Singer-songwriter Jack Johnson brings new tunes to Cali Vibes – Orange County Register

A lot has changed for Jack Johnson since he was a college student writing songs for his debut album Brushfire Fairytales in 2001. Far from living with six college roommates, he has been married to his wife Kim for more than 20 years and they have three children.

A former pro surfer — at age 17 he was the youngest invitee to reach the Pipeline Masters finals — Johnson now seeks out big waves near his home in Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, just for recreation.

He left behind his early ventures in filmmaking to become a hugely successful musician. His previous seven albums have sold a total of 25 million copies and he regularly makes headlines in large outdoor amphitheatres.

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But the ambition he has for each of his albums hasn’t changed.

“When I did my first my wife and I drove and I have this memory of where we heard it and it was the first time I heard a final mix and I thought I want to change this and that and the other but I had to let it go,” Johnson said during a phone interview before playing a special Sunday night set at the three-day Cali Vibes Music Festival, taking place Feb. 17-19 at Marina Green Park in Long Beach.

“I remember saying to her how good it is, it’s not the best album of all time, but I hope it’s someone’s favorite album,” he continued. “I’m not trying to get more numbers or anything like that. I hope someone still holds that and says, ‘Hey, this is my favorite so far.’ So that would be the only thing I want to top on any album, that it’s someone’s favorite.”

The “this” Johnson mentions is his eighth album, Meet The Moonlight, and chances are some fans will consider it their favorite Johnson album.

“Meet The Moonlight,” which was released in June, introduces a significant new collaborator to Johnson’s world in singer-songwriter and producer Blake Mills. The pair got the ball rolling with a test run at Los Angeles’ Sound City Studios, which produced a few tracks and convinced them to move forward with the project. They then reunited at Johnson’s Hawaii studio, where most of the album came together and Mills and Johnson developed a close working partnership.

“All the producers that I’ve worked with have been amazing,” Johnson said. “They don’t tend to play music on the record. They mostly listened and made suggestions while Blake played every single track on the entire album in one way or another. We started almost every song by sitting across from each other with two guitars pointing in different directions.