Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Iorek85 (talk | contribs) at 23:14, 2 February 2007 (rvv). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

John Clayton Mayer (born on October 16, 1977) is an American Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist. Originally from Connecticut, he briefly attended the Berklee College of Music before moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 1998, where he refined his skills and began gaining a following. After originally performing mainly acoustic rock, in 2005 he made a transition towards the blues genre with the formation of the John Mayer Trio. The blues influence can also be seen on his latest studio album Continuum, which was released on September 12, 2006. Mayer has been nominated for five Grammys for the 49th Grammy Awards, including Album of The Year.

Mayer's other interests include stand-up comedy, design, and writing; he has written pieces for several magazines, most notably for Esquire.

Early life

Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mayer grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut, the second of three sons. There, he became friends with future tennis star James Blake. Mayer attended Fairfield High School (now Fairfield Warde High School) for most of high school, although he attended Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk, Connecticut for his junior year, where he was enrolled in the Center for Global Studies at Brien McMahon High School. Then known as the Center for Japanese Studies Abroad, it is a magnet program for students in Fairfield County wanting to learn Japanese.

Mayer listened to pop music, but it was not until the age of thirteen that his inspiration for playing the guitar began, and his father rented one for him. On Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Mayer confessed that he had played the clarinet for a while in grammar school, with minor success.

Generally, it was believed that Mayer's father, a Bridgeport High School principal, had given him a confiscated tape player that contained an album by Stevie Ray Vaughan. However, Mayer, in an 2006 interview on the New Zealand show Close Up said the cassette was given to him by a neighbor, sparking Mayer's love of the blues. After two years of practice, he started playing at blues bars and other venues in the area. While in high school, he was in a band called Villanova Junction with Joe Beleznay, Tim Procaccini, and Rich Wolf.

When Mayer was seventeen, he was suddenly stricken with a cardiac arrhythmia that sent him to the hospital for a weekend. The trauma of the incident sparked his songwriting, and he penned his first lyrics the night he got home. Shortly thereafter, he began suffering from crippling panic attacks and even now he keeps Xanax (an anti-anxiety drug) with him, just in case.

Career

Road to mainstream success

After playing the guitar for several years, Mayer enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of nineteen. After a semester or two, he chose to cut his studies short in favor of a move to Atlanta, Georgia. With his friend and bandmate, Clay Cook, he began his career in earnest there, quickly making a name for the two-man band, LoFi Masters. They frequented the local coffeehouse and club circuit in venues like Eddie's Attic. After the band LoFi Masters split, Mayer began his solo career. With the help of local producer/engineer Glenn Matullo, Mayer recorded the independent EP Inside Wants Out. Cook is also cited as the co-writer of many of the songs from the album, most notably, the ballad "Comfortable."

The EP ultimately contributed to Mayer being signed to Columbia Records, and two years later, in 2001, he released his first major-label album, Room for Squares. This "debut" included several of the songs that had been previously released. By 2002, Room for Squares had spawned several radio hits, including "No Such Thing," "Your Body Is A Wonderland," and, ultimately, "Why Georgia." In 2003, he won the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the 2002 release of "Your Body Is a Wonderland." In his acceptance speech he commented on his desire to live up to it.

In 2003, Mayer released the follow-up album, Heavier Things. This album also brought critical and commercial success. Although the album did top the charts for a time, it ultimately did not sell as well as Room for Squares. However, Mayer's most successful single to date, "Daughters," yielded Mayer a Grammy for Song of the Year in 2005. For this award, he beat contenders Alicia Keys and Kanye West. He dedicated the award to his grandmother, Annie Hoffman, who died in May 2004. He also won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, beating Elvis Costello, Prince, and Seal for the Award. Mayer also was honored with the Hal David Starlight Award (previously the Starlight Award) at the 37th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in 2006.

Change in musical direction

Template:Sound sample box align leftTemplate:Sample box endIn 2004, Mayer worked with hip hop artist and producer Kanye West, appearing both on rapper Common's song "Go!" and being included initially on West's album Late Registration, though their collaboration "Bittersweet" remains unreleased. Due to these collaborations, Mayer has received praise from rap heavyweights like Jay-Z and Nelly. When asked about his presence in the hip hop community, he said that, "It's not music out there right now. That's why, to me, hip-hop is where rock used to be."

