along with that part at the top of their lungs. There is no way to describe what that felt like; it literally gave me chills. Throughout the show, he interacted extremely well with the crowd. Just as it was beginning to get dark, he asked the crowd if they could see any stars yet. The answer was a resounding “No,� to which he answered, “Well, let’s see if we can do something about that.� He immediately launched into the song “Constellations,� a beautiful song about lying on a beach at night, skipping stones and drawing your own constellations in the stars. Sure enough, by the time the song was over, the sky was speckled by the first stars of the night. That drew a huge cheer from the crowd, and was a very impressive moment. As the night went on, his voice held up perfectly. Unlike many rock vocalists, his voice never sounded forced or like he was straining in the least, even after two hours of playing. The show proceeded wonderfully until about 10:45, when he and his band went through solos and said their farewells, and even brought Mason Jennings back up on the stage and played a song with him. They walked off the stage, and immediately the calls for an encore started. The stage was dark at this point and no one could see anything, so people started to assume that they weren’t getting an encore. However, just then, a single spotlight came on down in front of the stage on the ground, where Jack was sitting with his acoustic guitar. He played a beautiful rendition of the song “Angel,� which is possibly one of the sweetest love songs ever written. Without even pausing at the end of the song, he went straight into “Better Together,� another love song and perennial favorite. The smooth transition worked perfectly, especially since during the show there would usually be a one minute gap between songs so that he could switch guitars. Here, the two songs flowed perfectly from one into the other, and was the perfect way to cap off an amazing concert. At this point, he had the audience so enraptured that had he played all night, not a single person would have gotten up and left. Even after two solid hours of playing, he still had the audience wrapped around his pinky, singing along with every word.
Trying to critique this concert raises a few problems, such as, what do I criticize? I have never been to a concert which was that flawlessly executed, with such an amazing atmosphere, and that powerful of a message and meaning behind it. All of this raises a question. Was this the best concert that I’ve ever been to? As much as I would like to say yes, that honor is currently held by Killswitch Engage with Parkway Drive and All That Remains. As it turns out, I am still a metalhead, after all. However, if there were to be one band or one concert to convert me, Jack Johnson live at River’s Edge would be it.
The one song that most defines Jack Johnson’s style is “Better Together,� off of his CD “In Between Dreams.� The song is a simple, catchy love song that showcases Jack’s mellow, smooth voice, his acoustic guitar, and his minimalistic use of the band behind him. The song is in a major key, with a very relaxed, laid back groove, and has sentimental, romantic lyrics. Overall, it is a wonderfully crafted piece of music, and demonstrates several of Jack Johnson’s unique, defining characteristics.
The instruments used in the song reflect on both Johnson’s traditional folk background and his Hawaiian upbringing. His music is based around his smooth, soft, breathy vocals and his finger-strummed acoustic guitar, with very light drums and bass added underneath. The bass guitar is more prominent here than in much rock music; bassist Merlo walks his way down the major scale in the verses and plunks away in the background in the chorus. The drums are kept on a very short leash; drummer Adam Topol uses sidesticks instead of full snare drum hits throughout the song, and uses brushes on the chorus. He very lightly hits cymbals on accents, sticking to a tightly clamped hihat on verses and a soft ride cymbal over the chorus. The drums and bass appear to be more of a structural, background element beneath the vocals, guitar, and occasional keyboards. Courtesy of keyboard player Zach Gill, Johnson also mixes keyboard instruments into the song, such as a piano very briefly in the post-chorus and a more exotic mallet instrument, the vibraphone, in the chorus. The vibraphone’s dreamy, vibrato-laced, bell-like chime helps lend a relaxed, slightly Hawaiian feel to the song, as if the listener is lounging around on a beach in the sun somewhere, calling to mind Johnson’s Hawaiian heritage and surf rock influences. Overall, the aesthetically pleasing blend of instruments produces a very soft, relaxing song that still manages to engage listeners.
The structure of the song is simple; it uses a very basic structure like that found in much popular music. The structure is intro-verse-chorus-postchorus-verse-chorus-postchorus-bridge-outro. There are truly only three parts to the song, each one restated in a different manner in different sections of the song. The song begins with a soft intro featuring nothing but light fingerpicking on the guitar, which after four measures jumps directly into the verse with vocals and acoustic guitar. The bass guitar enters halfway through the verse, and from the end of the verse, the song goes into the chorus where the drums and vibraphone enter. After the chorus, there is a brief interlude where the verse parts are played, but with a piano arpeggiating over the top of it and no vocals. Then, he goes through the second verse, another chorus and post-chorus, then into a bridge. The bridge is similar to the chorus, except with different vocals and a slightly changed guitar part. The song then ends from this bridge by restating the intro, only this time with the guitar part slightly altered, and with drums and bass as well. The song can be divided into the aforementioned three parts as the intro/outro, the verse and post-chorus, and the chorus and bridge. Johnson augments these parts to serve different purposes in the song, changing small details to give the parts new meaning. The repeating patterns in the parts give the song a sense of continuity. The verse and intro are eight-measure-long repeating patterns; the chorus is a two-measure long repeating pattern. The simplicity of the song’s structure allows the listener to feel the message that Johnson sends both through the chords and melody that he uses and the lyrics that he sings over the top.
