Under the radar; After 20 years and a platinum album, Big Head Todd and the Monsters enjoy relative obscurity

By ELLIOT MANN
emann@acnpapers.com
May 25, 2007

STILLWATER - Todd Park Mohr could walk down Main Street in downtown Stillwater without turning many heads.

He's a platinum-selling artist who's played with John Lee Hooker, recorded an album at San Francisco's famed Fillmore West auditorium, toured with Sheryl Crow and Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant. But after 20 years in the music business, Mohr and his band mates have managed to straddle the fence of fame, staying under the mainstream radar yet still on the minds of loyal fans.

Mohr, front man of blues-alternative rock outfit Big Head Todd and the Monsters, will perform at Lumberjack Days on Friday, July 20 in Lowell Park. The group stops in Stillwater after playing Colorado's Red Rocks amphitheater in June and a couple July dates in Alaska.

Rather than follow the suggestions of a major record label, Mohr said the band's staying power can be directly attributed to its strong fan following. The Monsters toured tirelessly during the early '90s, when they independently released two records - "Another Mayberry" and "Midnight Radio."

Minneapolis' Uptown Bar & Café was one of the few stops on their first tour back in the early '80s.

The group achieved mainstream success during the height of alternative rock in 1993 with their song "Bittersweet," off of the group's third album, "Sister Sweetly."

"We have focused on our relationship with the fans," Mohr said. "We have a (certain) quality and variety in our music and a lot of great songs."

In facilitating that relationship, the band posts podcasts on their official Web site so fans can download new songs. They also follow the jam-band subculture of allowing and encouraging fans to trade tapes of unreleased, self-recorded live shows.

"The numbers bear it out," Mohr said. "Peer-to-peer (sharing) gets two times the business. I think that good culture, good art can really be useful to society if it's accessible to the people."

He continued: "It's a broadcast, that's basically what it is and broadcasts are free. I've always felt it's an awkward scenario making money out of it."

Also fostering that bond is the fact that fans haven't had to watch the band deteriorate and reincarnate in lesser forms. The original lineup of Mohr, Rob Squires, Brian Nevin and Jeremy Lawton has stayed together since forming on the campus of Colorado University in 1986.

"We just have a good partnership," Mohr, 41, said of the band's longevity. "We've been successful doing what we're doing - we haven't had to get day jobs, so we're psyched about that."

At 20, Mohr was able to quit his job at a bicycle shop, the last day job he's held.

This summer the Monsters will return to the studio to record an as-yet-unnamed follow up to 2004's "Crimes of Passion." Beginning the creative process frustrates Mohr much more than performing in front of thousands.

"It's just very frustrating," he said of writing new music. "You're looking at a blank page all the time, wrestling with ideas, but at the same time trying to be spontaneous and a storyteller."

Being cramped up in the studio isn't always quite as laborious, as the band in 1997 recorded a version of "Boom Boom" with blues legend John Lee Hooker.

"That was obviously a hallmark experience in my life," Mohr recalled. "He's one of my all-time heroes. A blues great, an extraordinary personality who partied 'til morning. He smelled like piss and alcohol, and he kicked ass."

The Monsters have been known to cover Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash and Eric Clapton among others. They have also thrown a James Brown medley into recent shows. Rumors have permeated through fan circles that the group would someday record an album of covers, but Mohr declined the notion as gossip.

"I think it's a decent idea but we haven't been discussing it cause we're kind of focused on this record," he said.

Lumberjack Days runs from July 19-22 this summer in downtown Stillwater's Lowell Park.

For more about Big Head Todd and the Monsters visit: www.bigheadtodd.com or www.myspace.com/bhtm. For more on Lumberjack Days visit www.lumberjackdays.com.