Blues-rock veterans Big Head Todd and the Monsters, known for their passionate fanbase, return to Rhode Island next month for a nearly sold-out show at the Greenwich Odeum on February 7. The Colorado quartet, who began as a trio in high school, includes Todd Park Mohr on vocals, guitar, keys, sax, and harmonica, Brian Nevin on drums and percussion, Rob Squires on bass and vocals, and Jeremy Lawton on guitar, keys, vocals, and steel guitar.
I spoke to Mohr by phone the day after New Year’s, when many of us were powering through a challenging day back to work after a long weekend. Meanwhile, Mohr was decompressing from a sold-out series of West Coast shows over the weekend.
“Your pleasure is my work,” he laughed. “All the time when you’re partying, I’m working. When I come back from New Year’s Eve weekend, it’s a nice chance to take a little breath.” The band returns to the road in mid-January, with several New England shows in early February, including the Odeum show on February 7.
With over 3,500 shows logged since the late ’80s, the band embodies the “road warrior” tag. “Travel can be a tough part of being a musician, but it has a huge upside; getting to go abroad definitely is one of them,” Mohr continued. “Last summer, we were out with Blues Traveler; we went to Germany, down the Rhine on a cruise.”
Expect to hear band favorites and some new songs at the show, including a couple from an untitled album due out in June. One song, “Crush,” is already streaming online, with another, “Her Way Out,” due for release on January 8. “It’s a rock and roll record; it’s really fun,” said Mohr. “It’s got a nice balance of fun and serious songs. We’re going to be playing Red Rocks (Colorado) with the Wallflowers in June to celebrate the new album.”
“The album has a lot of pop culture themes in it,” continued Mohr. “There’s a song that I wrote out of the movie American Graffiti called “Thunderbird,” anteher song about King Kong, a song about Annie Oakley, different songs about Americana touchpoints. I’m really interested in songs, what makes them compelling, and how people relate to them. I’m really interested in themes of conflict and freedom because that’s what human beings are driven by. Most of my songs are about those things overtly in some way.”
For the Boulder-based band, playing a legendary Colorado venue regularly is a career high point. “We play Red Rocks every year; that’s always a great milestone, both in the industry and to us personally. I’ve gotten to record or be on stage with virtually every one of my blues heroes that survived, including B.B. King and Buddy Guy, so many greats I’ve gotten to work with.”
Mohr reflected on the changes he’s seen in the music industry in recent years.
“The way people get and consume music has radically changed,” he said. “When I started, CDs had just come out. I remember buying my first CD player a year after we started playing. That part of the business was huge, the business of selling CDs, and developing careers of artists. When a band was signed, they usually had a two to three album plan for their success.”
With the rise of media superstars on TikTok and other online platforms, Todd is bullish on the industry’s future.
“The whole industry and the way that stars are made is totally different now. You could say for better or worse, but I don’t think it’s like that. I just think it’s just different. You could say there’s more democracy in how people emerge as celebrities. It’s not big companies manufacturing big stars anymore. I think there are a lot of healthy things that go along with people finding their music. I love Spotify; I think it’s such a cool way to have a relationship with all music. I think that bodes well for my career and music in general,” added Mohr.
“We love playing music; we’ve been a band for almost 40 years; it’s still so fun for us to put all that together on stage and be playing music that people love.”