John Mayer

小简介 Mayer是康乃狄克州人，从小听电台的流行乐长大。十三岁时邻居送给他一块史提夫雷范(Stevie Ray Vaughan)的录音带，这是他第一次接触蓝调音乐。自此Mayer开始学起吉他，才两年他便在当地蓝调酒吧登台演出，而且一鸣惊人。但是他很快就了解到，这不是他真正想要的。 　　Mayer说："我不想只是个最顶尖的吉他手，因为那充其量不过就是模仿别人，然后看看谁弹《天空在哭泣》(Sky Is Crying)弹得最好。我希望有人喜欢我的歌，然后弹出跟别人不一样的味道。" 　　Mayer非常注重培养自己的创作能力，虽然他吉他的技巧高超，但他尽量不炫耀，力求写出好听好记的歌曲。他十九岁就读百克里学院，但几个月后就发现自己喜欢"玩"音乐而不是"研究"音乐。他笑着说："那段学习经验很棒，至于上课就再说了。"亚特兰大的朋友劝他到南方看看，不久他就成了像"艾迪阁楼"这种亚特兰大流行歌曲作者聚会地点的常客。1999年他出了张EP名为《Inside Wants Out》，专辑里大部分的歌曲都是他个人独唱，也收录几首由乐队伴奏的歌曲。这张唱片将他充满活力、执着认真的声音表现的淋漓尽致。 　　当地的媒体很快就发现了Mayer，并且极力赞扬他的表现。《亚特兰大城市情报》(Atlanta CitySearch)就曾这样报导："这位年轻人知道怎样用他那六根琴弦和诚实的歌词捕捉所有乐迷的心。"《亚特兰大宪法报》(The Atlanta Journal Constitution)。 　　在Mayer身上发现巨星的特质：技巧成熟、令人印象深刻的吉他弹奏产生平易近人的大众摇滚音乐、非常上镜头、魅力横扫南方酒吧。 　　Mayer对歌曲创作的热情非常明显强烈，他说："背着吉他站在麦克风前，脑海中自然而然就会浮现出旋律，一下子就会有几千几百首歌曲跑出来，我爱死这种感觉了！生命里最棒的一刻，就是终于完成一首歌的那个夜晚。" 　　2000年三月，Mayer到德州奥斯汀参加知名的南南西音乐节(South by Southwest, SxSW)，之后便有许多音乐公司找他合作，Mayer最后则是选择了哥伦比亚唱片公司。那年秋天他开始录制专辑《发声中心Room For Squares》，制作人是John Alagia，他制作过大卫马修和班弗兹三人组(Ben Folds Five)的唱片。最新专辑《发声中心Room For Squares》中完全是真材实料的乐器演奏，还邀请了常和他现场表演的贝斯手David LaBruyere和鼓手Nir Zidkiyahu(来自Genesis)。Mayer非常兴奋，因为他终于得以和乐团一起合作，灌录唱片。Mayer说："只因为我一直没和乐团合作，大家就一直把我定位成不插电的民谣吉他手，实际上我是宁缺勿滥。上张专辑《Inside Wants Out》发行时，很多人都不太了解我真正想表达的是什么，我想大家听了这张就能体会。我想这张专辑已经达到了相当的水准。" 　　就是这样的执着，让Mayer一首接着一首写下去。他说："听到一首好歌，大家自然而然就会想知道是谁唱的。如果你可以提供乐迷这样的品质保证，他们就会一直听下去。" After a short-lived stint at the Berklee College of Music, where he had a "great learning experience, but not because of class," John Mayer set down roots in Atlanta, where his music career hit the ground running. After one year in Atlanta, he released his debut solo album, Inside Wants Out, in 1999. At the same time, he became a regular in the Atlanta club circuit, playing a steady stream of shows at venues like Eddie's Attic. An appearance in March 2000 at the South by Southwest Music Festival led to a recording contract with Aware Records, a subsidiary of Columbia. He began recording his major-label debut, Room for Squares, that fall with producer John Alagia, who had previously worked with artists like Dave Matthews and the Ben Folds Five. Mayer's first album had been a decidedly acoustic effort; in contrast, Room for Squares featured a full electric band and showed the work of its producer with its funky hooks and an emphasis placed on Mayer's versatile, smooth voice, which bore more than just a stylistic resemblance to Dave Matthews. Columbia re-released Room for Squares in the summer of 2001, adding one bonus track, and also offered a very limited-edition two-CD set including a disc with two previously unreleased covers. Mayer's dedicated fan base grew substantially larger during his first cross-country tour to support the album, spawning a number of CD-R trading outlets through fan websites, as well as a successful live album, Any Given Thursday. Mayer's lucrative follow-up, 2004's Heavier Things, resulted in another Grammy, this time for Song of the Year. Looking to strip his sound down, he formed the John Mayer Trio with drummer Steve Jordan and bassist Pino Palladino. Their sold-out tour was documented on the 2005 release Try! John Mayer Trio Live in Concert. Continuum arrived the following year. In 2008, Mayer released the concert album Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles.