John Mayer Trio

Infobox musical artist
Name = John Mayer Trio


Img_capt =
Landscape = Yes
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Los Angeles, California, USA
Genre = Blues, Blues rock
Years_active = 2005–present
Label = Aware Records
Columbia Records
Sony BMG
Associated_acts =
URL =
Current_members = Steve Jordan
John Mayer
Pino Palladino
Past_members =

The John Mayer Trio is an American blues rock music group. It resulted when singer-songwriter John Mayer decided in 2005 to move his music in a new direction, pursuing a more blues-influenced style and paying homage to the great musicians of his childhood days.

History

Mayer formed the John Mayer Trio (the Trio) to play, what he called, "power-rockin', electric-guitar, in-your-face blues." [Scaggs, Austin (2005-05-19), "Smoking Section". "Rolling Stone". (974):35]

In October 2005, the trio toured as the opening act for The Rolling Stones on some A Bigger Bang Tour dates. [No byline (2005-06-16), "IN THE NEWS". "Rolling Stone". (976):32] As feedback from the Trio's tour began pouring in, the reviews were a polarizing mix. Commenting on the Trio's October 6, 2005 show, Alan Light, with "Rolling Stone", said, "Make no mistake: One-time Berklee College of Music student Mayer is a badass guitar player. Backed by studio aces Steve Jordan on drums and Pino Palladino on bass...his blues playing was consistently impressive." But he added, "he's a bit too eager to impress."

In February 2005, the trio played Mayer's single "Daughters" at the 47th Grammy Awards, for which Mayer went on to win the award for "Best Male Vocal Performance" later that night (though the Trio performed, the act was announced only as "John Mayer"). The Trio released "Come When I Call" exclusively to iTunes. ["HOT DOWNLOADS" (2005-10-17), "People". 64 (16):50] While "Rolling Stone" said the for-download-only single "screams vanity project", they conceded that "Mayer is a surprisingly convincing mini Stevie Ray Vaughan" and gave the song three out of four stars. [Hiatt, Brian (2005-10-20), "DOWNLOADS". "Rolling Stone" (985):83]

Post-"Try!"

In March 2006, Mayer announced that the trio had played their final performance at a concert.

Mayer's experience with the Trio influenced his production style on "Continuum", and he and Jordan produced the album. He remarked "The artist gets almost trained to believe it takes 60 people and 12 months to make a record. It takes four people. You get it on tape, you listen back and ask, 'Does it make you feel something, yes or no?' When you got it, you move on." [Newman, Melinda (2005-07-02), "Mayer Stretches Out In Trio Setting". "Billboard". 117 (27):35] On September 12, 2006, the day of Mayer's solo release "Continuum" (which contains songs from the Trio album "Try!"), he announced on his blog that the group would reunite and produce a studio album.Mayer, John (2006-09-12). [http://www.johnmayer.com/blog/john/200609#142 "The Continuum Super Blog"] JohnMayer.com Blog. Retrieved on December 12, 2006.]

The Trio teamed up for another performance on December 8, 2007, where John performed an acoustic set, a set with the Trio and then a set with his band. The performance is featured on Mayer's live DVD "Where the Light Is", released on July 1, 2008.

Personnel

*Steve Jordan: Drums, Backing Vocals
*John Mayer: Guitar, Lead Vocals
*Pino Palladino: Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Discography

Major Releases

*"Try!" (Live), U.S. release date: November 22, 2005

EP's

*"Live@Yahoo! Music (John Mayer Trio)"

ingles

*"Who Did You Think I Was" (2005); #92 U.S.

Awards

49th Annual Grammy Awards

On December 7, 2006, "Try!" was announced as a nominee for "Best Rock Album" for the 49th Grammy Awards. Its peers in nomination are Tom Petty with "Highway Companion", The Raconteurs with "Broken Boy Soldiers", Red Hot Chili Peppers with "Stadium Arcadium" and Neil Young with "Living with War". The winner of the award was Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.johnmayertrio.com/ Official website]
* [http://j-mayer.org/ Room For Two-Fan Site]