It was a relatively cool Friday afternoon, especially for Atlanta in the middle of September. It was around 6:00 by the time I got to Piedmont Park. I wasn't too concerned about seeing anyone on the lineup for Friday because the main reason I purchased a ticket to Music Midtown was because of Lana Del Rey.
John Mayer will be getting the band back together to perform as the John Mayer Trio on Late Night with Seth Myers on February 27th. They'll also be working on a new album with some "legendary guests."
It's the end of year (well, almost) so we're counting down our favorite records and games from this year. Be sure to leave a comment and complain if your favorite band didn't make the list! If you can't be bothered to read this wall of text, a more in-depth audio/video version will be at the end of this post.
John Mayer’s newest album “Paradise Valley” opens with the song “Wildfire” which plunges straight into a country/acoustic sound with John Mayer’s trademark spin put on it. Listeners can find that they hear a softer Clapton style throughout the album, specifically with “Dear Marie” and “Call Me the Breeze”. This album is unlike any other of Mayer’s, but fans new and old will find themselves pleased as well as relaxed with the comforting sounds of this album. If you are looking for a hard rock album with bluesy guitar solos, this is not the album for you. Regardless, if you are a fan of Mayer’s, or want to be, this is an album that will not disappoint.
One song that can sum up the album’s overall sound is “Dear Marie”. This song has the acoustic feel of the album as well as the country style guitar. In all of these songs, listeners will find that Mayer’s vocals as well as his guitar style are really the concrete aspects of the album as they keep it sounding like the classic John Mayer sound that can be heard throughout his entire discography. In “Who You Love” the listener will hear more of a traditional John Mayer sound as well as the new spin that can be heard on every track on “Paradise Valley”.
Any fan of Mayer will find this album to be a great addition to an ever changing discography. The only downside to this album is that Mayer takes his sound in a different direction on this album. Although this isn’t a bad thing, you have to be a real fan of Mayer in order to enjoy this album. If you have only nonchalantly listened to his past material, this album may not be for you. “Paradise Valley” is a relaxing album, made for when you have downtime to sit back and enjoy life.
Although John Mayer has created songs like this in the past, this is the first album to have this laid back atmosphere throughout the whole album. Overall, this album is definitely something to check out if you are a diehard fan of Mayer, or enjoy the country/acoustic genre. These songs express many different emotions and themes that create a relaxing and very therapeutic sound that is easily definable as John Mayer.”
Rating: 9.5/10
Nic
John Mayer will be hitting the road this summer with Phillip Phillips. Dates are below.
April 25 — Tuscaloosa, AL (Tuscaloosa Amphitheater - SOLD-OUT)
April 26 — New Orleans, LA (JazzFest)
July 6 — Milwaukee, WI (Summerfest- Marcus Amphitheater
July 7 — Maryland Heights/St. Louis, MO (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
July 9 — Cincinnati, OH (Riverbend Music Center)
July 10 — Bonner Springs, KS (Cricket Wireless Amphitheater)
July 12 — Woodlands, TX (The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion)
July 13 — Dallas, TX (Gexa Energy Pavilion)
July 16 — Morrison, CO (Red Rocks Amphitheatre)
July 19 — Ridgefield, WA (Sleep Country Amphitheater)
July 20 — George, WA (The Gorge)
July 22 — Paso Robles, CA (California Mid State Fair)
July 24 — Wheatland, CA (Sleep Train Amphitheatre at Sacramento)
July 26 — Mountain View, CA (Shoreline Amphitheatre)
July 27 — Irvine, CA (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Irvine)
Aug. 6 — Cuyahoga Falls, OH (Blossom Music Center)
Aug. 7 — Clarkston, MI (DTE Energy Music Theatre)
Aug. 9 — Tinley Park, IL (First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre)
Aug. 10 — Noblesville, IN (Klipsch Music Center)
Aug. 11 — Springfield, IL (Illinois State Fair)
Aug. 13 — Darien, NY (Darien Lake Performing Arts Center)
Aug. 14 — Toronto, ON (Molson Canadian Amphitheatre)
Aug. 16 — Hartford, CT (Comcast Theatre)
Aug. 17 — Mansfield, MA (Comcast Center)
Aug. 20 — Bethel, NY (Bethel Woods Center for the Arts)
Aug. 21 — Holmdel, NJ (PNC Bank Arts Center)
