The part-time guitarist of the day is John Mayer

Part-time blues guitarist, full-time, self-confessed, wanna-be pornographer John Mayer is at again. In his latest Rolling Stone and  Playboy interviews, multi-million dollar watch collector Mayer, obsessed with his cock, and unable to distinguish between the reality and illusion of his stellar career, shows us the dangerous path that a young person with his degree of talent and dumb luck can take.

I've always thought that if Mayer had more time to pay his dues, then he might also develop a less derivative approach to his playing, and music, and living in general. The tradition of the blues, like jazz, is not just a form or sound or sentiment, it is also a tradition of innovation; of standing on the shoulders of masters, yet finding a personal musical voice with which to express your perspective from the stream.  Mayer kind-of sings like Stevie Ray Vaughn, and sort-of plays as if the blues were invented in 1960s England (see/hear, but don't buy the DVD Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles). He hasn't found his own musical voice yet, but having one or searching for one is a basic requirement of being an artist.  Mayer's talent is formidable, but musical talent and musical accomplishment are not necessarily coextensive, and anyone's artistic growth is endangered when the prerogatives of the market are their sole guiding principle. Any fool with industry backing can win a Grammy - even multiples. It's not necessarily a measure of musical accomplishment as much as a measure of commercial accomplishment.  I imagine lover-of-starlets Mayer confuses his bio with himself- something equally dangerous for those at the top, middle, or bottom.

In guitaring/living, the bar is set high, but John ("blowing me off is the new sucking me off") Mayer is looking down at his Rolex. Mayer is a student lost in tangents, not a master practitioner. The sword (yes, even Mayer's "sword") has to have an ethical imperative if it is to mean something other than senseless ego gratification. He may yet dedicate himself to becoming an artist rather than an two-degrees removed impersonator of dead black guitar players. I think we could all benefit from that. Hopefully, he'll stop being such a jerk.

For all those watches, John doesn't know what time it is. Sell the watches. Give ALL the proceeds to the Haitian relief effort. Champion other artists. Respect women. You can do it John. I have faith in you.  I know you can be fully human.

Sentient beings are numberless. I vow to save them.

C

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