The Evolution of John Mayer

This past Friday I had the pleasure of being alerted to the fact that John Mayer was going to be performing on Good Morning America. Usually I brush off these kinds of segments purely because I'm not completely sure that three songs is worth dragging myself out of bed when I actually have the chance to sleep in. This time was different I suppose given that John Mayer is one of the few acts from whom I'll take those three songs and any other notes that emanate form his guitar. Sitting on my couch, fighting off the blurriness of my eyes, I watched him on stage with the mighty Eric Clapton and couldn't help but think "the boy's come a long way." Several years ago I first spotted him in some glossy, pink magazine crooning into...wait, that's not right, sucking on the microphone in between lyrics that sounded more like grunts than than words. I dismissed him as one more reason why music at the time blew big time. Girls bought his CD because they thought he was kind of brooding, the classic tall, dark, and handsome and boys just wished he wasn't there. There were hardly ever any comments on his music itself beyond what and a dreamy song "Your Body is a Wonderland" was. I made a point to stay far away. Not long after the release of his second CD, "Heavier Things," I came into possession of a copy. Completely unintentional; I really didn't know what to do with the thing, so I decided I'd listen to it just to see how bad it was. Well, I was wrong. Really, really, really, wrong. His lyrics were thoughtful and meaningful, not just the garbage cranked out to fill the space between the bars of music on a page. And the music itself...impressive. It was smooth and crafted, bolstered with feeling in every note. Clearly this guy had talent. I couldn't wait to hear what he had next. It took a while, longer than I would have liked, being the impatient person I am but still trying to understand the process. The result, in my opinion is truly one of the finest albums recorded in several decades. Lyrically and musically solid; he went away for a couple years and made himself into a guitarist who can hold his own on stage with the likes on Eric Clapton. Just watching the two made me want to get off my ass and pick up my own guitar. He's "not the man [he] used to be lately," and I'm quite pleased. He no longer eats the mike and he drips with credibility. If I had to hinge bets on one artist who was going to be around in twenty or thirty years...I think I'd win.