The rhythm and melody of the song are deceptively simple. The song’s rhythm is defined by Johnson’s guitar strums, but truly held together by the rhythm section. “Better Together� bounces along in a swung 4/4 meter at 110 beats per minute, which remains steady throughout the song. The swung 4/4 signifies that measures are divided into four beats, and each beat is divided into triplets. The main rhythm is a quarter note followed by a triplet with the first and third notes played. this rhythm repeats throughout almost the entire song with some main variations. There is little by the way of polyrhythms in the instruments, but the vocals fit in over the top in their own rhythms, varied throughout to fit the phrasing of the lyrics.
The melodies throughout the piece are very basic. The piece is in F Major, does not change key, and only utilizes chromatic notes from outside the scale in the choruses as passing tones. Throughout the song, the basic themes and melodies are largely defined by the parts. The melodies are repeated, with the exception being the vocals in the verse and bridge. In the chorus, they stay in a repeated pattern with very slight variation, but in the verse and bridge, Johnson freely changes notes and rhythms to fit the lyrics. He stays largely around the pentatonic scale and keeps the melodies similar enough that they still have a sense of continuity. It is definitely composed, but for added effect he may slightly augment them when playing the song live. Throughout, the song is largely a homophony, with Johnson’s vocals or the piano as the lead melody, the guitar providing chords as harmony, and the bass playing melody that follows the bass note of the chords.
The song begins with the acoustic guitar playing a fourths-based, slide-heavy intro riff to set up a slightly exotic, Hawaiian, almost Eastern feel for the song. After that, the verse is based around a descending F Major scale. The eight-measure-long chord progression that the guitar follows is I-V-vi7-V-IV-I-ii-V, with the chords inverted appropriately so that the bass note of each chord follows the descending F Major scale. This gives the progression a wonderful flow and sense of motion, and also exudes a very major, happy tone overall. Johnson’s vocals stick mainly to the pentatonic scale in the verse, with a few slight exceptions. The chorus changes it up a little bit. the basic progression is just IV-V over and over, but Johnson does an interesting thing with it. On the first note of the first measure of the chorus, he slides the major chord shape from the pitches one chromatic step up from the IV chord down into the IV chord, with the first chord serving as chromatic passing notes. This use of notes from outside the key signature gives the song a further surf rock feel, as it emulates a similar concept used by surf rock’s electric guitarists, who used a whammy bar to bend chords to different tones much along the same lines. Otherwise, the chorus has a feeling of lack of resolution, which is then resolved by the IV-V-I imperfect authentic cadence created by returning to the first chord of the post-chorus. The post-chorus is much the same as the verse, only without vocals and with piano. The bridge retains the chorus’s IV-V progression, only without the interesting chromaticism and with different melodies in the vocals. To end the song, the intro is restated, only with the riff slightly changed and extended this time. The song ends with a I chord, F Major, giving it a strong sense of resolution.
“Better Together� is an exceptionally well-written piece, which is deceiving in its simplicity. Johnson takes very basic ideas such as using a descending F Major scale as a bass line, and develops them into cohesive, unique parts which blend together exceptionally well. Together, Johnson’s instrumentals perfectly compliment his soothing voice and sentimental lyrics to create a wonderful, moving song that is adored by many fans.
Hi. I'm Roy.
I'm an undergrad Architecture major at the University of Minnesota, but music is my real passion. I've played guitar for four years, sung for three, played percussion for two, and recorded, mixed and produced music for one. I play guitar in a band, Silence the Echoes, which is a project with three of my closest, most awesome (and talented) high school friends. I also do guitar and vocals for another band, Between Days, which is really just a bunch of guys goofing around. I record and produce some of my solo acoustic stuff too, but that's more just for myself so that I can hone my skills a bit.
I am constantly intrigued and amazed by songwriting and song construction, throughout all genres. I love a VERY diverse spectrum of music, from Bob Dylan to Between The Buried And Me, from Incubus to In Flames, from Death Cab for Cutie to Dream Theater, from Misery Signals to Mozart. Basically, I recognize and admire great playing and great songwriting across all genres, and love to dissect how different artists and songwriters approach the art of constructing a song. The one thing upon which I especially focus is how great songwriters use melody, progressions and instrumentation to create and manipulate certain moods in the listener. I feel like once I can unlock this concept and more fully grasp it, I will better be able to create songs that fit the tone and mood of the lyrics, and perhaps truly tell a story with both the lyrics AND the instrumentation.
I am currently in the process of writing a CD of my own music, utilizing what i've learned thus far. It will be a twelve track, four-movement disc, telling a tale of a great journey, that is metaphorically very personal to me. I'll post more someday, when I actually get a bit of free time. On a COMPLETELY unrelated note, don't major in architecture unless you really want to kiss your social life goodbye. Or love it like I do, I suppose.
This blog was started as a project for my Music Freshman Seminar; the Jack Johnson project is the culmination of a semester of research, analysis, and synthesis. Given the fact that I am a tad bit opinionated when it comes to music (ask me about Pop. I DARE you), I'll likely be posting further reviews in the future. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to anything, email them to clout039@umn.edu and I'll get on that as soon as I can.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy!
-Roy