“Todd Johnson’s greatest musical gift (and there are many) is the way he plays "the song". While he comes equipped with an arsenal of chops from years playing Latin music, prog rock, jazz, folk etc., If the song requires a simple shuffle, he's laying down the feel before you turn around to suggest it. Todd is totally professional. He'll put his back into it, be it Carnegie Hall or some god-forsaken shithole with a car stereo for a P.A. He is also the drummer who plays the room, even if he's squeezed into a corner with most of his kit taken away and one arm tied behind his back the job is done without complaint. Having toured with Todd for over a year now, I've witnessed all of the above first hand. In fact I can't think of a gig I wouldn't recommend him for...”
-Geoffrey Kelly, Spirit of the West (Warner Bros.), Tom Landa and the Paperboys (Redhouse Records, Stony Plain Records)

“Todd’s drumming combines the best of all genres, he is a master of rhythm.”
-John Frye, recording engineer (Laface records, Arista Records, Outkast’s Aquemini Records), studio manager (Outkast’s Stankonia Studios)

"I brought Todd in to play drums on what became some of my favorite albums I have ever produced and looking back now, I cannot imagine those records with any other drummer. Todd has a great ability to bring to projects the finesse of jazz, the groove of funk, and somehow deliver it in a way that is powerful enough to hold together a rock or pop track."
-R. Chris Murphy, Veneto West, record producer and engineer (King Crimson, Robert Fripp)

"When I first thought to bring Todd in on this project for the drum tracks, I wasn't actually prepared for the absolutely amazing job he would end up doing. He, to say the least, far exceeded my, or anyone else's expectations."
-Sean McCarthy, Solo artist, Takamine, Ovation, Hamer, Molson

"Todd Johnson is a versatile drummer; his intuition is spot on, whether the song calls for a full-on rock sound or a subtle percussive beat. He was an invaluable part of my band. I never had to worry about his commitment to the project and he is nothing but professional....always on time, always prepared."
-Kellee Bradley, singer-songwriter, debut album “The Season”

Projects:

Salem     1998-Present
Salem is Todd's solo project and the music is an amalgamation of pop, hip-hop, jazz and rock infused with socially conscious lyrics and philosophical musings. The project has evolved from a studio effort to live performances of Salem songs across the country with several groups that composer, Todd Anders Johnson, performs with.
Currently, the debut CD, As It Is Above, So Is It Below, is being recorded with Sean Cobb in Eagle River, Alaska. The tracks will be finished in the next few months and will be mixed in Atlanta with legendary mix engineer, John Frye, at the end of October. With experience recording and mixing records from Outkast, Goodie Mob, Erica Badu, etc. Todd's tracks are bound to sound beautiful.
Salem compositions feature an array of musical textures oriented around the strong rhythmic pulse of intricate drumming and soulful bass lines. This foundation is enhanced with diverse varieties of guitars, percussion, and horns filling out the musicality around Todd's breathy voice. His varied compositions and multi-instrumentality can be heard on the record as he sings, plays all drums and percussion, and a bit of guitar and keyboards on the record.
www.salem-music.com

The Danny Godinez Band     2001-Present
The Danny Godinez Band is a four-piece band that performs explorative and accessible groove music, ranging from thoughtful pop songs, to improvisational funk/jazz jams. Described by some as “electrocoustic” rock n roll”, DGB plays acoustically and electric with an equal ease and comfort, enthralling audiences and winning new fans with every gig they perform. DGB will have played over 200 shows nationwide by the close of 2002, completing two US tours and sharing the stage with artists such as Indigenous and Toshi Regan. DGB also has toured the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, where DGB is one of Anchorage’s biggest music draws. DGB is released their second live CD “Live in Anchorage II” in November 2002 and are working on their full length studio CD to be released in early 2004.
www.dannyband.com

Onetons     2003-Present
Onetons is Todd's Afro-Cubanizing groove sextet and features a rotating cast of musicians from some of Seattle's most talented groups. The sextet plays Todd's arrangements and reinterprets jazz standards by legends such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock. Onetons has performed at Tost, Suite G, Norms, the Owl and Thistle and the Stimson-Green Mansion. Onetons has been graced with some fabulous musician guests sitting in, such as percussionists Johnny Conga, Edsson Oterro and drummer Micheal Shrieve, from Santana. Onetons players include: Farko Dosumov, Tor Dietrichson, Arturo Rodriguez, Danny Godinez, Joe Raven, Arnie Livingston, Izaak Mills, John Fricke, Josh Simon, Jeff Terada, Steve Black

Stray Dogma     2004-Present
Stray Dogma is an original pop-folk-rock group from Anchorage, Alaska, and features compositions written by Susan Brakeall and Mark Pearson. Stray Dogma brought Todd in on recording drums on their debut record in Alaska while Todd was touring there last March. The engineer, Sean Cobb, is now working with Todd on his solo record and Todd has been playing with the group each month in Alaska.
www.straydogma.net

Forgotten Sol     2003-Present
Forgotten Sol is an original, conscious, poetic-soul group led by sultry diva, Cristina Orbe. Todd worked with Cristina and Dan Moore to arrange songs as a four-piece group and to book tours to Idaho, Alaska and several Northwest festivals.
www.forgottensol.com

Arturo Rodriguez    1997-Present
Todd and Arturo began performing together at the Seattle Rhythm Fest in 1998 and have since been performing throughout the west coast with a number of groups such as Omar Torrez Band, Tom Landa and the Paperboys, and Danny Godinez Band. Arturo is endorsed by Latin Percussion, Sonor drums, and Paiste cymbals. He also has an instructional book/cd publishing contract with Mel Bay Music. We have taught workshops together at the Seattle Rhythm Festival and throughout the Seattle school system. I recorded the drum set parts on Arturo’s third Interact-and-Learn Afro-Cuban drumming instructional book/cd published by Mel Bay Music, which was released in 2004. Both of Arturo’s instructional books with Mel Bay were given commendable reviews in Modern Drummer’s November, 1999 edition.
www.arturorodriguez.com

Sean McCarthy    2003
Todd recorded drums and percussion on Sean McCarthy's EP of original rock music in January of 2003. It was engineered and mixed by Todd Bowie, who has worked with Beck, Fleetwood Mac, Joe Walsh and The Eagles. Sean is endorsed by Takamine, Ovation, Hamer and Molson.
www.seanmccarthy.com

Tom Landa and the Paperboys     2000-2001
Tom Landa and the Paperboys are a diverse group from Vancouver, B.C. and Todd played drums with the group for a year and a half. At that time, they were signed with Red House Records (Stephen Fearing, Lucy Kaplansky) for the release of the record, Postcards, which was nominated for a Canadian JUNO Award in 2001.
The group was involved in a made for T.V. movie called "Marine Life" starring Cybil Sheppard in which the band performs and also contributed to the soundtrack. The group has also been filming a movie called "Lunch With Charles". It's an independent film shot in Canada and Hong Kong, starring Hong Kong star Sean Lau. The group won the Canadian JUNO Award in 1998, and was booked by Fleming-Tamulevich and Associates (Ani Difranco, John Gorka) while Todd was with the group. There is a great review of the group's performance in the folk and world music magazine, Dirty Linen (Feb.-Mar. 2001).
Todd's recording performance with the Paperboys is on "All Along the Watchtower" on the Redhouse Records' Bob Dylan Tribute album, A Nod To Bob, released in April of 2001. Todd performed extensive Canadian and US tours with the Paperboys alongside Dar Williams, Stacy Earle, Eddie From Ohio, John Gorka, Lunasa, Kilt, Peter Roan, Lucy Kaplansky, Cliff Eberhart, Moxy Fruvous, and Richie Havens. Festival performances include the Falconridge Folk Fest, the Vancouver and Victoria Celtic Festivals, The University of Massachusetts Folk Fest, the Vancouver Folk Alliance, etc.
www.paperboys.com

The Omar Torrez Band    1996-2000
Todd played Omar Torrez's first electric band show in 1996 and played with his group from 1998-2000, with his last two performances with Omar at the Pasadena Summer Fest in Los Angeles. Omar is endorsed by Fender Guitars, and Todd recorded on his second record, Alhambra, in 1999. Along with Arturo Rodriguez, Todd fueled the group's performances throughout the west coast alongside groups such as Calobo, Kerosene Dream, Tom Landa and the Paperboys, Jerry Joseph, and Rubberneck.
www.omartorrez.com

Lara Lavi    1997-1999
Lara Lavi's second record on her own label, Veryjuicy Records, sold many units over the past years. She attained her national presence alongside Charles Neville in The Songcatchers, which had an A&M Horizon record contract. It was with The Songcathers that Todd enjoyed one of his favorite musical experiences, as the group led workshops at a Native-American children's camp in 1998. Todd recorded for Veryjuicy Records with Kyle Mckinney and Mercury Records artist, Louvette. The group performed east and west coast tours as the Lara Lavi band throughout 1998 and 1999, and at local events such as the Seattle Hempfest, Folklife Festival and Bite of Seattle.
www.laralavi.com

Global Village    1997-1998
Todd performed in Tor Dietrichson's world-music group, Global Village, in 1997 and 1998 throughout the northwest. Tor's record has performances by Zakir Hussein, Karl Perrazo and Flora Purim.

The Goods    1995-1997
The Goods released their independent debut release in 1997 with the audio mixing and mastering done by Steve Smith (Xtreme Studios, Bad Animals Studios). The group performed throughout the northwest with groups such as The Dazz Band, Bandit Queen (England) and Sweetwater.

