John Mayer.Photo: Shy McGrath/Getty
A month into his Sob Rock Tour,John Mayeris getting back into the swing of things.
“It’s not a natural thing to stand on stage in front of a bunch of people. You don’t think that way when you’re at home for two years,” he recentlytold the Associated Press.
“I was at home for two years washing dishes, looking at my hands going, ‘Well, these hands from time to time played the guitar in front of 17,000 people a night.’ I think the one thing that drains out of a performer is just the sense memory of performing.”
John Mayer.Emma McIntyre/Getty
Mayer, 44, admitted he’d grown comfortable in his role with side gig Dead & Company, where heplays alongside former Grateful Dead membersBob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. The guitarist worried his own headline tour may not provide the same creative spark, but — likening the experience to riding a bike — he found that not to be the case once he stepped to the front.
John Mayer.Shy McGrath/Getty
“The music I make is not meant to be loved and consumed only this year,” Mayer told the AP. “I don’t flip out about the timeline of things because I’m already making a record that sounds like I can wait another 20 years to playSob Rock. I’m always trying to make music with longevity.”
John Mayer.Mat Hayward/Getty
It seems to be working — now in his 22nd year in the business, the singer-songwriter enjoys an easy rapport with his audience. After a string of hits Friday night in San Francisco, the crowd’s requests were heard and Mayer obliged with a cover ofBeyoncé’s “XO,” as well as his own 2007 fan-favorite “In Your Atmosphere.”
“It’s every musician’s dream that they would get on stage and the crowd would chant, ‘Deep cuts,'“he saidwith a laugh. “That’s hilarious — that made my night. I spend so much time worrying that I’m not playing what you want to hear. So thank you.”
source: people.com