It was around this time that Mayer began hinting a change in his musical interests, announcing that he was "closing up shop on acoustic sensitivity." In 2005, he began a string of collaborations with various important and provocative blues artists, including Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and jazz artist John Scofield. He also toured with legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, which included a show at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. These collaborations lead to recordings with these several of these artists, namely, Clapton (Back Home, Crossroads Guitar Festival), Guy (Bring 'Em In), Scofield (That's What I Say) and King (80).

Although Mayer has maintained a reputation for being a sensitive, meticulous singer-songwriter, he has also gained distinction as an accomplished guitarist, influenced by the likes of the above artists, as well as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Freddie King.

John Mayer Trio

Template:Sound sample box align rightTemplate:Sample box end In the spring of that year, Mayer formed the John Mayer Trio with bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan, both of whom he had met through previous studio sessions. The trio played a combination of blues and rock music. In November 2005, they released a live album called Try! The first single, "Who Did You Think I Was?," lyrically underscores Mayer's decision to move away from acoustic pop music. In October 2005, the Trio opened for The Rolling Stones during a sold-out club tour of their own.

The John Mayer Trio took a break in mid-2006. John declared at the end of their performance at the Tempe Music Festival in March of 2006, "This is Steve Jordan, that's Pino Palladino, and I'm John Mayer. And for a few more minutes, we are the John Mayer Trio." On September 12, however, he announced plans for the Trio to begin work on a studio album.

Continuum and beyond

Mayer's latest album, entitled Continuum, was released on September 12, 2006, and was produced by Mayer himself and John Mayer Trio drummer Steve Jordan. Mayer suggested the album was intended to combine his signature pop music with the feel, sound, groove and sensibilities of the blues. In that vein, two of the tracks from his trio release Try! — the funky "Vultures" and the blues centrepiece "Gravity" — also were included on Continuum.

The first single from Continuum was "Waiting on the World to Change," which debuted on The Ron and Fez Show. The song was the third most downloaded song of the week on the iTunes Music Store following its release on July 11, 2006, and debuted at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. On August 23, 2006, Mayer debuted the entire album on the Los Angeles radio station Star 98.7, giving commentary on each and every track. A subsequent version was released the next day on the Clear Channel Music website as a streaming sneak preview. On September 22, 2006, Mayer appeared on CSI, playing live (albeit abridged) versions of "Waiting on the World to Change" and another track from Continuum, "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room."

On December 7, 2006, the 2007 Grammy nominees were announced. Mayer has been nominated for five Grammys including the prestigious Album of the Year. John Mayer Trio also received a nomination for their album Try!.

In a December blog entry Mayer announced he had begun writing new material. He has also indicated that he's in the studio experimenting with music in a sort of a blend of jazz (mentioning Elvin Jones as inspiration) and pop — aiming to produce what he calls today's "modern music," as jazz was once called.

Other projects

In 2003, Martin Guitars gave Mayer his own signature model acoustic guitar called the OM-28 John Mayer. The guitar was limited to a run of only 404, Atlanta's area code. This acoustic was followed by the release of a signature Stratocaster electric guitar by Fender guitars in 2005 — three different models in total. Unlike the Martin, two of Mayer's Signature Fender Stratocasters are not limited edition models, and can be found at many Fender dealers. The third Stratocaster, finished in charcoal frost metallic paint with racing stripe, was limited to only 100 guitars. In August 2006, Fender started manufacturing SERIES II John Mayer strats. The new Olympic white with mint green pickguard and cream plastics replaced the shoreline gold model. Mayer is a passionate collector of guitars, and (as of 2006) his collection was estimated at over 200.

Mayer appeared in a one-shot half-hour comedy special on VH1, entitled John Mayer Has a TV Show (2004). Mayer wore a bear suit and anonymously chatted with concertgoers in the parking lot outside one of his concerts. His antics included mispronouncing his last name, poking fun at his own image, and suggesting that Richard Marx had written many of his songs.

In the June 1, 2004, issue of Esquire, Mayer began a column called "Music Lessons with John Mayer." Each article featured a lesson (some more scholarly than others) and his take on various topics, both of personal and popular interest. In the August 2005 issue he invited readers to create music for orphaned lyrics he had written. The winner was Tim Fagan of L.A., as announced in the following January's issue.

I'm actually into sneakers on a design level. I've got a big design thing going on in my life right now ... I love designing stuff. I mean, my biggest dream, forget Grammys, I want to be able to design an Air Max.