Brave New World     1989-1991
Todd began playing with Brave New World in 1989, during my first year of college at the University of Vermont. The group won Burlington’s, Battle of the Bands in 1990. As Phish had done the year before, the group took our $2500 studio-time prize and recorded our second record at Archer Studios with Dan Archer. Brave New World regularly performed upstairs from Phish at The Border when they would play at Nectar’s. The group played with The Smithereens in 1990 and performed extensively throughout the east coast.

Percussion Studies and Teaching:

Drumset and Percussion Instructor
2002-Present
Instructor for Intermediate and Beginner parts on drumset and percussion at Rockschool in Kirkland and Vera Project in Seattle.

Teaching Workshops with Arturo Rodriguez
2001-Present
Instructional workshops with grade school students in the Seattle Public School System.

Studies with Arturo Rodriguez
1998-2003
Studies in Afro-Cuban rhythms, conga technique and bata drumming. Seattle, Washington

Studies with Mapathe Diop
1997-1999
Studies in Senegalese sabar drumming. Seattle, Washington.

Studies with Tor Dietrichson
1997-1998
Studies in Afro-Cuban rhythms and conga technique. Seattle, Washington.

Studies with Ed Erschen
1982-1984
Studies in drum rudiments with Ed Erschen at Mel Bay Music. St. Louis, Missouri.

University Studies:

University of Washington
2000-2001
Studies finishing a Geography Bachelor’s Degree, with emphasis on Regional Development.

Seattle Central Community College
1998-1999
Studies in Liberal Arts, finishing an Associates Degree.

Evergreen State College
1995-1996
World-literature studies.

University of Vermont
1989-1991
Studies in Agricultural-Resource-Economics.

Music-Business-Management positions:

2001-Present
Todd has been booking, managing and promoting groups since 1992. He formalized the business as In Pocket Productions in 2002. As manager and booking agent for Danny Godinez Band since 2001, Todd has had the group booked nationally, consistently, with over 250 shows nationwide in the year 2002. Todd has currently branched out into booking other groups such as Shannon Saunders and the Splinters and Jude Bowerman Band to Alaska in 2004. www.inthepocketproductions.org

2002-Present
Secretary position in Iamedia, a non-profit organization focused on producing and promoting socially conscious music and events. www.iamedia.org

2002-Present
A position on the board of directors at Rockschool, a Seattle-based non-profit organization focused around music instruction. Todd approached musical instrument companies and was able to obtain musical gear for Rock-School. www.rock-school.org

Social Justice Activism and Organizing:

June 16, 2004
Todd Anders Johnson organized and coordinated a benefit show at the Tractor Tavern for Iamedia with Forgotten Sol, Danny Godinez, Salem, and Jazzhuka.

June, 2004
Todd Anders Johnson coordinated an organizational meeting in Anchorage, AK, for the formation of the Alaskan Independent Media Center. The meeting was in July while Todd was in Alaska playing with Forgotten Sol and was very productive.

May 7, 2004
Todd Anders Johnson performed with Forgotten Sol and Tashkent as part of the KBCS yearly benefit show featuring Bill Frisell and speaker, Amy Goodman.

April, 2004
Todd Anders Johnson coordinated the posting and correspondence of internship positions for Rock-School at several Seattle Universities and Colleges.

December, 2003
Todd Anders Johnson coordinated the posting and correspondence of internship positions for Iamedia at several Seattle Universities and Colleges and assisted in the interview of interns. Iamedia now functions with interns in the fields of Communications, Public Relations, Graphic Design, Web Design and Geography.

November 29, 2000
Todd Anders Johnson organized a benefit show with Jam For Justice (JFJ) and The Seattle Independent Media Center (IMC) for JFJ and the IMC at The Showbox in Seattle. The show included Source of Labor, Jim Page, The Danny Godinez Band, and other artists.

November 30, 1999
Todd Anders Johnson organized a benefit show with Mike Dolan, of Ralph Nader’s organization, Public Citizen, for People For Fair Trade and Public Citizen at the King Cat Theatre in Seattle. The show included The Omar Torrez Band, Tiny Giants, and Salem.

November, 1999
Todd Anders Johnson organized a benefit show for People For Fair Trade at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle. The show included The Omar Torrez Band, Aiko Shimada, and The Danny Godinez Band.

November, 1999
Todd Anders Johnson organized a benefit show with Danny Godinez for People For Fair Trade at the Parlour Room in Seattle. The show included Eric Apoe, Aiko Shimada, and The Danny Godinez Band.

October, 1999
Todd Anders Johnson organized a benefit show for People For Fair Trade at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle. The show included Third World County, Cornocopia and The Danny Godinez Band.

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