Jack Johnson’s Love of Hawaii Celebrated on ‘Best of Kokua Festival’ Radio Special

A five-part radio special has been developed in conjunction with Jack Johnson's latest album, 'Jack Johnson and Friends -- Best of Kokua Festival,' which dropped last month and document's the environmentally conscious singer-songwriter's long-running Kokua Festival. The special features music from the album and snippets of interviews from a handful of musical guests featured on the disc, including G. Love, Taj Mahal, Zach Gill, Will Dog of Ozomatli -- and, of course, Johnson himself.

Johnson donated all profits from the album to the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports environmental education in the schools and communities of Hawaii. The Kokua Festival, which ran from 2004 through to 2008 and then again in 2010, featured contributions from a wide variety of musicians over the years, including Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper and country great Willie Nelson, in addition to the aforementioned artists. All of them also appeared on the 'Best of Kokua Festival' album.

One thing Johnson appreciates about his fellow festival performers is how they all have some sort of connection to Hawaii. "Somebody like Taj Mahal has lived here for a long time. Willie Nelson, same thing," the singer said during the radio special. "And then other people [like] Eddie Vedder, it's somewhere he goes to escape and surf -- he loves being here, and he's been dedicated to a lot of environmental issues for his whole life. It's always been people who are already dedicated to this sort of thing."

While the original special aired in one piece on the radio, it has been split up into five separate podcasts for broadcast on the internet via his official website. Check out the first part by clicking on the button below, then follow the links along the right rail for access to parts two through five.