Mayer is also heavily interested in design. His blog features a variety of his designs ranging from T-shirts, guitar totes and, most dear to his heart, sneakers. In August 2006, Mayer started JMltd, a minor clothing line of Mayer-themed merchandise that he has designed. The products are currently available only at his shows, although he has said they will eventually be available online. In Rolling Stone, he related that after former Columbia Records head, Don Ienner, panned Continuum, Mayer briefly considered quitting music altogether and going to design school full time. However, he soon wrote "Waiting on the World to Change," thus reinvigorating both the album and his music career.

Stand-up comedy is a growing hobby of Mayer's. He makes regular, though random, appearances at the famed Comedy Cellar when he is in New York. He says that although it is risky, it helps him write better.

Touring

Mayer allows audio taping at most of his live performances, and he also allows for the non-commercial trading of those recordings. He does this to give fans the opportunity to recreate the live experience, and to encourage fan interaction. Tape trading was also instrumental in Mayer become better known in the early stages of his career.

To date, Mayer has toured with many groups, including Maroon 5, Guster, Counting Crows, The Wallflowers, Teitur, and Sheryl Crow. Crow and Mayer, who both had recently appeared on the Cars Soundtrack together, co-headlined a tour that ran from August to October 2006, before each artist continued their respective solo tours. Mayer and Crow traded numerous on-stage shenanigans during their last week touring together, as documented on Mayer's blog.

Shortly after, beginning on October 18, he began promoting Continuum in Europe with his band, which included dates in Holland and England, as he has yet to reach the popularity abroad that he enjoys in North America. Beyond this, Mayer played at the Desert Rhythm Festival in Dubai on October 26, 2006, headlining a line-up that included Khaled, Elvis Crespo, Karen Zoid, Mustafa Sandal & Wayne Wonder. He then went east, heading to Australia, New Zealand and Japan, where he performed his last show of this leg on November 9, 2006. His official Continuum tour kicked off on January 25, 2007 in Jacksonville, FL. Opening dates of the tour were dogged by reports of Jessica Simpson joining him on the road. He his set to play at total of 31 dates, that wrap up in Darling Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.

Personal life

Mayer has a number of tattoos. These include: "Home" and "Life" on the back of his left and right arms, respectively (after the song from the Heavier Things album), "SRV" (for his idol Stevie Ray Vaughan), "77" (his year of birth) on his left pectoralis major, and a koi fish on his right deltoid. In 2003, he got a tattoo of three squares on his right forearm, which sparked a lot of questions. Mayer explains that he likes getting tattoos, but not having too many, so he will fill the three squares in gradually. As of 2007, two are filled.

Mayer is an avid collector of watches, and owns timepieces costing into the tens of thousands of dollars. Mayer also has an extensive collection of sneakers, estimated (in 2006) at over 200 pairs. Although he's never been diagnosed by a medical professional, Mayer experiences music → color synesthesia, or the sensation of "hearing colors," which he mentioned in a Rolling Stone interview.(Edwards 2006)

Mayer dated Jennifer Love Hewitt briefly in 2002. In a comedy routine in May 2006, he joked they never consummated their relationship; he later apologized to her for the raunchy routine. Despite rumors to the contrary, Mayer did not date Heidi Klum in 2003. Numerous public appearances together suggest that Mayer is dating Jessica Simpson, though neither has confirmed the nature of the relationship. Rumors kicked into high gear when Mayer and Simpson spent New Year's holiday together in New York City, both attending Christina Aguilera's New Years Eve 2006 party, with reports indicating that the two were very publicly affectionate. Simpson has also been accompanying John on his tour that kicked off January 25, 2007.

John resides in a suburb of Los Angeles with his roommate and sound engineer, Chad Franscoviak. He also has an apartment in New York City.

Selected events

Mayer has also played himself on various programs, including CSI, and most famously on Chappelle's Show. The TV comedy Family Guy referenced John Mayer in an episode. In a Volkswagen commercial, Mayer appeared playing a First Act guitar in a for their new feature: outlets for an electric guitar, allowing it to play through the auto's stereo.

Mayer has been a fixture in recent years at Apple's annual Keynote address at MacWorld San Francisco. In January 2004, Mayer joined Steve Jobs as Jobs introduced the software application GarageBand, and rejoined Steve on stage for a solo performance at Macworld 2007, following the announcement of the iPhone.

