Let’s face it, John Mayer is a chick magnet. Anyone who writes songs like “Dreaming with a Broken Heart” and “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room,” has long shaggy hair and says things like “I don’t mind making sissy rock… I’ll rock you sensitive-style,” well, let’s just say it’s no surprise they wind up dating girl-next-door-to-the-tenth Jessica Simpson. But lord knows he’s not just another pretty face – John Mayer earned his awards the hard way.
It’s the kind of story everyone loves to hear. A kid gets his first guitar at 13, a neighbor gives him a cassette of Stevie Ray Vaughn, giving him a love of the blues. After two years of practice, he joins a band and starts playing out, then has a medical condition land him in the hospital, where he started songwriting. Now nineteen, he goes to Berklee College of Music, ditches college and starts his career in earnest a year later. He releases an EP with his first band, the LoFi Masters. Goes solo. Shortly afterwards, he gets signed to Columbia Records, his first major release brought him his first Grammy at age 26, for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, for the 2002 release of “Your Body is a Wonderland”. His second album, Heavier Things, went one better and earned him a grammy for Song of the Year for his song “daughters”, beating out Kanye West and Alecia Keys. He also won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, beating Elvis Costello, Prince, and Seal for the Award. Ta-dah!
Since that time, despite occasional bouts of genre-hopping, Mayer’s reputation as a sensitive, female-friendly rock artist has grown with songs like “Daughters”, and “Good Love is on the Way.” Mayers has expanded his style, collaborating with rap artists Common and Kanye West, and getting deeper into his blues interests with legends such as Buddy Guy, B.B King, Eric Clapton, and jazz master Herbie Hancock. He’s also become a far more accomplished guitar player. His latest album, Continuum, blends his pop abilities and velvet vocals with a blues-rock flavor, notably the funk-laced “Vultures” and blues anthem “Gravity”. These days, having achieved success in his musical career, Mayer has developed other tastes as well, notably in graphic design and a clothing line, as well as making many television appearances.
And his music? Despite his relatively young age, at 29 Mayer shows a mastery of arrangement, a vocal richness and an inherent understand of the blues which many spend a lifetime to achieve. His music seems driven more by appreciation for accomplished playing than a testosterone-driven attitude, and he’s a man that knows a whisper can be as loud as a shout in the right moment. These are the reasons that he’s sped to the top of the charts and, based on recent performances, will continue to ride the wave for a long and healthy career. Catch him in his prime at HSBC Arena this month.
Saturday, April 21, 8 PM
Tickets $106-$312
HSBC Arena
One Seymour H. Knox III Plaza, 14203, 855.4100.
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