Big Head Todd and the Monsters

Who Are They?

Big Head Todd and the Monsters are a rock band formed in Colorado in 1986 by Todd Park Mohr (guitar, vocals), Rob Squires (bass), and Brian Nevin (drums), later joined permanently by keyboardist and pedal-steel player Jeremy Lawton. Their sound runs on blues bones, roots-rock songwriting, and Mohr's warm, unhurried guitar tone.

Two things make them singular. First, the steadiness: the core trio has played together since high school, without a breakup, a lineup war, or a reinvention, an unusual thing in rock and roll. Second, the blues lineage: their songs draw directly from Chicago and Delta blues, and they've shared a stage and a studio with the genre's actual legends rather than just borrowing its sound.

Their 1993 major-label debut Sister Sweetly went platinum in the United States and remains their commercial high-water mark. In June 2023 the band was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the venue that has become their unofficial home stage.

The Story

Their story is less about reinvention than persistence, the same three friends building steadily for nearly four decades.

1. 1986

   Three friends from Columbine High School

   Todd Park Mohr, Brian Nevin, and Rob Squires, who attended Columbine High School together in Littleton, Colorado, played their first gig at a University of Colorado Boulder party. They began touring the bar and club circuit in Denver, Fort Collins, and Boulder the following year.

2. 1989

   Another Mayberry, self-released

   The band formed its own label, Big Records, to release its debut, Another Mayberry. It was a DIY start that let them build a fanbase on their own terms before any label came calling.

3. 1990

   Midnight Radio

   Their second self-released album deepened the blues-rock sound and grew their regional following further, setting up the major-label interest that followed.

4. 1993

   Sister Sweetly goes platinum

   Their major-label debut for Giant Records became their breakthrough, going platinum in the US on the strength of singles "Broken Hearted Savior" and "Bittersweet." It remains the album most new listeners start with.

5. 1997

   Beautiful World, and a session with a legend

   During the Beautiful World sessions in Sausalito, California, the band discovered blues legend John Lee Hooker recording down the hall in the same studio. With encouragement from producer Jerry Harrison, Hooker agreed to sing on the band's cover of his own classic "Boom Boom," a direct link to the blues tradition they'd always drawn from.

6. 2003

   Jeremy Lawton joins

   Keyboardist and pedal-steel player Jeremy Lawton became a permanent member, expanding the trio to a four-piece and adding new texture, organ, piano, and steel, to the band's sound going forward.

7. 2004

   Crimes of Passion and Live at the Fillmore

   A studio album and a live release the same year reflected the band's steady, prolific work rate, and its growing reputation as a live act built for the road.

8. 2008

   Riviera

   A later-career studio album that found the band still writing and touring on their own schedule, well outside the churn of the mainstream rock charts.

9. 2015

   Black Beehive

   A guest-heavy, genre-roaming record that showed a band still willing to stretch, more than a quarter-century into its career.

10. 2023

    Colorado Music Hall of Fame

    The band was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on June 10, 2023, a hometown honor for a band that had never left home.

Start Here

These three, one studio single, one live staple, and one classic with a memorable video, are the fastest route into the Big Head Todd sound. Watch in order.

The Albums

A steady, unhurried discography built one record at a time. The amber-topped cards are the best entry points; the teal marks a later-career highlight.

The Playlists

A curated YouTube Music playlist of studio essentials, sequenced to move from the well-known singles into the deeper blues-rock catalog. Hit the button below to play it.

The Band

Four musicians, three of them friends since high school, define the Big Head Todd story: a rare rock band with almost no lineup turnover.

• Todd Park MohrGuitar / VocalsFounder, primary songwriter, and the warm guitar tone at the center of the band's sound
• Rob SquiresBassA founding member and Columbine High School classmate of Mohr's, in the band since 1986
• Brian NevinDrumsThe third founding member, holding down the rhythm section since the band's earliest gigs
• Jeremy LawtonKeys / Pedal SteelJoined as a permanent member in 2003, adding organ, piano, and steel textures

Influences

Big Head Todd's sound grows directly out of Chicago and Delta blues and the electric blues-rock that followed it. Here is where it started.

Interviews

Todd Park Mohr is a plainspoken, thoughtful talker about songwriting and a long, steady career. Two conversations worth hearing.

Going Deeper

Big Head Todd rewards patience more than obsession, decades of steady, high-quality work rather than a single defining event.

• Red Rocks — the band's unofficial home stage and the site of their 2023 Colorado Music Hall of Fame induction; live recordings from there are a natural next stop.
• The blues collaborations — beyond John Lee Hooker on "Boom Boom," the band's catalog is full of blues-rooted covers and guest turns worth tracking down.
• The live albums — Live at the Fillmore (2004) and other live releases capture a band built for the road as much as the studio.
• The steady catalog — with albums stretching from 1989 to the 2010s, there's no wrong place to keep going once Sister Sweetly and Beautiful World have you hooked.