Mayer appeared at the Pennsbury High School prom on May 14, 2004, in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia. A book called Wonderland by writer Michael Bamberger chronicles the high school's senior class president, a huge Mayer fan, and his school's quest for the ultimate prom. Rolling Stone magazine covered Mayer's prom performance, as did many national media outlets.

Mayer is apparently a fan of XM Satellite Radio's Ron and Fez and Opie and Anthony shows. Mayer stopped in unannounced to the Ron and Fez Show on June 14 to premiere his latest single, then appeared on Opie and Anthony on July 26.

Solo discography

Albums

• Inside Wants Out (EP), Indie release date: September 24, 1999, Major label release date: August 2, 2002
• Room for Squares, US release date: September 18, 2001
• Any Given Thursday, US release date: February 11, 2003
• Heavier Things, US release date
• As/Is (Live), US release date: October 19, 2004
• Continuum, US release date: September 12, 2006
• The Village Sessions (Live EP), US release date: December 12, 2006

Singles

• "No Such Thing" (2002)
• "Your Body Is A Wonderland" (2002)
• "Why Georgia" (2003)
• "Bigger Than My Body" (2004)
• "Clarity" (2004)
• "Daughters" (2004)
• "Who Did You Think I Was" (2005)
• "Waiting on the World to Change" (2006)
• "Gravity" (2007)

Selected collaborations

• "City Love" (2003) – Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival
• "Heart So Heavy" (2005) – Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now (with Aaron Neville)
• "Go" (2005) – Common's Be
• "I've Got Dreams To Remember" (2005) – "Bring 'Em In" (duet with Buddy Guy)
• "I Don't Need No Doctor" (2005) – John Scofield's That's What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles
• "Streetcorner Symphony" (2005) – Rob Thomas's Something to Be
• "You Can Make It If You Try" (2005) – Sly & The Family Stone's Different Strokes By Different Folks
• "Piece of My Heart" (2005) – Eric Clapton's Back Home (Mayer contributes lead guitar)
• "Hummingbird" (2005) – B.B. King's 80
• "Stitched Up" (2005) – Herbie Hancock's Possibilities
• "Baby Hold On" (2006) – Dixie Chicks' Taking the Long Way (Mayer contributes guitar)
• "I Hope" (2006) – Dixie Chicks' Taking the Long Way (Mayer contributes guitar)
• "(Get your kicks on) Route 66" (2006) – Cars: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
• "Hard to thrill" (2006) - JJ Cale and Eric Clapton's "The Road to Escondido"
• "Bittersweet" (2007) - Kanye West's Graduation (Mayer contributes vocals with Keyshia Cole)
• "TBA" (2008) — Alicia Key's TBA 2008 album

