John Mayer

from:               Bridgeport, CT
website:           www.johnmayer.com
myspace:         www.myspace.com/johnmayer

Exactly five years ago, I was John Mayer's biggest fan.  No really, I was.  During the summer of 2001 I interned at a radio station in my hometown of Rochester, NY, and one of my fellow interns introduced me to the singer/songwriter while we were driving around in his car one day.  And I promptly fell in love with Mr. Mayer.  I played Room for Squares for everyone before anyone recognized his name, I saw him twice in Boston, I knew every word to "Comfortable" and got a little teary every time I heard it.  Then the most predictable thing to ever happen to a radio listener happened, of course - I got ridiculously sick of John Mayer.  And while a song like "Sucker" could probably still put a small smile on my face, I promise you that "Your Body Is a Wonderland" positively makes me want to shove pencils in my ears.

Mayer got his start as a blues guitarist, an interest that was sparked in the boy when he was thirteen and his father gave him a Stevie Ray Vaughan tape.  He played at blues bars while in high school, before graduating and enrolling in the Berklee School of Music in Boston to study music.  Like many other famous Berklee students however, Mayer did not stay for very long, cutting his studies short to move to Atlanta and begin his career.  The singer/songwriter quickly earned a name for himself in the coffehouses around town, playing sensitive, acoustic adult contemporary-ish fare, and soon enough he would earn a name for himself across the country with Room for Squares.

In recent years, Mayer has moved away from the pop side of things, participating in a string of collaborations in 2005 with blues and jazz artists like Buddy Guy, BB King, Eric Clapton and John Scofield.  He also stripped down his sound and created the John Mayer Trio with bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan, and used this new group as an outlet for a combination of blues and rock.  While the trio has since broken up, Mayer promises that his new album Continuum, due out on September 12 of this year, will continue in that creative direction, combining the smooth pop that started his career with the blues rock that is his passion.

So what can be expected at ACL this fall?  I have to admit, I'm a little interested in finding out.  In the years since I lost interest in Mayer's career, he has definitely made strides towards being more intriguing, and I would like to hear what this new sound actually sounds like.  I might also like to hear "Comfortable" again, but chances are he's not playing that one anymore.  I can only hope he's not still playing "Your Body Is a Wonderland" either.

"Comfortable" (from Inside Wants Out)
"The Wind Cries Mary" (from Room For Squares bonus disc)