Very early in the summer just past, while on one of those 3 a.m. sleeplessness spells I go through from time to time I came across a video on MTV (that in and of itself is a rare feat) that struck me in its live show footage simplicity, but the melodic harmony coming from the man with the acoustic guitar kept me enthralled enough to watch and listen. For some reason, I didn’t make the effort to reach out and grab pen and paper to scribble down the name of the artist and before I knew it that info floated off into the ether.
Jump ahead 6 months and I have heard the song on the radio at least half a dozen times without the DJ naming the artist, or even the song title. The chorus officially gets lodged into the folds of the gray matter between my ears and I shift from passively trying to find out the information to active hunting, lest it turn into one of those dreaded songs that haunts my mind for years on end like “Baker Street” did.
Just by chance of luck, or the fate of inevitability, Comcast decided to air (or re-air — not exactly sure) a whole concert by the artist in question recorded by Music Choice, with the same stage setup as the music video that started this drain on my brain in the first place. A tiny, belated Christmas gift of sound and knowledge from above for yours truly.
The who turned out to be one John Mayer. The song in question: “No Such Thing“. And the strain on my brain is now shifted over to my wallet as I try to budget in a CD or two of his work into my collection.
Now I can see this guy following the whole Dave Matthews route, with big name recognition and airplay across both the pop and alternative sound-waves but still keeping a firm grasp on his artistic integrity. He just seems to have the same kind of personality and an air of respect for both the fans and the craft of song-writing. That and every time they panned out to crowd shots there were 20-something college girls from frame to frame, which is a staple of DMB shows.
Another song into the rotation, and another worry bites the dust. Life good. ^_^