But dude, John Mayer is a pretty decent musician...

This is pretty old news to those that have seen Where the Light Is, but for those that still think John Mayer is catering to the 14-year old girl demographic, read on.

While his Contiuum was musically, a step in the right direction, "Say" was just a pop-fueled disappointment. With the news of a live set out back in July of '08, I was skeptic to say the least. Initially I though to myself, "Oh, well since it's his first mainstream live release, it's going to be full of pop hits." For the time being, I just wrote it off.

And then I saw him live in August.

It might have been his 3+ minute solo's on Gravity, Belief, and Vultures, but what really sold me was when he took Duffy's "Mercy", and transformed it into a captivating slow blues jam. It completely caught me off guard. At first I was blown away by him playing a standard slow blues song, but when I heard, "You got me begging me for mercy," I was floored to say the least. Johnny-boy quite literally took a straight up pop song and transformed it into a blues song.

Here is a decent video of him explaining why. Oh and actually playing it as well.



Needless to say, seeing it live was 1000x times better. What even sealed the deal is that those 14 year old girls there to see songs like "Say", "Your Body is a Wonderland", and "Neon" were loving it. Say what you want about how Mayer just re-hash's Hendrix and SRV licks, but the man is bringing blues to the masses, just like Jimi and Stevie did. If he started out playing the things he's playing now, he would just be popular among guitar players, much like a Joe Bonamassa. He proved himself to the exec's with his earlier pop-sales, so now he has the freedom to play what he wants. Hopefully over time, Mayer's 14 year old fans will start to become hooked on guys like SRV and Hendrix, all the artists that spun off of them, and even their inspirations such as the Howlin' Wolf, BB King, and Albert King.

After that concert, John Mayer didn't seem so much like a lost cause anymore, and thus prompted me to pick up his live DVD, Where the Light Is. It showcases a John Mayer that is playing what he loves, where his enthusiasm not only shows in his singing, but more importantly in his playing. The real highlight of his set is the somewhat obscure, but completely awesome, Hendrix song "Wait Until Tomorrow."



So yeah, if you've written of John Mayer, give the guy another chance. He deserves it.