Aug. 23 — Camden, NJ (Susquehanna Bank Center)
Aug. 24 — Virginia Beach, VA (Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach)
Aug. 25 — Burgettstown, PA (First Niagara Pavilion)
Aug. 27 — Allentown, PA (The Great Allentown Fair)
Aug. 28 — Wantagh, NY (Nikon at Jones Beach Theater)
Aug. 30 — Saratoga Springs, NY (Saratoga Performing Arts Center)
Aug. 31 — Bristow, VA (Jiffy Lube Live)
Sept. 1 — Atlantic City, NJ (Borgata Resort Spa and Casino Event Center)
Sept. 4 — Charlotte, NC (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Charlotte)
Sept. 5 — Raleigh, NC (Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek)
Sept. 7 — Tampa, FL (Live Nation Amphitheater at the Florida State Fairgrounds)
Sept. 8 — West Palm Beach, FL (Cruzan Amphitheatre)
Sept. 17 — Buenos Aires, Argentina (Luna Park)
Sept. 21 — Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (Rock in Rio)
Sept. 27 — Atlanta, GA (Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood)
Oct. 1 — Albuquerque, NM (Isleta Amphitheater)
Oct. 2 — Phoenix, AZ (Desert Sky Pavilion)
Oct. 4 — San Diego, CA (Sleep Train Amphitheatre)
Oct. 5 — Los Angeles, CA (Hollywood Bowl)
John Mayer has posted an update regarding his voice and new music
Hi all,
Well, here I am. Silent for the next few months, no singing for probably six, but all signs point to this being the last step in getting to perform again. Back to notebooks and iPad to communicate for the time being. Zen living at its finest… so if you see me out and about and I don’t answer you when you say hello, I’m not ignoring you. Promise. I’ll try and post more on here, but I’ve gotten really good at keeping my thoughts to myself and I don’t exactly see anybody starving for my take on things. But it might be fun to offer some kind of window into this very odd and slightly beautiful time.
I hope this finds you each and all very well… And I know I’m not the only person hoping that six months from now they’ll have a chance to do what they love so much, so good luck with your thing too.
Love
John
John Mayer recently did an informative interview with NPR, which covers his new album, his controversial comments from a few years back, as well as his future plans, which can be heard here.
John announced he will be taking an indefinite break from live performing as he deals with a returning vocal cord granuloma.
During rehearsal on Tuesday, it came to mind that I should see my throat doctor because something didn’t feel/sound right. I went in for a visit on Wednesday and a scope of my vocal cords revealed that the granuloma has grown back where it had mostly healed. This is bad news. Because of this, I have no choice but to take an indefinite break from live performing. Though there will be a day when all of this will be behind me, it will sideline me for a longer period of time than I care to have you count down.
I want to explain this a bit more in depth than I have in the past, because I know there’s some confusion as to what this condition is; a granuloma forms and continues to snowball because it’s in a spot where the vocal cords hit together and there’s no way to really give it a chance to heal without a good stretch of time and some pretty intensive treatment. In short, it’s one giant pain in the ass.
Okay, so here’s the plan… Born and Raised will be released as scheduled, but because I don’t make a very good anything-other-than-a-musician, I’m going to begin writing the next album very soon. I feel really vibrant as a writer at the moment and there’s no reason not to begin the next album project in the time I would have been touring. Somewhere in all of this is another surgery and a very long chemically-imposed period of silence, so I hope you’ll understand that I have to really pick that date carefully.
I’m pretty emotionally burnt out at the moment, but please know how hard I tried to resolve this and how disappointed I am that I can’t perform this record yet. I’m completely bummed, especially for all of you who started making plans to see a show. Nothing feels worse than having to break the stage down before the performance, and I mean nothing. I love this band you were going to hear, I love the guys and girls I work with, and the only thing that stops me from devolving into a puddle of tears is knowing that it’s a long life, and the greatest gift in the world is being able to create music no matter what the circumstances. So these are the new circumstances, and I’ll find a way to make it mean something. That’s all you can ever do.
