Jack Johnson's Dream Days

With little play from mainstream radio and zero presence on MTV, Jack Johnson's In Between Dreams has somehow sold more than 540,000 copies in its first four weeks. "It trips me out," Johnson says. "My last record [Brushfire Fairytales] debuted at Number Three, but it disappeared from the top of the charts pretty quickly. The weird part is that this time my album is sticking around."

In Between Dreams also entered the charts at Number Three, behind albums by 50 Cent and Jennifer Lopez, and the following week rose to Number Two. Johnson points to his March 12th appearance on Saturday Night Live as a major boost and, he says, "word of mouth has kept it going."

The success is not always easy to handle for the Hawaiian-born surfer-singer, who cherishes his anonymity. "The album better start fading soon, or things are going to get weird," Johnson says. But he also admits he's enjoying the ride: "I'll be fine as long as I'm right behind 50 Cent. The day I pass 50, I'll be afraid."

This summer, Johnson takes his mellow tunes on the road, playing Jazz Fest in New Orleans and Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee. He kicks off a thirty-five-date tour -- mostly in amphitheaters -- on August 1st in Houston. Johnson, who is passionate about preserving the environment, says that all the tour buses and trucks will run on biodiesel fuel, venues will be equipped with recycling stations, and all profits from the sale of an upcoming CD/DVD package, sold exclusively on tour, will benefit the charity 1% for the Planet. "We're in a position, as a band," he says, "where we can make choices that are positive ones -- to find little ways to make less waste on the road."

Johnson is also determined to spread his message to the children of his home state. In mid-April, on the islands of Maui and Oahu, he'll host his second annual Kokua Festival, with guests like Jackson Browne (a body-surfing fanatic), Ozomatli, G. Love and Special Sauce, and some of Hawaii's finest local talent.

"It's a benefit, and we raise money to support environmental education in the public schools here," says Johnson. "We sponsor field trips and get kids out of the classroom to get inspired in the real world. Like someone on Cribs brags about having five cars, little kids come up to me and brag about how they recycle at home, and that's amazingly rewarding to me."

In addition to his new gold record, Johnson's music has struck it big at school assemblies. "I've got this song called 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,'" he says. "It's a hit on the elementary school circuit."