It’s hard to stand out in Boulder. There’s a peace activist and singer-songwriter on every corner. And the town is full of Olympic runners, world-class alpinists and cyclists and, of course, rock-star freeskiers and snowboarders—so described because of the ridiculous coolness of how they make a living, and because they get a lot of free stuff.
Despite the intense competition, Todd Anders Johnson just might be coolest guy in town. “Todd’s a killer drummer with a band that people want to see, and a very committed, smart, likeable guy,” says Colorado concert promoter Robey Gibson. The mellow and slightly scruffy 37-year-old lead singer, songwriter, and drummer for the Boulder-based band Salem, Johnson is not only a musician with a newly released CD, a busy tour schedule (he opened for De La Soul at the X Games last winter and has a song in the current Warren Miller movie), he’s also a sponsored snowboarder who works part-time for a heli operation in Alaska. That’s right, a rock star and a semi-pro snowboarder.
Somehow Johnson does it all with a humility and social consciousness that makes him the real deal. He’s passionate about the environment, world peace, poverty in Africa and teaching college kids about activism. Many of Salem’s song lyrics address issues such as global injustice and the need for peace. Even the band’s name, Salem, is an amalgamation of shalom and salaam—the words for peace in Hebrew and Arabic, respectively.
One upcoming gig in particular reflects Johnson’s passions and how the band works to bring people and ideas together. “In June we’ll be playing at Denali base camp for the Alaska Mountaineering School’s Denali expedition,” he says. “We’ll use a generator for the performance, and we might get a speaker from the International Polar Year to come, too. The show will celebrate mountaineering and also raise awareness of global warming in one of the most remote places on earth.”
Denali is actually a fairly typical concert venue for Salem, which has started to build an outdoor-lifestyle element into its shows. “We’ll get the Boulder Outdoor Center, Mountainsmith, Folsom Custom Skis and SEABA (Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventure) to come and sign people up or show off their new gear,” says Johnson.
Salem brings Johnson’s connections with snowsports on the road wherever they go. For example, they’ll be projecting the new Teton Gravity Research (TGR) film at select shows this winter. “We’re playing some gigs up in Alaska this spring while TGR is filming,” reports Johnson. In fact, Salem makes a point of touring several times a year in AK. “I work with the guides and play their parties and at local bars,” he says. “It gives me a chance to go out on the ice or go rafting and sea kayaking in Seward. Of course, in the winter I always bring my board.”
For a musician who is into snowsports, getting a song in Warren Miller’s film “Off the Grid” was a big break. “It’s been a great association for us because they are so well known, so iconic in winter sports” says Johnson.
Music is one of the crucial elements in a great ski film. “It sets the tone and heightens the images,” says Kim Schneider, who has edited the company’s annual homage to snowsports for 30 years. So it’s no surprise that Johnson’s was only one of the literally hundreds of unsolicited demos the folks at Warren Miller Entertainment receive every year. “Todd has been great to work with, real polite but persistent, and we have a good-feeling relationship,” reports Schneider. “The only thing that’s missing is we haven’t had a chance to make turns together yet. But we will.”
That Salem has found a niche on the snowsports circuit is no surprise: The bands’ funky, jazzy, Afro-Cuban, hip-hop, rhythm-centered music goes down easily in a ski-town bar, and Johnson—with his lifelong passion for skiing and snowboarding—fits right in. He started skiing as a kid in Vermont and was on his high-school ski team. When he took up snowboarding in the late 1980s, he rode with some of the early legends like Jeff Brushie. “Now I pretty much just snowboard, but I’m looking into an A/T setup because I’m really into backcountry stuff,” he says. His interest in backcountry safety led him to the Boulder Outdoor Center, which he now lists as one of his sponsors. Another sponsor, LibTech Snowboards, is a company he’s long admired for its eco-oriented philosophy. “I’ve been riding one of their boards for years, so it’s good,” he says. “I do what I can to promote them at our shows.”
This synergy works when it comes to Salem’s goal of using music to bring positive change to the world. For the band’s tour of the Northwest this past summer, Johnson wanted a bio-fuel bus, so he called up Earth Concepts and got them to donate one for the tour, which cruised through Utah, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington for three weeks. “I brought my gear and made some turns on Mt. Hood.”
Johnson’s global social consciousness was influenced by one college professor in particular: Mbulelo Mzamane, from South Africa, who taught African studies and cultural diversity at UVM while Johnson was there. (Johnson went to UVM after an early musical career that started with a toy drum set and culminated with opening up for the Smithereens when he was 17.) Nelson Mandela described Mzamane as a visionary leader and one of South Africa’s greatest intellectuals.
Johnson later got turned on to Nigerian poet and dissident Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was hanged by the Nigerian military in 1995. Johnson wrote a song, “Sarugua,” using one of Saro-Wiwa’s poems for the lyrics. The song caught the attention of Bono’s One Campaign and other NGOs, and Johnson has subsequently worked with them on panel discussions about global poverty and injustice.
Asked about his goals for the future, Johnson doesn’t hesitate to say he wants his own segment in a ski film: “Just 10 seconds ripping it with my own music playing in the background.” But he also just wants to tour colleges to spread a message of health, being active and social consciousness. “It’s real easy for musicians to sleep the day away, but I definitely try to stay fit and try to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”
Salem’s first studio album, “As It Is Above, So It Is Below,” was just released this fall. To catch Salem live, check out their tour schedule (which includes stops at classic ski town bars including The Goat in Keystone and the Mangy Moose in Jackson) at salem-music.com.
| Harvest | [audio:Harvest_MySpace.mp3] |
| Northward | [audio:Northward_MySpace.mp3] |
| Timeless | [audio:Timeless_MySpace.mp3] |