No blues for Mayer as profile rises

By Kevin Young
Entertainment reporter, BBC News

Mayer's breakthrough hit in 2002 was the upbeat No Such Thing

From the reaction of the 2,000 people at his only British concert this year, you would have thought guitarist John Mayer was already a household name in the UK.

The 29-year-old double Grammy-winner arrives on stage in London to a surge of cheers and applause from fans who know every word of songs from his third solo album Continuum, released only a week ago.

But the tall, curly-haired US chart-topper has yet to enjoy widespread success in the UK.

He is, however, steadily building a global following with a musical style that is hard to pin down.

"I definitely fall under the singer-songwriter category," he says.

"I wouldn't fight my way out of that box, but that's such a large box anyway. Jimi Hendrix was a singer-songwriter, you know.

"I've got a really good sense of what a cliche is, so therefore I know when to not to use them.

"The cliche would be to sit on a stool, have one spotlight down, never look up and play songs about climbing trees.

"But to me, the process of playing something on the guitar and singing on top of it feels as different from singer-songwriting as you can imagine."

Blues trio

Since releasing his second album, Heavier Things, in 2004, Mayer has recorded and performed with a side project, a more blues-oriented trio.

It all comes down to melody for me John Mayer

This range of styles means a mix of upbeat radio hits, sensitive ballads and more drawn-out blues tracks during his set - and he says this has helped him to develop as an artist.

"I really know that if I put my third record out and it wasn't very different from my first, I wouldn't have been easily able to do anything differently," he says.

The hits of the 1980s provided a childhood soundtrack, and Mayer was influenced by the decade's more soulful acts.

"I like stuff that's really melodic. That doesn't have to mean that it's happy-sounding. But all the music from the '80s that had soul in it is still around.

"I got into a discussion with this guy about Huey Lewis and the News, and he was turning his nose up at them.

"I was like, wait a minute, man. Huey Lewis is still around and nobody doesn't like Huey Lewis and the News.

"They might not think of him for a while but when he comes on, nobody goes: 'Change that'. It's satisfying because of the soul element."

Web presence

Mayer believes his current release reflects the changes in his life as he approaches 30.

"There's a little bit of a reconciliation that takes place with where you are, where you've been and where you're going, right around now.

"Continuum was the record that I happened to be making when I was going through that."

Mayer appears as himself in the latest US series of CSI

He says he "loves" the Grammys he earned for Your Body is a Wonderland and Daughters in 2003 and 2005 - but they have not changed the way he makes music as he doesn't want to appear "on the end of the assembly line".

And he enthuses about the influence of social networking websites on the creative process.

"I like that MySpace has become the new radio. It hasn't become the new CD, thankfully, but if you like something you hear on MySpace then you're going to track the CD down.

"It's my place to speak to my fans. I really like it and I don't care if people are listening to music on their cordless shavers, if that's where music is going to go."

'Avant-guard genius'

Mayer has recorded with artists as musically varied as blues guitarist BB King, soul group Sly and the Family Stone and rapper Kanye West.

"It's amazing, I've been able to work with most of the living artists that I wanted to work with, specifically Eric Clapton, which was huge for me."

And an ambition is to team up with Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, he admits.

"I think he's one of the smartest melodic writers I've ever heard. He may not even know how much. He's like an avant-guard genius to me, in terms of melody."

Mayer now flies to Dubai on a tour which also takes in Australia, New Zealand and Japan - and judging by the smiles of those leaving his London gig, his fans are in for a treat.