Awards

Notes

1. ^ Ruth Shaut (ELLE)(2006)."Blues Brother" J-mayer.org (accessed August 3, 2006)
2. http://www.fhmus.com/articles-2064.asp
3. He was inspired by the Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) guitar performance in Back to The Future.
4. ^ (2005). "Men Of The Week: Entertainment - John Mayer" AskMen.com (accessed April 12, 2006)
5. (2006) "Mon Nov 6: Telecom; Spam Attack; John Mayer" TVNZ online (accessed December 6, 2006)
6. Wallace, William (2005). "Joe Beleznay wants to be the ball" TweedMag.com (accessed October 30, 2006)
7. ^ Hiatt, Brian (2006). "My Big Mouth Strikes Again" Rolling Stone magazine (accessed September 18, 2006)
8. (2006). John Mayer SongWritersHallofFame.org (accessed September 29, 2006)
9. ^ Moss, Corey (2005) "John Mayer Plans To 'Close Up Shop On Acoustic Sensitive'" MTV.com (accessed April 12, 2006)
10. http://www.relix.com/cgi-bin/content_details.cgi?id=1787
11. Mayer, John (2006). "THE CONTINUUM SUPER BLOG" JohnMayer.com Blog (accessed December 12, 2006)
12. Mayer, John (2006). "THE NEXT TRANSMISSION" JohnMayer.com (accessed December 11, 2006)
13. Mayer, John (2007). "BACK TO WORK, THEN!" JohnMayer.com (accessed January 28, 2007)
14. (2003). "John Mayer Receives Signature Martin OM Guitar" (accessed January 29, 2007)
15. Sounding Board Newsletter contributor (2003). "John Mayer Signature OM" MartinGuitar.com (accessed January 29, 2007)
16. Mayer, John (2006). "THE NEW JM SIGNATURE STRAT COLORWAY" JohnMayer.com (accessed January 30, 2007)
17. Mayer, John (2005). "The Giveaway: John Mayer's Songwriting Contest" Esquire magazine (accessed April 12, 2006)
18. Mayer, John (2006). "Tim Fagan Is A Winner" Esquire magazine (accessed April 12, 2006)
19. AP correspondent (2006). "John Mayer sings the blues to make better pop" MSNBC.com (accessed January 29, 2007)
20. Mayer, John (2006). "JMLTD TEES" JohnMayer.org (accessed January 29, 2007)
21. Mayer, John (2005). "John's Live Recording Policy" www.thejmtp.com (accessed April 12, 2006)
22. (2005).PoliciesLocal 83: Listener's Union (accessed April 13, 2006)
23. Dansby, Andrew (2004). "Mayer, Maroon 5 Hit the Road" Rolling Stone (accessed April 12, 2006)
24. Dansby, Andrew (2003). "Mayer, Crows to Tour " Rolling Stone (accessed April 12, 2006)
25. Mayer, John (2004). "Music Lessons with John Mayer" FindArticles.com (accessed January 28, 2007)
26. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002688980
27. http://www.johnmayer.com/blog/john/200610
28. Sinclair, David (2007). "John Mayer: My Atlantic crossing" Belfast Telegraph online (accessed January 28, 2007)
29. Silverman, Steven, et al (2007). "Jessica Simpson Rocks Out at John Mayer Concert" People.com (accessed January 29, 2007)
30. Mayer, John (2007). Tour Dates JohnMayer.com (accessed January 29, 2007)
31. ^ Collis, Clark (2003). "Dear Superstar: John Mayer" Blender.com (accessed November 2, 2006)
32. Lieberman, Bari (2007). "The Mayer of Grammy-ville" The Hurricane Online (accessed January 25, 2007)
33. Morillo, Paul (2007). [http://expertscorner.lussori.com/2006/12/27/john-mayer-loves-iwc-and-panerai-watches/ "John Mayer Loves IWC and Panerai Watches" Lussori.com (accessed January 23, 2007)
34. Mayer, John (2006). "Perks" JohnMayer.com/blog (accessed January 4, 2007)
35. http://www.askmen.com/men/entertainment_100/140c_john_mayer.html
36. (2006). "Mayer Apologises To Hewitt" ContactMusic.com (accessed January 5, 2006)
37. "Simpson, Mayer Ring In New Year Together"
38. Warech, Jon (2007). "Jessica Simpson & John Mayer Hit Miami" People.com (accessed January 23, 007)
39. Splash News correspondent (2007). "Jessica Simpson will tour with John Mayer for next two and a half weeks" SAWF.org (accessed January 26, 2007)
40. VDubsRock official site(2006). VDubsRock.com (accessed January 23, 2007)
41. http://arstechnica.com/reviews/apps/garageband.ars
42. Mar, Alex, et al (2004). "Mayer Booted From School" RollingStone.com (accessed December 11, 2006)
43. (2006)"Whip 'Em Out Wednesday" foundrymusic.com (accessed August 8, 2006)
44. MTV News staff (2007). "For The Record: Quick News On MCR, Madonna, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Pink, Gwen, NIN, AFI, Steve-O & More" MTV.com (accessed January 29, 2007)

References

• Edwards, G. (2006) Is Tiny Dancer Really Elton's Little John?, New York: Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 0-307346-03-X

External links

Official

• Official John Mayer site
• Official John Mayer Trio site
• Mayer's MySpace page

Written by Mayer

• Segment on Jimi Hendrix that Mayer wrote for Rolling Stone
• Segment on Brett Dennen, that Mayer wrote for Rolling Stone
• Database of Mayer's Esquire column, from FindArticles.com

General

• Comprehensive John Mayer guitar tabs
• Rolling Stone Q&A Podcast: John Mayer, from December 2005: (listen) (transcript)
• Iceberg Radio interview with John Mayer from September 2006: Listen (32K) (64K)

See also

• Atlanta, Georgia
• A Tribute To John Mayer, tribute album by Dark One Light

• John Mayer
• American blues singer-guitarists
• American rock guitarists
• American pop singers
• American rock singer-songwriters
• American artist-producers
• Grammy Award winners
• Taper-friendly musicians
• Atlanta music
• Berklee College of Music alumni
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation cast
• People from Bridgeport, Connecticut
• Connecticut musicians
• 1977 births
• Living people